Time Capsule: HD readable for Xbox and 'outside'?

[osado]

Hi,

I just bought a Time Capsule (TC). Very nice design and my 4th Apple product (that in 6 months!). Anyway, before I got a TC I had a Linksys router. This router had a web interface so I could connect to it from outside home (let's say work). Is this possible with a TC too? Maybe for reading files too from the harddrive (kind of like a server (wouldn't that be very cool?))?

Furthermore, I have a Xbox 360. Is it possible to read TC's harddrive from my Xbox so I can store my Music on there? Or is this only possible with an USB connection only?

Last thing, how is the TC's harddrive formatted? HFS or FAT?

That's it for now

 

[stridemat]

Hi,

Well I can answer question 2.

If you buy a programme called 'Connect 360' or 'Rivet' you can access media on your mac from your Xbox360. However you can also change where it 'searches' for the media. So in this instance you could change it too the TC. This is what I have done stream movie's and so far it seems too work.

 

[skorpien]

And I can answer question 1

You most certainly can. There's an option in AirPort Utility (if you go into Manual Setup) that allows you to "share over WAN" or something along those lines. This means that if you connect via afp and use the IP address assigned by your ISP (along with the username and password you regularly use to access the Time Capsule), you will be able to gain access to the Time Capsule from outside of your network. I'm not sure if this will mean that you can administer the Time Capsule, but other users have been able to access their hard drive contents, and even mount their Time Machine backups and actually complete a backup while connected to the Time Capsule from abroad. I haven't had any experience with this myself so I'm going on other people's experiences, but from what I've read it's very possible.

 

[SVT Amateur]

^^ Correct, Configure over WAN lets your run AirPort Utility and connect remotely to your Time Capsule for administration just like accessing the web based utility for your Linksys. Sharing disks over WAN lets you access your files remotely.

And the drive is formatted as FAT32.

 

[skorpien]

And the drive is formatted as FAT32.

Not to be nitpicky, but the drive is actually formatted as HFS+ according to this review. Apparently it's possible to swap drives or even partition the current one if you include the two hidden Apple partitions (see the Hard Drive subsection under the Features section). Good to know for when AppleCare runs out and I want more storage.

 

[osado]

^^ Correct, Configure over WAN lets your run AirPort Utility and connect remotely to your Time Capsule for administration just like accessing the web based utility for your Linksys. Sharing disks over WAN lets you access your files remotely.

You mean you can configure it when you're not on the network of the TC? That I can do ofcourse. Or do you mean I can even access the TC when I'm on, let's say, Timbuktu and have a internet connection? If so, how do I do this (I'm a beginning Apple user)?

 

[osado]

Not to be nitpicky, but the drive is actually formatted as HFS+ according to this review. Apparently it's possible to swap drives or even partition the current one if you include the two hidden Apple partitions (see the Hard Drive subsection under the Features section). Good to know for when AppleCare runs out and I want more storage.

see the Hard Drive subsection under the Features section


Where can I find this? I'm a beginning Apple user.

 

[osado]

And I can answer question 1

You most certainly can. There's an option in AirPort Utility (if you go into Manual Setup) that allows you to "share over WAN" or something along those lines. This means that if you connect via afp and use the IP address assigned by your ISP (along with the username and password you regularly use to access the Time Capsule), you will be able to gain access to the Time Capsule from outside of your network...

I succeeded in doing this, but if I'm correct this isn't possible with Windows right? AFP protocol is not supported I believe...

 

[skorpien]

see the Hard Drive subsection under the Features section


Where can I find this? I'm a beginning Apple user.

If you click on the link, you can see that there are sections and subsections. Go to the one I referred to.

I succeeded in doing this, but if I'm correct this isn't possible with Windows right? AFP protocol is not supported I believe...

Have you tried using SMB? From what I've read online, Time Capsule is capable of this. All you would need is your IP address provided by your ISP and either the TC's name or the name of the HDD (I'm not sure about which). I haven't tried this myself so maybe somebody else could clarify.

 

[SVT Amateur]

Not to be nitpicky, but the drive is actually formatted as HFS+ according to this review. Apparently it's possible to swap drives or even partition the current one if you include the two hidden Apple partitions (see the Hard Drive subsection under the Features section). Good to know for when AppleCare runs out and I want more storage.

You are correct. Apparently it just appears as a FAT32 drive via Windows, but is actually HFS+.

You mean you can configure it when you're not on the network of the TC? That I can do ofcourse. Or do you mean I can even access the TC when I'm on, let's say, Timbuktu and have a internet connection? If so, how do I do this (I'm a beginning Apple user)?

You must enable file sharing via WAN and you must know the public IP address of your Time Capsule/Network. You can find your IP address by going to www.whatismyipaddress.com while on your home network. If you are away somewhere with an internet connection you will be able to connect to your Time Capsule by clicking on Connect to Server under Finder and then entering afp://<yourhomeipaddresshere>

 

[osado]

You must enable file sharing via WAN and you must know the public IP address of your Time Capsule/Network. You can find your IP address by going to www.whatismyipaddress.com while on your home network. If you are away somewhere with an internet connection you will be able to connect to your Time Capsule by clicking on Connect to Server under Finder and then entering afp://<yourhomeipaddresshere>

Thx. I was already capable of doing this but I also wanted to know if I can access the TC's configuration if I'm using internet on a different IP than my own TC (e.g. @work). This I did not manage so far...

 

[Ryyhn]

Hi,

Well I can answer question 2.

If you buy a programme called 'Connect 360' or 'Rivet' you can access media on your mac from your Xbox360. However you can also change where it 'searches' for the media. So in this instance you could change it too the TC. This is what I have done stream movie's and so far it seems too work.

How do you change where it searches in Connect 360? I am trying to get my TC to be where the media comes from. Thanks.

 

[jctevere]

I noticed that a lot of you guys use the airport extreme or Time capsule alongside the xbox 360 and or PS3. I am currently in the market to upgrade from my Belkin Pre-N wireless router as it is giving me problems. I was heavily interested in either the airport extreme and/or Time Capsule as my new wireless N router. However, the one thing worrying me is that neither router is listed on xbox.com's router compatability page for XboxLive usually meaning that the NAT is STRICT or Moderate and usually never open. So for those of you that use the Xbox 360 with either the time capsule or airport extreme, do you know what your NAT status is and if it was strict or moderate what you have done to open it (if possible). Because I would love to buy one of these routers, but after having bought the Belkin (not on the list of compatible routers) and having my NAT constantly STRICT and preventing me from joining some games or occasionally dropping I swore I would never buy off the list again.

Also, if anyone could verify my assumption that the Airport Extreme is virtually identical to the Time Capsule, except that the Time Capsule has an internal hard drive? Is there any other difference I should be aware of before making my purchase? Also, I live in a household where windows is heavily mixed with mac, do these routers perform favorably on windows machines and do they recognize it without the need of software installation? I have 3 iPhones, xbox 360, PS 3, Wii, 1 unibody aluminum macbook, 1 unibody aluminum macbook pro, 4 windows xp laptops (2 dells, 1 hp, 1 lenovo), and 2 dell desktops (all of which connecting to the router via WiFi besides the 2 desktops). So which router would you suggest I get?

 

[stridemat]

How do you change where it searches in Connect 360? I am trying to get my TC to be where the media comes from. Thanks.

Connect 360 will look in the default locations of iTunes, iPhoto and your movies folder. You can assign where you want Connect360 to look for the files. for you that would be on the TC, or wherever your movies are stored.