Time Capsule vs. Airport Extreme & Networking Scenario

[MUrhino]

Basically I already have a 500GB and 1TB external HD from OtherWorldComputing that work great. Is the extra $100 worth having a constantly "on" hard drive? The OWC HDs have an off switch, so I'm not putting wear & tear on them when I'm not using them.

My networking question is in regards to Apple networking products acting as a wireless bridge. I would like to wirelessly connect my DVR/TV/Blu-Ray player to the internet through a wireless access point, that in turn, is connected to my wireless network from the main router. I've found one product that looks very promising ( D-Link DAP 1522 http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=663 ) , but am wondering what you guys/gals use for your setup? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[rgarjr]

Some people think that by shutting the drives off and on puts wear on them as well.

My external hard drive is spinning 24/7. I think once the platters are spinning, momentum takes over pretty much and it doesn't put much wear on it.

The TC's hard drive spins down after a few minutes or hours (not sure how much) after inactivity.

 

[MUrhino]

My external hard drive is spinning 24/7. I think once the platters are spinning, momentum takes over pretty much and it doesn't put much wear on it.

Yep, that makes sense too. My OWC HDs do spin down after some period of inactivity as well. Any thoughts on the networking?

 

[meagain]

So it's OK to leave them on 24/7? Because I was sort of interested in LaCie's "auto" switch where it basically goes to sleep or something.

May I ask how the sound is with the OWC? I might get the 1TB for next to my screen and I'm pretty nutty about noises. It'll mostly be a Time Machine situation.

 

[MUrhino]

Yep, pretty quiet

meagain - The OWC HD is pretty quiet. You can obviously hear it spin up a little, but once it's going, you don't really notice it. I don't have mine on that much as I mainly use them for backup.

Another interesting point for the TC vs. AEBS is that if your TC needs to go in for service, then you've lost your wireless N network, provided you don't have another router ready to take it's place.

I've already got two HDs, but I've lost one HD in my life, along with the memories stored on it and don't want to lose that stuff again. I'm thinking three HDs rotated evenly should do the job, so the TC could serve that purpose.

 

[meagain]

Thank you. What kind of DVR do you have that you might be able to link it wirelessly to an external. That's certainly a new one on me. I'd love to be able to do that but didn't think it was possible, or at least practical?

 

[MUrhino]

Well, the DVR wouldn't connect by itself to the wireless network. I have Direct TV. My TV, Blu-Ray Player, and Direct TV box all have ethernet ports in the back that serve different functions (software updates and On Demand downloads). I would connect each of these to a wireless bridge like the D-Link DAP 1522 so I wouldn't have to run an ethernet cable from my office to the living room each time I need to connect to the internet.

 

[spaceballl]

My networking question is in regards to Apple networking products acting as a wireless bridge. I would like to wirelessly connect my DVR/TV/Blu-Ray player to the internet through a wireless access point, that in turn, is connected to my wireless network from the main router. I've found one product that looks very promising ( D-Link DAP 1522 http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=663 ) , but am wondering what you guys/gals use for your setup? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I'll let everyone else take a stab at your first question, but regarding this point, you can definitely use another Airport Extreme or Airport Express. In my house, I have a Time Capsule serving as the primary wireless router and backup device. However, at the other end of the house, I have an Airport Extreme. This is used not only to extend the wireless range of the network, but also to give wired connectivity to my TiVo and PS3. When you're setting it up, instead of setting it up as a new router, you just tell it to join an existing network. From there it is quite trivial to get this all set up. And Woilah - your wireless network now reaches greater distances and you have a place to plug in any wired devices near there.

Many might recommend getting a dlink / netgear / linksys bridge. Those products will work as well, but I really like having all my network products on one view, with one configuration, when I open up the Airport Setup Utility. You do pay a slight premium for this, however.

And FYI I also have a 3rd device, an Airport Express, used to extend my wireless even further! I'm really a fan of apple's networking products