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Time for a Time Capsule refresh?

mpainesyd

mpainesyd

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 29, 2008
689
168
Sydney, Australia
My 3 year old Time Capsule is showing signs of age (slow to transfer files, ejects drive on my Macs ...) and I am looking to replace it. The 3Tb version is not in stock in my local stores and I suspect that a refresehed model is in the pipeline (it is well overdue).

Any rumours about this?
 
There are almost never rumours about Apple's Airport devices.
Apple might just tweak the Logic board/wireless chip and that's it, if this is the case it is hard to get this information out of the factory, few people know.

About your Timecapsule, erase it and start over again, this may solve the problem, seems like this is a common problem.
 
No specific rumours, however there are rumours that the new mac hardware will be upgraded to ac wifi this year. Chances are that airports and time capsules will be upgraded accordingly.

No idea when - would be worth waiting for WWDC to see if they are released with any upgraded macs.
 
mpainesyd said:
My 3 year old Time Capsule is showing signs of age (slow to transfer files, ejects drive on my Macs ...) and I am looking to replace it. The 3Tb version is not in stock in my local stores and I suspect that a refresehed model is in the pipeline (it is well overdue).

Any rumours about this?
Click to expand...

I think the wireless AC (it might be a standard by then) is being added so Apple is clearing out inventory.
 
mpainesyd said:
My 3 year old Time Capsule is showing signs of age (slow to transfer files, ejects drive on my Macs ...) and I am looking to replace it. The 3Tb version is not in stock in my local stores and I suspect that a refresehed model is in the pipeline (it is well overdue). Any rumours about this?
Click to expand...

802.11.ac models of all TC's, as well as of all Airport devices, are rumored to be making an appearance any time soon. I personally wish they would introduce initial back-ups via Thunderbolt, as they are deadly slow over Ethernet, and especially WiFi, but either way, I'm also eagerly awaiting these new devices. See also justperry's post, and my reply to it, below.

justperry said:
.....About your Timecapsule, erase it and start over again, this may solve the problem, seems like this is a common problem.
Click to expand...

Yes, it could have become corrupted somehow, but before erasing that TC, I would definitely back up all important content from your computer to another HDD; then go ahead, and erase that TC. You wouldn't want the HDD in your computer to pick that inappropriate time to die on you, after you just erased the TC that might have been slow, but still had all your important files on it. Murphy's law. :(

To mpainesyd: If you're running ML, it should be even easier with 'Multiple Time Machine Back-ups'. Here's some info on it, there's tons more out there on the subject.

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_backup_time_machine_multiple_locations
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_...ple-disks-with-time-machine-in-mountain-lion/
 
Last edited:
Time for Time Capsule Update

Thanks for the tips.

I have backed up all important files from the TC and now do not regularly access it. I have also deleted it from my start-up items (since it kept "self-ejecting" after an hour or so).

I have ML and have been using 2 other external drives for Time Machine backups. One is Lacie Thunderbolt drive that seems to be performing very well (but then there is Murphy's Law!). The other is a portable drive that I keep "off site".

Also my cable modem has wifi capability so I can use that if the TC breaks down in the next several weeks while I wait to see if Apple announces an updated TC. If not I might just buy the cheapest TC (1Tb) and make do with external drives for storage. The 1Tb TC is on special in my local store and that makes me think it is on runout sale (combined with no stocks of 3TB TCs).

The next step is to find out how to migrate settings from the old TC to the (proposed) new one, if that is possible. The TC system does not seem very robust or flexible in this regard.
 
mpainesyd said:
.....The other is a portable drive that I keep "off site".....
Click to expand...

Kudos to an excellent policy.

mpainesyd said:
.....while I wait to see if Apple announces an updated TC.....
Click to expand...

Eagerly awaiting those new 802.11.ac Time Capsules here too; looks like it's finally gonna happen.

mpainesyd said:
.....The next step is to find out how to migrate settings from the old TC to the (proposed) new one, if that is possible.....
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean with migrating TC settings, but you basically have to set up any new Airport device with Airport Utility, after which you can do your initial (painfully slow) back-up which, in addition to all your files, also backs up all your computer settings. Cheers!
 
mpainesyd said:
The next step is to find out how to migrate settings from the old TC to the (proposed) new one, if that is possible. The TC system does not seem very robust or flexible in this regard.
Click to expand...

You can export your TC settings from this menu in Airport Util then import that file into the new one (assuming they don't change something that breaks this).

gY3U8Ik.png
 
Mine was delivered this morning.

Set-up was a breeze when I imported the configuration file from the old TC (see tip above).

In effect I have turned the old TC into an ethernet-connected hard disk (ethernet cable from new TC to WAN socket in old TC) and am busy copying files across. Might leave it there as a backup - bearing in mind it might fail at any time

So far so good...
 
My wifi signal strength seems to be weaker in some locations compared with the old TC. This only happens with an ipad2 or iphone. A macbook pro signal remains strong. I have tried setting the TC to "n" mode (disabled the "ac" searching mode) but no improvement. The ipad is useable but the internet seems slower when in a weak spot.
 
Actually the Macbook Pro signal was also quite weak - the fan symbol was misleading showing full strength. Using istumbler on the Macbook Pro I found that the new TC signal was weak in the same places around the house as the iPad.

I reconnected the old TC and the signal was much better. I am now using it as an extension of the wifi network, which sort of defeats the purpose of buying the new TC.
 
After 2 years I am looking at replacing a Time Capsule 2TB but there do not seem to be any upgrades in that time. I might wait until Sept 9 just in case there is an improved model coming out!
What possibilities are there for improvement? (Fusion drive doesn't seem worthwhile using ethernet or wifi!)
 
Last edited:
why are you looking to replace the time capsule? what improvements are you looking for?
a "fusion drived" time capsule won't have any affect on speed.
 
AppleNewton said:
why are you looking to replace the time capsule? what improvements are you looking for?
a "fusion drived" time capsule won't have any affect on speed.
Click to expand...
The hard disk seems to be getting unreliable. There is no way to repair a TC hard disk without completely erasing it - and even then it may not be reliable. I did this once and things seemed OK for a while but once again backups are taking forever.
I am considering replacing it but noticed criticisms of the slow read/write performance due, it seems, to the TC electronics/controller rather than the hard disk. So ... maybe Apple is addressing this (but I won't hold my breath).

I did start this thread with speculation that the previous TC was overdue for replacement and was only a couple of months out with timing.
 
probably nothing dramatic in change, maybe drive size bumps. generally theres been a lot of issues with the in betweens for wireless backups. where it could be random network drops your not aware of and not of all the data makes it to the time machine...esp for large incremental backups.

So the drive is fine, its the in betweens.

The reason I ask is you could do a few things....get a cheap mac mini, and set-up a drive of your choosing as the back-up drive to that. It works the same way as a time capsule would, you can use OS X Server to tell it to back up where and all of that.

You can use crash plan which back ups your stuff locally and or over the net to their servers.

all are plausible replacements to the time capsule. just depends on your investment
 
AppleNewton said:
probably nothing dramatic in change, maybe drive size bumps. generally theres been a lot of issues with the in betweens for wireless backups. where it could be random network drops your not aware of and not of all the data makes it to the time machine...esp for large incremental backups.

So the drive is fine, its the in betweens.

The reason I ask is you could do a few things....get a cheap mac mini, and set-up a drive of your choosing as the back-up drive to that. It works the same way as a time capsule would, you can use OS X Server to tell it to back up where and all of that.

You can use crash plan which back ups your stuff locally and or over the net to their servers.

all are plausible replacements to the time capsule. just depends on your investment
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips. I use multiple drives for backups so the TC is redundant. The iMac is directly connected with ethernet cable but is still tediously slow -but no more than reported elsewhere. I have tried changing cables but no improvement. That is why i think it is the Tc electronics that is limiting transfer speeds.
I shouldn't have connected a Lacie thunderbolt drive to the imac. Now everything else seems very slow!
 
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