Exploring Time Capsule: feature and suitability review

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Time Capsule expands the wireless base station into a file and printer sharing solution and Time Machine target. This segment, the last of six exploring Time Capsule in depth, provides a review of its features and limitations as a wireless file sharing and backup appliance, along with comparisons to alternative products and previous AirPort models.



Previous articles from our in-depth Time Capsule review series:



Exploring Time Capsule: Time Machine over the Network vs USB

Exploring Time Capsule: 10/100/1000 Ethernet vs. 802.11g/n Wireless Networking

Exploring Time Capsule: WiFi 802.11n and the 5GHz band

Exploring Time Capsule: theoretical speed vs practical throughput

Exploring Time Capsule: how it fits into Apple's AirPort family

An in-depth review of Apple's 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station

Apple Time Capsule unboxing and preview

A Look Inside Apple's New Time Capsule

Answers to Time Capsule reader questions



The AirPort Family (Snap, Snap)



Based on our testing, Time Capsule is almost functionally identical to the AirPort Extreme in terms of disk sharing. The Time Capsule's built in SATA drive offers a slight edge in performance over an external USB disk, but users won't see a significant difference when working from wireless clients. The additional speed is really only visible to wired clients using Gigabit Ethernet.



Time Capsule offers Gigabit Ethernet as standard, while AirPort Extreme units sold prior to August 2007 only supplied 10/100 Fast Ethernet. Even so, the theoretical performance advantage of the faster wired networking isn't a clear reason to upgrade, as the file sharing features of the base stations are optimized for wireless and don't exploit the advantage of the greater throughput potential available in Gigabit Ethernet.



The actual difference in file serving from the base stations between the Fast and Gigabit Ethernet models is not very significant, although client systems connected via the faster Gigabit Ethernet switch integrated into the base station will be much faster when talking to each other, such as when sharing iTunes libraries or iPhoto albums.



To 5 GHz or Not To 5 GHz, That is the Question



All of the currently shipping AirPort base stations now support 802.11n, which includes support for the 5 GHz band. As noted in Exploring Time Capsule: WiFi 802.11n and the 5GHz band, there are both pros and cons to using this configuration. It can limit the reception area and have a harder time penetrating walls and floors, but it also supports the use of wide channels, which can dramatically boost the speed of wireless networking.



This boost can make the difference between a wireless setup that can't quite handle the demands of Time Machine backups while also streaming AirTunes and copying files, and one that takes it all in stride. Users should experiment to make sure they're getting the most out of their equipment given their own circumstances and needs.



Time Machine: Wired vs Wireless Networking vs Directly Connected Drives



Apple advertises Time Capsule as the ideal target for Time Machine backups, and for most users with casual needs, it serves as an ideal backup appliance: invisible, simple, and cost effective. While wireless networking is considerably slower than wired networks and lags far behind backing up to a directly connected USB drive, for most users, the length of time required to do regular incremental background backups won't be a big deal.







However, wireless restore operations, including the process of zooming into space to look up the missing files in Time Machine, are considerably slower over a wireless connection and incur delays that can make the process something between frustrating and irritating. Because restore operations are a foreground task requiring user interaction, and hopefully will occur less often than hourly backups, this problem can be worked around by connecting to the base station directly via Gigabit Ethernet before performing a restore.



In other words, regular background backups don't suffer from the slower nature of wireless networking nearly as much as the file intensive searching related to a Time Machine restore operation. Restoring files should be an occasional event that can handle the clumsier process of directly connecting to speed things up.



Time Capsule Wireless File Sharing vs a Standalone Gigabit NAS



Given that a PowerMac G5 can serve files over Gigabit Ethernet faster than a directly attached USB drive, it would be nice to see similar performance from Time Capsule. However, Time Capsule and the AirPort Extreme are designed to serve as wireless base stations, not as general purpose, high performance Networked Attached Storage appliances.



Being half as fast as a standalone computer over Gigabit Ethernet also allows Time Capsule to eat a fraction of the energy and dissipate far less heat than a G5 tower, and subsequently be much smaller. The performance edge of a standalone server also becomes invisible when most of the clients are using wireless networking to access it.



Once again, Apple has engineered a product that serves a specific purpose, rather than trying to do everything without doing anything very well. The result is that Time Capsule will satisfy the users it was designed for, and does not appeal to users with needs for something else. For those who do need a solution faster than the entry level base station's integrated file server can manage, there's the option of adding a standalone Gigabit NAS appliance to the network.



A terabyte standalone Gigabit Ethernet NAS device can range from about $300 to $1000, although most lower end systems use two 500 GB disks, making them considerably larger, power hungry, and likely nosier. On the other hand, they should also be significantly faster, and many models offer internal RAID features for additional protection against drive failure. Most devices are also configured over the web, making them more complex for non technical users to manage compared to the ultra simple and friendly AirPort Utility software used to set up Time Capsule and the AirPort Extreme.



On page 2 of 2: Time Capsule Wrap Up and Rating.



Time Capsule Wrap Up



Home users who want the elegance and simplicity of a wireless network will appreciate the easy to configure and use nature of Time Capsule. Thanks to the firmware update adding Time Machine support, users with a 2007 AirPort Extreme likely won't feel the need to upgrade to Time Capsule, particularly if they already have a shared USB drive they're using. Time Capsule's Gigabit Ethernet feature doesn't offer much reason to upgrade, as the unit (along with newer versions of AirPort Extreme) doesn't really exploit the speed of the bigger pipe.



Anyone considering the purchase of a new base station and interested in centralized file sharing and Time Machine backups would do well to look at Time Capsule, which is priced well considering its 500 GB or 1 TB drive capacity, and the convenience of having the drive and the unit's power supply integrated into a single box. All Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme users should also evaluate using a configuration in the 5 GHz band using wide channels, as this can provide a major boost in data throughput.



Users hoping to set up a Gigabit Ethernet network with high performance file sharing should consider other options, because the wired network performance of Time Capsule (and the nearly identical AirPort Extreme) are not exceptional. They are both designed to primarily serve wireless clients.



Time Capsule earns the same rating as AirPort Express did last year, detailed in An in-depth review of Apple's 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station. It is similarly dinged for lacking any support for direct AirTunes playback; users will need an AirPort Express or Apple TV to distribute audio wirelessly. It seems like Apple could add a digital audio out port at relatively minimal cost and add considerable value to Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme, although the recent upgrade of the AirPort Express to support 802.11n makes this less of a glaring omission. Relatively few users will need to share a stereo, USB printer, and USB disk drive in the same location.







One last time, while Time Capsule delivers Gigabit Ethernet ports, it does not make full use of the extra bandwidth when serving data from the shared drives. Note that the integrated Gigabit Ethernet switch does perform at full speed for connected computers; it is the server speed of the internal base station that is lacking when compared to a dedicated file server. Apart from those factors, Time Capsule and its simplified, diskless AirPort Extreme cousin offer brilliant design and ease of use at a reasonable price.



Rating 4 out of 5





Pros:

Competitively priced, slim, solidly designed hardware.Excellent AirPort Utility software.Simple and easy to use network disk and printer sharing features.Offers a big boost in wireless speed and coverage over 802.11b/g.Built in switch for wired Gigabit Ethernet devices.Reasonably priced drive options.

Cons:

Lacks AirPort Express' AirTunes for wireless music distribution.Gigabit Ethernet file sharing performance is disappointing.



Where to Buy



500GB Time Capsule - $294 (MacMall)

1TB Time Capsule - $494 (MacMall)



500GB Time Capsule - $299 (Amazon)

1TB Time Capsule - $499 (Amazon)



500GB Time Capsule - $298.95 (B&H Photo)

1TB Time Capsule - $498.95 (B&H Photo)



Previous articles from our in-depth Time Capsule review series:



Exploring Time Capsule: Time Machine over the Network vs USB

Exploring Time Capsule: 10/100/1000 Ethernet vs. 802.11g/n Wireless Networking

Exploring Time Capsule: WiFi 802.11n and the 5GHz band

Exploring Time Capsule: theoretical speed vs practical throughput

Exploring Time Capsule: how it fits into Apple's AirPort family

An in-depth review of Apple's 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station

Apple Time Capsule unboxing and preview

A Look Inside Apple's New Time Capsule

Answers to Time Capsule reader questions

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    brianusbrianus Posts: 160member
    Quote:

    500GB Time Capsule - $299 (Amazon)

    1TB Time Capsule - $299 (Amazon)



    ?!?! I think not..
  • Reply 2 of 20
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    The fact that the outer space interface is frustrating over wireless seems like a fundamental flaw to me, they should lose one whole point for that. And that it can't max out the gig-E when operating as a standard file server should be another half a point. So 3.5/5.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    I shopped for deals on Amazon to get an Airport Extreme plus external drive, to see how it compared to the price for a Time Capsule (1TB for $475 thanks to gold box discount).



    The best deals I could find were just under that. Given the price being about the same, it's a choice between extra simplicity (one-piece Time Capsule, no extra cords/power supplies) or extra flexibility (Extreme + external). Both appeal to me.



    I'm going for flexibility: I like being able to transport the drive OR the access point for occasional other uses, without having to take both. For one thing, when the fire alarm goes off in my building I want to grab my Time Machine drive on the way out. But with Time Capsule that would kill my WiFi in the process. And that would interfere with Folding@Home. And that would interfere with the cure for cancer. And I'd never forgive myself



    So no Time Capsule for me.



    (PS, I also priced out NON-Apple base stations for the same scenario. Aside from giving up Time Machine support, though, I found that base stations that supported WiFi N AND had a USB port usable for BOTH printing and storage were not going to save me much if any money vs. AirPort, even with some Amazon deal-hunting. So I'll take the easy setup/admin of AirPort.)
  • Reply 4 of 20
    If I pull the plug or power down the TC, what happens? What happens to reinitialize the unit? Does it remember all its settings? Does it remember the backup/computer it was previously connect to? Does it corrupt any data? Can you please test powering it off many times? Does it do a disk check upon startup to make sure data is clean? Can you please put a KillAWatt on it and give me an actual watt usage and kwh rating?



    Thanks, Chris
  • Reply 5 of 20
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SuperMacGuy View Post


    If I pull the plug or power down the TC, what happens? What happens to reinitialize the unit? Does it remember all its settings? Does it remember the backup/computer it was previously connect to?



    At least the AirPort Extreme remembers all the settings when unplugging the unit.



    /Adrian
  • Reply 6 of 20
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    "Note that the integrated Gigabit Ethernet switch does perform at full speed for connected computers"



    Thanks for clarifying that! There is a lot of mis-perception on a lot of boards that the Ethernet performance of TC and the Extreme is sub-standard, when it's the TC file server that's really the bottleneck.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    The fact that the outer space interface is frustrating over wireless seems like a fundamental flaw to me, they should lose one whole point for that. And that it can't max out the gig-E when operating as a standard file server should be another half a point. So 3.5/5.



    Hopefully, you'll never need to use the restore interface!



    As for maxing out the Gb Ethernet, just exactly what drive are you expecting to be using here? Short of a RAID array, you aren't going to be able to fill that pipe anyway, certainly not with a USB drive! I've had two Gb Ethernet laptops with FW drives networked directly together and via an Extreme and can't fill the pipe. In fact, the throughput going through the Extreme is actually faster than the direct connection!



    I guess you are asking Apple to make a TC with an internal RAID array for 3-times the price, and double the size and power requirements?! I think that's a niche enough requirement that asking those folks to purchase their own NAS RAID is reasonable.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    I was hoping for a bit more performance. It's a shame it can't keep the drive busy as a file server. I'd like to see 50% more speed on a direct attached client. Permissions would be nice too. I suppose they still want to sell OS X Server to small businesses and not have to explain why a $300 WAP/NAS/Gateway can't keep up with 50 clients.



    Another feature, though probably won't see it from Apple, why not make it an iTunes server? Put your music on it, then it would be available from any iTunes on your network.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmcglinn View Post


    I was hoping for a bit more performance. It's a shame it can't keep the drive busy as a file server. I'd like to see 50% more speed on a direct attached client. Permissions would be nice too. I suppose they still want to sell OS X Server to small businesses and not have to explain why a $300 WAP/NAS/Gateway can't keep up with 50 clients.



    Another feature, though probably won't see it from Apple, why not make it an iTunes server? Put your music on it, then it would be available from any iTunes on your network.



    Sounds like you need to get yourself a Mac mini (a used one will do quite nicely). An Airport Extreme is, coincidentally, the exact same footprint as a mini. I have an old mini, an Extreme, and a NewerTech miniStack external hard drive all stacked together (Extreme on top to not block the wireless signal!). All my CDs are ripped using Apple Lossless onto the miniStack. I'm working on ripping all my DVDs, too.



    Turn on iTunes sharing and you'll not only have your iTunes server, but with the mini connected via Gb Ethernet and serving files from a Firewire hard drive instead of a USB drive, you'll see much faster network performance even if your client machine on on wireless (faster even than the G5 used for this article as it was limited by them using a USB drive). The mini will also be hosting the drive my laptop's Time Machine backup will be on as soon as Amazon delivers the new drive.



    If you REALLY want to get carried away, you can have the mini share it's Ethernet connection over wireless to create a secondary wireless network if you have non-N devices that you don't want slowing down your Express's N network. The major limitation there is that you can only use WEP security when using a software base station.



    Bonus: All of this is behind my plasma TV and the mini uses the TV for it's display. So I can play movies from the mini from FrontRow. And you can even administer it all with Leopard's screen sharing functionality if you don't want to turn on the TV!
  • Reply 9 of 20
    bugsnwbugsnw Posts: 717member
    Wiggin has a nice setup. I can give him a run for his money, though.



    I have a newer home so it's mostly wired, although I had to add Ethernet+2 coax in my "TV room" to accommodate the unknown HD future. There I have the High-Def satellite + AppleTV. The wired connections blow away wireless and were worth the effort for stationary devices.



    My AEBS provides the wireless for the laptop as well as the Wii, which has a nice proprietary interface for News, Sports, etc. There is also a browser for web surfing, but it's not optimized for TV and the output looks pretty nasty.



    Although I have a lampshade iMac in the kitchen for whoever to use, and a laptop, I find myself just going to my office and using my 24" iMac. So that's the focal point and where I have an attached FW800 drive for TM backups. File Sharing and syncing keep it all meshed together and it's blistering fast and reliable.



    Thanks for the great article. I've experienced the same reported wild swings in wireless performance and wondered if it was my lack of understanding of the technology or some other mysterious dark force at work. ;o)
  • Reply 10 of 20
    noob88noob88 Posts: 1member
    Does anyone care about encryption? I use to encrypt my home folder with FileVault, but now that I have Time Capsule and Time Machine running, I can't. Time Machine apparently doesn't play nice with encrypted files. This was a total surprise. I don't even think Time Capsule/Time Machine backups are encrypted. I like a secure wireless network and encryption is another hurdle for those hackers out there. These articles are helpful, but I don't recalled seeing any subjects related to encryption with Time Capsule.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bugsnw View Post


    Wiggin has a nice setup. I can give him a run for his money, though.



    Oh ya? Well, well...my Firewire hard drive is bigger than yours! So there! Na-na!



    Oh crap. My mini doesn't have your iMac's FW800 port...
  • Reply 12 of 20
    jowie74jowie74 Posts: 540member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post


    Oh ya? Well, well...my Firewire hard drive is bigger than yours! So there! Na-na!



    I aspire to Wiggin's setup... Mac Mini is the way for me! (waiting for oh-so-yummy Penryn version )
  • Reply 13 of 20
    jowie74jowie74 Posts: 540member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Users hoping to set up a Gigabit Ethernet network with high performance file sharing should consider other options, because the wired network performance of Time Capsule (and the nearly identical AirPort Extreme) are not exceptional. They are both designed to primarily serve wireless clients.



    Hang on, but in an earlier article you clearly show that Time Capsule backs up about three times faster if it is run as a router as opposed to a client! Now I'm confused again.



    Oh...



    ...I get it now, compared to WIRED. I was confused by the word "clients". *blond*
  • Reply 14 of 20
    [QUOTE=Wiggin;1237046]"Note that the integrated Gigabit Ethernet switch does perform at full speed for connected computers"



    "Thanks for clarifying that! There is a lot of mis-perception on a lot of boards that the Ethernet performance of TC and the Extreme is sub-standard, when it's the TC file server that's really the bottleneck."





    So, If I connect my MBP via ethernet to AEBS (or TC as it's really a TC review) and also connect a NAS box (via ethrnet) as well, am I going to take advantage of the Gigabit speed or not? I'm confused. People are saying computers with a wired connection will be able to sling files at each other at GigE speed and that it's only the "server speed of the internal base station that is lacking when compared to a dedicated file server" I don't exactly understand the nuances here, could someone please explain the difference more plainly.

    I think what's meant is: serving files over ethernet from the internal or USB drives suffers a penalty imposed by the base station server but computers (and I hope NAS boxes) connected by ethernet aren't restricted by this as they are served by the GigE switch.



    How correct or otherwise am I?

    Ben.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    I just sent this to AppleInsider feedback and hope to hear back from them soon:



    In your recent article on Time Capsule you wrote:



    "Time Capsule Wrap Up



    Home users who want the elegance and simplicity of a wireless network will appreciate the easy to configure and use nature of Time Capsule. Thanks to the firmware update adding Time Machine support, users with a 2007 AirPort Extreme likely won't feel the need to upgrade to Time Capsule, particularly if they already have a shared USB drive they're using. "



    This statement is not true. Apple does not in any way state that they support back up wirelessly with Time Machine through anything other than Time Capsule.

    I spent over an hour with Apple Technical support trying to get their help in getting Time Machine to back up to my LaCie 1TB drive connected to my AEBS. After getting to the top tier support person- he carefully explained to me that this functionality was being described by rumor sites, and that it seems some people are able to do it- but it is not supported by Apple in any way.



    As I said before in a forum comment on an earlier portion of your series of articles on Time Capsule- I wish that Apple Insider would be more careful about describing this as if it was a Apple feature- which in fact it is not- and it does not work for everyone. If I am mistaken- please point me to where Apple describes the ability to back up through TIme Machine over an Airport Express Base Station and attached USB hard drive. I will call Apple support again and point them to it and then get the appropriate support I would need to get mine to work.

    If you can't- I would appreciate you printing a clarification on this point so that your readers do not waste time with Apple support like I did trying to get help for something that is a hack.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    [QUOTE=BenJames1;1237144]
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post


    "Note that the integrated Gigabit Ethernet switch does perform at full speed for connected computers"



    "Thanks for clarifying that! There is a lot of mis-perception on a lot of boards that the Ethernet performance of TC and the Extreme is sub-standard, when it's the TC file server that's really the bottleneck."





    So, If I connect my MBP via ethernet to AEBS (or TC as it's really a TC review) and also connect a NAS box (via ethrnet) as well, am I going to take advantage of the Gigabit speed or not? I'm confused. People are saying computers with a wired connection will be able to sling files at each other at GigE speed and that it's only the "server speed of the internal base station that is lacking when compared to a dedicated file server" I don't exactly understand the nuances here, could someone please explain the difference more plainly.

    I think what's meant is: serving files over ethernet from the internal or USB drives suffers a penalty imposed by the base station server but computers (and I hope NAS boxes) connected by ethernet aren't restricted by this as they are served by the GigE switch.



    How correct or otherwise am I?

    Ben.



    You will definitely benefit from the Gigabit Ethernet speeds. However, I can't say to what degree since I don't have the equipment to really stress the bandwidth of Gb Ethernet. Using a MBP connected via Ethernet to an Extreme and in turn connected via Ethernet to a G4 PowerBook with an attached Firewire drive, I've achieved rates up to about 300 Mb/s.



    This is 3 times faster than the real world limits of either Fast Ethernet or 802.11n (both around 70-90 Mb/s). It's also about twice as fast as a USB drive directly connected to my MBP (about 152 Mb/s)! I suspect there there is still more room in the pipe. The 5400 rpm drive in my MBP, or possibly even the Firewire drive, are probably the bottleneck here.



    It should be noted that these numbers are for transferring larger files (ie, photos, music, etc). If you are transferring a large number of small files, a directly connected drive would probably be better since Ethernet (and to an even larger degree wireless) protocols add a lot of overhead when dealing with a large number of small files.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    fuyutsukifuyutsuki Posts: 293member
    1. Mac mini

    2. AirPort Extreme

    3. Newertech MiniStack

    They all share the same plan and stack quite nicely. I use the MiniStack's FireWire hub to connect to my Mac, and its USB hub to plug several AirPort Disks into the AEBS ? one of which is a simple USB flash reader I use for a 24/7 no noise quick personal file server.



    A 1TB Green Power Western Digital SATA hard drive makes a fine complement for this little miniature tower, which serves as a hub for the other Macs at home.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by noob88 View Post


    Does anyone care about encryption? I use to encrypt my home folder with FileVault, but now that I have Time Capsule and Time Machine running, I can't. Time Machine apparently doesn't play nice with encrypted files. This was a total surprise. I don't even think Time Capsule/Time Machine backups are encrypted. I like a secure wireless network and encryption is another hurdle for those hackers out there. These articles are helpful, but I don't recalled seeing any subjects related to encryption with Time Capsule.



    That is a good point. It would be nice to have seamless encryption between your machine and the TM backup but we may have to wait for a different file system to be in place first.



    A quick Google search found these hints:
    Welcome to AI.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    bxs6408bxs6408 Posts: 72member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Taylorman View Post


    I just sent this to AppleInsider feedback and hope to hear back from them soon:



    In your recent article on Time Capsule you wrote:



    "Time Capsule Wrap Up



    Home users who want the elegance and simplicity of a wireless network will appreciate the easy to configure and use nature of Time Capsule. Thanks to the firmware update adding Time Machine support, users with a 2007 AirPort Extreme likely won't feel the need to upgrade to Time Capsule, particularly if they already have a shared USB drive they're using. "



    This statement is not true. Apple does not in any way state that they support back up wirelessly with Time Machine through anything other than Time Capsule.

    I spent over an hour with Apple Technical support trying to get their help in getting Time Machine to back up to my LaCie 1TB drive connected to my AEBS. After getting to the top tier support person- he carefully explained to me that this functionality was being described by rumor sites, and that it seems some people are able to do it- but it is not supported by Apple in any way.



    As I said before in a forum comment on an earlier portion of your series of articles on Time Capsule- I wish that Apple Insider would be more careful about describing this as if it was a Apple feature- which in fact it is not- and it does not work for everyone. If I am mistaken- please point me to where Apple describes the ability to back up through TIme Machine over an Airport Express Base Station and attached USB hard drive. I will call Apple support again and point them to it and then get the appropriate support I would need to get mine to work.

    If you can't- I would appreciate you printing a clarification on this point so that your readers do not waste time with Apple support like I did trying to get help for something that is a hack.



    Hear hear to all of that.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    antoshantosh Posts: 4member
    Thanks for another set of detailed analyses. Your thoughtful 'white paper' style is a breath of fresh air after the majority of chatty but insubstantial blog style reviews. I've only just registered to post but have been reading for a while



    The reason I've finally registered is to give my experience of the Time Capsule... I bought one recently to back up my MBP and to connect my printer wirelessly. My printer is nowhere near my DSL router, so I was going to use the TC as a client on my existing (802.11g) network. My MBP is an early non-'n' model, and I also have an iPhone and Nintendo DS which wouldn't work on 'n' either.



    In my experience, the TC doesn't like not being in charge of the network. I tried various configs of WDS (my router [Thompson SpeedTouch 780] supports it in theory, although apparently there can be incompatibilities among manufacturers). The only ways I could get the TC working were over ethernet or running the network itself. I could have connected it to my router and let it take over, but a) it's not near my printer, b) it's in a very kickable and visible place - I wanted it hidden in a corner to be less stealable.



    To be fair, looking at Apple's pages about the TC, it does only say it'll "extend an existing AirPort-based network", not any old wifi. I do wonder if the difference will be obvious to everyone with an existing non-Apple router, though.



    So I decided to return it, but obviously wanted to wipe my data first - and this was the other problem I found. Whichever mode I chose (from 'quick' to 7 pass), the Airport Utility would only get as far as saying 'waiting for drive', and then just sit there. The drive spun up and appeared to be doing something - in the case of 'zero data' it was active for a long time and then eventually stopped. So I'd guess it probably was wiping, the util just wasn't reporting it. After several attempts (all with the same result) I gave up. The share showed a blank disk, so I'm hoping it's wiped properly...



    I realise this is quite a specific set of circumstances, but the TC (and especially the Airport Utility) didn't give me an impression of reliability, which I value in a backup device



    Antosh



    PS. Hi everyone!
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