Time Capsule 500GB... Should I or shouldn't I?

jowie74jowie74
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hi all,



I'm itching to sort out our wireless network. The Netgear router we use seems to be very dodgy, sometimes you have to wait for 30 seconds then hit refresh again, and then finally the page loads. I have a feeling our problems lie in neighbourhood wireless saturation. Aside from these problems, I'd like to be using Time Machine properly and not just backing up to a fat, power hungry G4 tower all the time.



I've been reluctant to buy since here in the UK, the price of the 500GB just went up by £30. Okay, it's not a great deal but it's a bit of a kick in the teeth, you don't expect technology to go up in price. But the other 'problem' is that all three Macs we own are 11g not 11n, so I don't know if I'm wasting money on an expensive box of tricks when I won't be using its full capabilities. This dual band thing, does than relate to 11n only, or would 11g make use of it?



That's all really, just wanted to find out what other people thought. I really need to get a new router so I wondered if this route was a good one to take...



Thanks for your advice!



:-Joe

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    jowie74jowie74 Posts: 540member
    Sorry for the bump, anyone have any thoughts on this? Especially the 11n/11g issue?



    Thanks!
  • Reply 2 of 6
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,176member
    The "dual-band" thing means that a single Airport Extreme (or Time Capsule) is capable of broadcasting both a "G" network AND an "N" network simultaneously... very handy if you have both flavors of clients trying to access it. (With the previous generation of Airports, you needed two separate routers to establish a dual-band network.)



    The Airport/Time Cap is certainly more expensive than someone else's router, but the seamless integration, easy setup with your Macs seems to make it worth the premium for many (myself included).



    Get the new ones (with "N" / dual-band)... because the next Macs you'll buy will have "N" wireless. You'll then be able to take advantage of it without having to upgrade your router again.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,392member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post




    Get the new ones (with "N" / dual-band)... because the next Macs you'll buy will have "N" wireless. You'll then be able to take advantage of it without having to upgrade your router again.



    I think the new Dual Band stuff is worth it for Guest Access alone.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    jowie74jowie74 Posts: 540member
    Thanks for the great information. Like you say, it will future-proof me which is great. Do you know anything about its "G" range at all? One of the main problems we have is that the Netgear router we have is a bit dodgy in some parts of the room (although that could just be airwave saturation). Is the TC good for "G" range?



    And what's this Guest Access thing, how does it relate to Dual Band?



    Thanks!
  • Reply 5 of 6
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 868member
    I honestly think 500 GB is nothing for TIme Machine. You need at least 2 TB to even do anything for multiple computers, say 1 laptop and 1 desktop. I would go with an airport extreme and save a little money and then connect any drive you want. One thing tho is both the new time capsule and airport extreme are pretty nice now with dual band.



    Laters...
  • Reply 6 of 6
    jowie74jowie74 Posts: 540member
    I have considered that option. However there are some (possibly questionable) reasons I'd rather go with the Time Capsule...



    1. Built-in power supply. Cabling needs to be tucked down the back of a huge shelving unit and this would make my life a lot easier.

    2. Tidiness... One unit would be preferable, it will be placed in a visible area of the lounge so that would be preferable.



    Also, 500GB is perfectly good enough for now. I am currently using a 250GB drive to backup everything I need on three machines. 500GB would give me double backup space, and as and when that becomes too small I'll upgrade the drive for a lower price than the 1TB model difference.



    I would like to ask though - and this could sway me - how much power does the Time Capsule draw? Does anyone know?
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