My dad came home and he was checking out our new wireless setup. He then goes to me and says, can you turn off the broadcast? I said I could and went about doing so. I turned it off and reset Time Capsule. After that only my Macbook Pro was able to connect. My iPod Touch couldn’t connect to the internet anymore. It keeps disconnecting. Bummer.

I spent a lot of time trying various configurations. I went as far as reseting Time Capsule and restoring it to default settings. Still no dice. No our laptops (mine, mom, dad and brother) can all connect, except for my iPod Touch and my dad’s iPhone.

Sucks really. I’m still trying to research what’s causing this. Apparently Time Capusle has several issues as indicated in this discussion.

I like the Time Capsule concept but man, I didn’t think it would be this hard to set up and make it work with all our devices. My old Linksys router didn’t give me this much headache… Grrr…

I’ll post my findings soon.

Post from: EveryJoe

Time Capsule Woes

Let’s look at some pros and cons of each solution

Time Capsule
Pros
1. Simple all-in-one solution
2. No clutter
3. Easier to set-up

Cons
1. Hard disk isn’t user replaceable (at least not by most people, the procedure can be seen here)
2. If something goes wrong with Time Capsule you lose all the functionalities if you want to have it repaired
3. Relatively expensive compared to an AEBS + External hard drive solution

AEBS + External Drive
Pros
1. Cheaper outright cost
2. Expandable storage, you can also choose what hard drive you use
3. If the AEBS breaks you can still plug-in your external hard drive to your Mac

Cons
1. A more complicated set-up
2. Cluttered solution

Armed with these facts, I’m inclined to go to an AEBS solution. Why? Well I really love the idea of wireless backups and prior to the software update I would have gone with the Time Capsule but now that you can also do that with AEBS and an external hard drive, the option of being able to change the storage device appeals to me more.

You can also reformat the external hard drive easier than the Time Capsule. As of this writing I have not found a way to format the Time Capsule apart from taking out the hard drive slapping it on to an external enclosure then formating it.

How about you? Which would you prefer and why?

Post from: EveryJoe

Which Is Better Time Capsule or AEBS with an External Hard Drive?

Apple released updates for Time Machine and Aiport a few days ago and according to Mac Rumors some of its readers are writing in to say that you can now backup wirelessly to an Airport Extreme Base Station with an external USB drive attached.

Now this is certainly a good thing. An Airport Extreme with Gigabit Ethernet costs $179. You can buy a external drive such as a Lacie 500gb external drive for $115 at Comp USA. That totals to $294. That’s 5 dollars cheaper than the 500GB Time Capsule and you can even get more savings by getting a bigger hard drive.

Certainly something to consider. Check out the story here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Time Capsule Functionality in Airport Extreme Base Station

In Walt’s tests Time Capsule worked well in both Mac and Windows environment. However in OS X Tiger and Windows Vista and XP, Time Capsule is detected as a remote hard drive. You can connect to it and move files to and from Time Capsule. Time Capsule also seems to work with other backup software other than Time Machine but Time Machine is by far the easiest and seamless way of backing up. Even if it does lack the feature to boot from the backup it makes.

The backup program of Windows XP Pro worked well with Time Capsule but Vista didn’t fare as well. Microsoft said it was an issue with a new security feature.

Backing up is really one of the most important things that a computer user should do and one that’s also often neglected. Time Capsule promises to help in this aspect. From what Walt wrote it might just do the trick.

Post from: EveryJoe

Walt Mossberg Takes A Look At Time Capsule

One of the products announced during MacWorld got me excited. Apple announced Time Capsule a “companion product” to Leopard’s Time Machine. Time Capsule is an Airport Extreme Base Station and wireless hard drive all rolled into one.

I’m really a fan of making things simple. I hate complications and that goes for everything in my life. From relationships to gadgets, the simpler the better. Time Machine and Time Capsule makes backing up as simple as possible.

I know backing up is important. All of us should do it and yet most of us don’t. Why? because it’s such a tedious task. It’s always a chore to back up data. Time Machine made it a bit easier but you still had to keep plugging in the external drive when you did back-ups. At least for notebook users. Desktop users wasn’t as bad since you can keep the drive plugged in.

Time Machine and Time Capsule makes backing up so easy that it’s a sin not to back up your files.

While I’m still deciding if I’d like a MacBook Air, I definitely want a Time Capsule. I don’t even need to think twice about it. This is one gadget that I know will make life easier for me. I’m already thinking of replacing my aging Linksys wireless router and replacing it with this one. I’ll probably use the Linksys to extend my WiFi network if it’s possible. At $299 for the 500GB model, the Time Capsule is too good to pass up.

For complete specs of Time Capsule, check it out here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Time Capsule: Backing Up At Its Simplest