Apple announced Time Capsule, a combination wireless access point, network storage (500GB or 1TB), and remote print server at Mac World in January, 2008. It is positioned as an Apple AirPort Extreme Basestation (AEBS) extension for those that need the AEBS’s wireless capabilities, along with network attached storage that actually works.
In our house with have three Apple computers. I use a 15″ MacBook Pro which spends 90%of the time on an Ethernet connection. The wife has a circa 2005 iBook connected via Wi-Fi, when it’s not spending time at Starbucks. A Mac mini, connected via Ethernet to the home network, is used by the kids daily.
Prior to Leopard, I used SuperDuper to create backups on the three computers to a Linux box running samba file sharing. Time Machine is a much more elegant solution, and allows the wife and kids to access backed up information without my assistance. However, the AEBS does not allow for Apple supported Time Machine backups when connecting a USB external drive.
Enter Time Capsule
Luckily (or unluckily to the wallet), I wanted to replace an older Linksys WRT-54g router with an 802.11n device. That, along with the desire to finally use Time Machine to backup the Mac’s, made it an easier decision. I bought the 500GB unit. There are a few external USB drives floating around the house, making it easier to add and scale storage over time.
A Configuration Overview
The network in my house is centralized on an older Cisco 2924EN-XL switch. All devices, with the exception of wireless ones, are connected directly to it. This includes workstations, DHCP/DNS servers, printers, and the Internet router/firewall (pfSense). The wireless access points (AEBS and Time Capsule) are also connected to the switch via the LAN ports (not the WAN uplink port) and run in bridged mode This allows Wi-Fi devices to connect and get IP assignments from the DHCP server.
Installation and Use (Round 1)
The Time Capsule installed with no apparent problems. I say apparent, but I did have to run the AirPort Utility while on wireless to connect to the Time Capsule. Ethernet would show the device details, but wouldn’t allow for a configuration download.
Once the unit was configured similarly to the AEBS (wireless with WPA2, bridged mode, static IP assignment, etc.) and the disk named and configured, I connected my MacBook Pro to Ethernet and started the Time Machine backup. It found the Time Capsule with no problems and the disk information I created. However, once the “preparing” portion was completed (why does this take forever the first time?), transfer speed was about 300-400Kbit/second. Well under the 100Mbit speed between the laptop and the Time Capsule device. The speed was confirmed to be slow by simply trying to copy a file locally to the Time Capsule.
I visit the Apple forums for the AEBS/Time Capsule. Wow. Probably around 10:1 posts hating on the product. My initial fears of getting a lemon product from Apple were starting to come true.
I tried various things such as erasing the disk, power cycling the unit, changing speed/duplex settings on the switch, etc. Finally I called Apple and started the wait. One hour on hold. Speakerphones are great for this, and Apple does have decent on-hold music. But still,an hour Apple? That is more time, in total, then I spent on my MacBook Pro battery replacement.
Installation and Use (Round 2)
Once I got a specialist on the phone, we went through some basic troubleshooting. The few changes and checks made didn’t have any effect. Finally, he had me factory reset the unit by depressing the reset button for 10 seconds with the power connected. But when hooked up to a LAN port on the switch, I couldn’t connect. In hindsight I bet this due to the fact the unit has a 10.x.x.x address on the LAN ports and it’s own DHCP server.
After moving the Time Capsule and cross connecting an Ethernet cable to my laptop, I was able to run the AirPort Utility and reconfigure the unit. The initial configuration was by the assisted config (I normally run advanced). After that, I assigned a static IP address, set the mode to bridged, and placed it back on the switch.
It worked fine and a file copy was at a nominal speed for 100Mbit Ethernet. Sweetness! The only glitch was when I redid the wireless to match the existing SSID and WPA2 settings, the Ethernet side was reset to Internet Connection mode with it’s own DHCP range and address. A final change of that (thank goodness for laptops) completed the configuration.
I’m now 80% of the way through the last Mac establishing the Time Machine backup. The other two systems have the sparse images created and are doing the interim backups with no problems.
Overall, wireless coverage is much improved over the combo AEBS and WRT-54G. Both WAP’s are in the basement, and in the past coverage two floors up was 1-2 bars at most. Now both the laptops and Apple TV have 4-5 bars and nominal speed. No more buffering on YouTube videos.
The Good
The product, so far, meets my expectations. This, in and of itself, makes the product a thumbs-up, especially for Apple households.
- I like the simplicity of Apple products for most “just work” situations–Time Capsule meets this requirement
- Supported Time Machine backups
- Consistent Interface between the AEBS and Time Capsule using AirPort Utility
- Feature Rich – Internet connection, NAT, printer sharing, network storage, and 802.11n
- Gigabit ports for LAN and WAN. I can see the LAN port use, but gig speed for WAN (for DSL or Cable modem–per the literature)
The Bad
There are some failings of this product. Some are not particular to my use, but may affect other users.
- Price – USD $299 for the 500GB model, and USD $499 for 1TB Time Capsule
- Simplicity – For people doing anything more that casual use and Internet access, such as bittorrent, online gaming, or VoIP, there are not a lot of controls over quality of service or port address translation
- Resets – Some changes to the configuration may require the unit to restart. Which really stinks when your 95% of the way through an initial Time Machine backup and get a “disconnected” message
- Tech Support – One hour on hold is way out of line for support, even if it is a toll free number.
The Ugly
I’m pretty sure my problems were due to a corrupted configuration. I’ll watch out for this in the future, and may change my rating of the unit based upon performance, resets, etc.
Summary
The Time Capsule is a welcome addition to my network. The west end of the house now has great coverage, backups are flowing, and the shared storage via Bonjour will be easier for the family to use. In a bridged mode the features of the unit are available by both wired and wireless systems.
Did you have any local connectivity problems using Time Capsule Gavin -I have 2 x Mac Pro’s connected to the TC using ethernet and this all works fine – internet, backup, networking – all good! Except – if I turn the firewall on, on either Mac Pro, I cant connect fro the other machine. I still get internet, time machine backups continue fine – just no network access between machines. Any ideas whats going on here – Apple are clueless.
Damien,
I’m not sure what may be going on int his case. I have only used my Time Capsules in a bridged configuration. I googled your question and see the thread you started on the Apple forums. You are correct they have dumbed down the firewall preference panel, but you can still reach ipfw via the command line. Here’s a blog entry that goes through it. Hope it helps, and read the comments in case there is a problem.
http://taisteal.atomiclemur.com/2007/10/living-with-leopards-firewall/
http://www.gavinadams.org – now in my rss reader)))
Hi Gavin:
I stumbled across your post and I think you’ve accomplished exactly what I want to accomplish. If I undertake this project, would you be willing to help guide me through it?
Thanks…
Gene