Time Capsule Question

[stiphone]

Originally Posted by dimensiondvdrob

i'll take a more in-depth review and as much info as possible, please.

Ok. I'll try my best to do a in-depth review of the Time Capsule that I have.

Before I start, please note that the Time Capsule would be required to connect to all my systems running off the local network. (WiFi). The equipments I have at home are 2 Macs (1 MacBook/1 MacBook Pro : Both with Leopard), 1 AppleTV, 1 Chumby, 1 Windows Vista Laptop and my beloved iPhone. I have not tried connecting my Windows Vista laptop yet as I do not really use it now unless I'm playing games. Been too busy recently.

Anyway, here goes : Setting up the Time Capsule is painless. It's the fastest and most convenient router that I have ever set up. It requires the user to install the installation disk on one of your Macs before you plug in the power supply to Time Capsule. Once that is done, follow the instructions and power up the Time Capsule. Log in to Time Capsule from the Mac that you have done the initial installation. Set up your network (i.e Network Name, security, etc) I choose a mixed network of 802.11n/g cause I wanted to use the faster 'n' network for my MacBooks and AppleTV. However, I still have some devices that require only 'g' network.

After that, Time Capsule will restart itself and bingo, you should be able to find the network. Initial impressions are that the 'n' network is a lot faster than my previous Linksys 'g' network. This is based on my wife and my feel. I did not use any tools to record and compare between the network speeds.

I managed to get all my other equipment onto the network without much of a hassle except for the Windows Vista laptop which I have not set up yet. However, I do not foresee a problem setting it up to the network too.

Next, I connect my laser printer to Time Capsule, logged into Time Capsule and configured it for wireless printing. After restarting Time Capsule, everything works beautifully.

Following that, I had my computer started up Time Machine and started backing up wirelessly. Took me about 24 hours to get the whole laptop backed up as it was the initial backup of about 150GB. Once i'm done, I got my wife's MacBook to backup wirelessly too. Hers was a lot faster as there isn't much files on her MacBook to back up. I would state that integrating Time Machine and Time Capsule to backup wirelessly is a breeze. It cannot be easier. Except that you must be prepared to wait for 24 hours for the initial backup.

Time Machine Network Hard Drive : Open finder in Leopard and bingo, Time Machine is there. Log in to Time Capsule with the same password that you used to setup Time Capsule and 'ka-Chinng!!!' You're in. From there, you can copy files onto the drive, create new folders, basically do anything that you'll like to it and both machines are able to access the same drives.

I subsequently decided to hide the network name. (to increase my network privacy and security). However, once I've done that, everything seems to be frozen for a while and I'll have to re-register my network on all the Macs. Funny thing is that I could not find my printer and print wirelessly now. Just now, I could not even find my network hard drive too. I'm planning to unhide my network name and then try to sort it out once i have the time.

Overall : I must say that I'm impress with Time Capsule with the easy installation and integration of both g/n network. Sharing files between my wife and me are no longer a problem and we have noticed a significant increase in surfing speeds. I love my Time Capsule and would encourage anyone who like to backup and share files wirelessly to get one. It really is worth the money in my opinion.

That's all I have to share. Let me know if you need any more details and I'll be more than happy to share it with you before you make a purchase.

[depthnerd]

Originally Posted by stiphone

Ok. I'll try my best to do a in-depth review of the Time Capsule that I have.

Before I start, please note that the Time Capsule would be required to connec...blah blah blah...

...That's all I have to share. Let me know if you need any more details and I'll be more than happy to share it with you before you make a purchase.

I have no idea what you said but if you spent that much time for a eiC member you automatically get a Thanks from me.

[stiphone]

Originally Posted by depthnerd

I have no idea what you said but if you spent that much time for a eiC member you automatically get a Thanks from me.

Well, thanks for the encouragement. Some of the members requested for a review of Time Capsule and since I had it, why not tell them what I thought about it. I'm not a professional reviewer (if there's such a term) but I'll try my best!!

[Jhors2]

Good review, that was an awesome read. Integration between macs has now been made seemless with this device. Keep us updated on the status of hiding the network name as that is very advantageous where I live. Thanks again!!

[stiphone]

Originally Posted by Jhors2

Good review, that was an awesome read. Integration between macs has now been made seemless with this device. Keep us updated on the status of hiding the network name as that is very advantageous where I live. Thanks again!!

Well, i've actually tried hiding the network name again and it seems to work only after you have gone to all your computers and re-register them to the network. After testing it out for a few days, that are a number of times when the network drops off by itself. Resetting the airport network adapter seems to solve it. There were also instances when I lose contact with my Time Machine and could not find it in Finder. I had to restart my computer and everything works fine again.

Right now, I've gone back to unhiding my network name and it has been a week. everything is smooth sailing and works seamlessly throughout the network. I had not faced any of the problems I mentioned above thus far and have decided to stay in this configuration.

Let me know if you need any more details. Cheers.

[phsycology]

I also have time capsule, and its great, except that the first backup takes aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesss sss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dimensiondvdrob]

i just hooked up my time capsule, and everything is working great! i hid my network (making it private) and everything works great. my iMac is hooked up to a wired connection, but my laptop works fine on the network and my iphones also work great. no network drops at all. but i do agree, the first backup takes forever.

[acosmichippo]

i really want one of these.

once my bank account recovers a bit from my Macbook Pro purchase, i will have one.

[eTEK]

So like with time capsule i can save my movies i have on my mac onto this and i will be able to access it anywhere around my house?
and also can you use it wirelessly with windows vista laptops?

[acosmichippo]

yes and yes.