Hi Peter I had a Plan B but …
My 5 year old Time Capsule had indicators of pending failure (intermittent orange light, auto restart of TC) towards the end of last year. Web searches showed that the Netgear wireless router AC1750 (R6400v2) with an external hard drive was promoted as a TC/TM replacement. It was available as a post-Christmas sale special at around $160. Several times during the week it took me to install it I was ready to throw it away and buy a genuine $420 Time Capsule. It does work reliably as a WiFi router. I don’t use it as a Time Machine. It’s network printer facility needed constant care and attention. Its support documentation …! Hence Plan C - buy an Apple Airport Express ($300) and use an external hard drive for TM. As it turned out it was probably the WiFi/router component of the Time Capsule that was about to fail. I’ve had the TC in bridge mode with both the internal drive and an attached external drive for Time Machine, and a network printer - and use it as an ethernet hub too. No problems at all. A five year life expectancy is probably industry standard. I try and keep things alive a little bit longer. I know much less than Daniel about future parts/support for a superseded (but new) TC. But for ease of mind and comfort “for the foreseeable future”, go for an Apple TC! Cheers Alan > On 18 May 2018, at 1:00 pm, Daniel Kerr <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Peter > > Quick reply, as just walking into another job. > But basically - either a wireless type hard drive. If the Time Capsule works > but internal drive “fails” then you can use a USB drive plugged into it and > “ignore” internal drive and use external drive. (done this for a few > clients). A NAS can be used as a Time Machine backup - some specially say > they’ll work with it - e.g. Synology off top of head. > Just a few suggestions there. > > I would imagine Time Capsule will keep going for a while. As it’s just a > “box” that keeps working. Only thing may be Airport Utility that stops being > able to work. But I don’t see that happening for many years to come. Apple > will keep parts for Time Capsule up to 5 years (as that’s legally how long > they have to support hardware - same as other manufacturers for parts of > computer hardware). > > Kind regards > Daniel > > Sent from my iPhone 7 > > --- > Daniel Kerr > MacWizardry > > Phone: 0414 795 960 > Email: <daniel AT macwizardry.com.au> > Web: <http://www.macwizardry.com.au> > > > **For everything Apple** > > NOTE: Any information provided in this email may be my personal opinion and > as such should be taken accordingly, and may not be the views of MacWizardry. > Any information provided does not offer or warrant any form of warranty or > accept liability. It would be appreciated that if any information in this > email is to be disseminated, distributed or copied, that permission by the > author be requested. > >> On 18 May 2018, at 12:47 pm, [email protected] wrote: >> >> HI WAMUG users. I have been following a current thread but Daniel's comment >> about the Time Capsule demise in that thread on the horizon made me type >> this one. If I were to buy a spare Time Capsule, would the software be >> compatible forever even with Apple no longer supporting it? >> >> What is Plan B in the event of the Time Capsule failing (hardware failure) >> for those that do not have a spare Time Capsule - and then eventually when >> no spare exists? >> >> Regards >> >> Pete. >> >> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >> Settings & Unsubscribe - >> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
