Apple Time Capsule Review
Apple Time Capsule 2009 Edition Review
Everybody wishes to backup their data, but in the past, backing up your data meant fiddling with heaps of CDs, non-intuitive software, tape cassettes and multiple DVDs; in short, back up is usually either tedious or complicated. External hard drives came in as a great relief and Apple seems to be providing a simpler solution known as the Time Machine which comes with Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard”, which provides a hard drive for backups as well as AirPort Extreme functionality. The Time Capsule is a wireless base station with built-in hard drive. You will be able to expand its storage by plugging in a USB2.0 hard drive and use it to share a printer and integrate it into the existing wireless networks. It is basically an Airport Extreme base station with a 500GB or 1TB internal hard drive which is designed to be a wireless Time Machine target for one or more Macs as well as a NAS (network attached storage) device.
The eighteen month curse:
Unfortunately, the first Time Capsule released by Apple started to die just about eighteen months of backup. The users of Apple Time Capsule had taken to the web with their complaints about their dead storage and wireless devices and tallied the hardware failures in an effort to convince Apple that there is a problem. A Mac user created an Apple Time Capsule Memorial register went live October 2009 and in one week it had logged more than 300 dead devices. Many users added to the two most popular threads, which together boasted more than 60,000 views and over 600 messages claiming that their Time Capsules failed just without any warning.
Is this the solution?
Apple then released its new version of Time Capsule on November 2009 as an upgrade to the failed model of 2008 and the one released in early 2009, which also had some speed and performance concerns. Without any doubt, the Apple Time Capsule is just one of the very few wireless N routers with built-in storage, making it a rare and simple all in one router and backup option for your home.
Design:
A bigger version of AirPort Extreme:
The minute you look at the Apple Time Capsule, you would realise that it just looks like an oversized AirPort Extreme 802.11n base station, with a chrome Apple logo on top. It is only slightly taller than the base station, but then, has a much larger footprint which might be because of the accommodation of the built-in-hard drive, cooling fan and circuitry. Functionality wise, the Time Capsule is basically just an AirPort Extreme Base Station with a hard drive that is built-in. For a wireless router, we feel that the Time Capsule is bulky, but is relatively compact when compared with the other competing NAS servers. It possesses a clean square design and is classically Apple in white.
Minimal controls:
On the facia of the device, there is just one status light that changes colour according to the working condition of the device. Solid green means that everything is in good working condition, if blue, then it is ready for the wireless client and if the light flashes amber, it simply says that you are in trouble, oops! Your device is in trouble. You will be surprised to find no external antenna, buttons or switches apart from the tiny reset hole on the rear.
Connectivity:
In the rear, you will also find three gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port. You get only three gigabit Ethernet ports, which is one lesser than what most competing routers offer for use with wired clients and the USB port is used to host another External Hard Drive or Printer. To reset the router to its default manufacturer settings, just stick a pin in the hole at the rear of the device.
Capacities:
The latest Apple Time Capsule is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities.
Interface:
No Web Interface:
As in the case of the base device, the Apple Time Capsule does not offer a web interface and this means you have to install the AirPort Utility software that is included to set it up. The software is available in both Mac and Windows versions. The Windows version installs a number of other services too, like Apple’s networking service Bonjour and the AirPort Base Station Agent that runs whenever you system boots up. Installing any new software will have adverse effects on your system’s performance, but without the Bonjour, Window’s will not be able to connect to the device. The AirPort Base Station Agent aids by automatically detecting the shared folders of the Time Capsule.
Most of us prefer devices that you will be able to access and manage via web interface that allows you to get the job done conveniently from any system that is connected to the device over the network. Sadly, Apple is the only networking vendor that does not offer this type of interface. Whereas, vendors like Linksys also offer you with a desktop software application that is also available for both PC and Mac to aid those users who are just not comfortable using browser for the task.
The AirPort Utility:
The AirPort Utility makes setting up the Time Capsule easy for the novice users to its credit. The wizard mode of the utility walks you through the process of configuring step by step. If you are one of those techies and want to customise the router beyond the recommended settings, the utility also offers a manual mode that gives you access to some of the much more advanced functionalities. The Time Capsule demands a restart for any of the changes in the setting to take effect, and this is extremely annoying because, having to do so interrupts the connections of all users and makes the process of setting up very time consuming than we are usually accustomed to. Note that, most of the other high-end routers will be able to apply most of the minor setting changes without a restart. However, there were no gaffes while setting up the Time Capsule and it was all up and running in just ten minutes. Just like its sibling AirPort Base Station Agent, the Apple Time Capsule supports a maximum of fifty clients at a time as per Apple’s specification, which is a lot fewer than the 200 clients that the routers of other vendors claim to support.
Complicated advanced settings:
Though the Time Capsule is easy to use at its most basic configuration, the device can be really frustrating when you would want to use the most advanced features available. For instance, if you wish to add a client to a DHCP Reservation or the Media Access Control address list, you have to reach out for the “Log and Logistics” window in order to view the list of connected clients then, copy the MAC address of the client in question and finally, go back to the list in order to enter it. Whereas, with many of the other routers such as those from D-Link, Linksys and Netgear displays the information much more conveniently and allows you to complete the same task in just a few mouse clicks.
Features:
Networking features:
The Apple Time Capsule is just one of the very few routers who offer very few in terms of networking features and, same is the case with the AirPort Extreme Base Station. Some of the other high end routers like the D-Link 825 and Linksys WRT610n seem to be including a website and service filter which basically allows you to hook up your clients to the network at just press of a button and as an additional advantage; they also have the Dynamic DNS. Unfortunately, the Time Capsule has none of these essential features.
Some of the service providers, especially in college dorms, it requires the users to register a client’s MAC address in order to get access to internet. Again, the Apple Time Capsule does not have this ability in order to replicate the client’s MAC address, while most of the competing routers will be able to take a client’s MAC address as its own.
Wireless:
Moving on to a lighter note, the Time Capsule offers true dual-band Wireless-N and this means that it will offer Wireless-N (802.11n) signal in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies simultaneously, making it support virtually any existing wireless-networking client. But, we found that it offers the users lesser control over the wireless aspect than most routers in market.
Apple recommends you to use the SSID (Same Service Set Identifier), a wireless network for both of the 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wireless-N and it picked the 2.4GHz each and every time. We just were not able to figure out, why exactly it happened and the router did not allow us to manually set the machines to choose the 5GHz band to take advantage of the higher throughput speeds. Hence, we would always recommend you to have a separate wireless network name for each of the bands and so, you can have more control over which band you would like to connect your client to. This will allow you to get the router to work as 2.4GHz only or 5GHz only wireless network is just not possible. Most of the other true dual-band routers give the more control over the router’s wireless functionality. This is not a small issue, as in most situations, you will want to use only the 5GHz band and turn the 2.4GHz band off in order to just save power or even to keep the spectrum cleaner for the other devices. You simply cannot do this with the Time Capsule and this is totally frustrating.
Guest Networking:
In continuation with less control woes of the Apple Time Capsule, you have even less control with its Guest Networking Feature. The Guest Networking Feature allows you to create a separate wireless network that has access to the net, but not to the local resources like your computer or printer. Though the feature worked fine in our trials, we felt that its functionalities were quite limited. All that you could possibly do with this feature is, change the name of the network, apply encryptions to it and just give the guest clients the ability to interact with one another. The Time Capsule will not allow you to choose which band you want the Guest network to operate in and nor does it allow you to make a separate guest network for each of the bands.
Printing:
Now, let us move on to our favourite storage and printing part. We tested the Apple Time Capsule with Samsung and Brother Printers. As we had mentioned previously, you will have to install the Bonjour on any of the Windows-Based machines in which you would want to share either the printer or the Storage on the Time Capsule. You will also have to check this ahead of time, in order to make sure that your printer supports Mac. We also have to let you know that the setup with some printers did not go smoothly and when we plugged in the printer via the USB connection, the Time Capsule refused to show any reaction. The other printer was recognised by the router, but then, there is no Mac version of the printer’s software driver. At the end, we just figured that it would have been easier to install if only there had been a driver, as the printer appeared in Macbook pro’s “Print and Fact” utility. The other routers usually have much better support for the printers.
Apple Time Capsule’s support for USB external hard drives was much better than for the USB printers and in fact, better than AirPort Extreme Base Station’s support. But, it is still far from perfect.
Storage:
Formatting:
The Time Capsule does not read drives that are formatted in the NTFS file system and it reads only the files formatted as FAT32 and Mac OS Extended. Flatly, we can say that it is just harder to format a drive that is larger than 32GB using FAT32 than using NTFS. This is totally ridiculous; as majority of the external hard drives of today are much larger than 32GB and hence, most of the Windows users will not be able to plug-in most of their USB hard drives into the router and expect to share the data contained on it. If you wish to reformat your drive, you will have to use another computer as the Time Capsule does not include a formatting functionality.
The Time Capsule was able to quickly recognise the external hard drive that was formatted using FAT32 and it also worked fine when formatted in the Mac OS Extended file system. As soon as the drive was plugged in, the Time Capsule recognised the drives and began to share them and the sharing feature worked well in Windows as well. However, you will be able to share the hard drives only as one shared folder and you will not be able to make multiple folders and share them separately with different access privileges, which is a common NAS feature. In this case, however, you will be able to use the AirPort Utility to create user accounts that has a private folder of its own.
Backing up:
Time Capsule’s marquee feature is its ability to back up your Macs running Leopard using Time Machine over the network. Apple recommends that you connect your Mac directly to the Time Capsule for the first backup, which makes a copy of all files on your Mac; backing up that much data takes a long time over the network. We backed up my MacBook Pro’s 120GB of data to each Time Capsule connected via Gigabit Ethernet and it took a little over nine hours to complete the first backup. After that initial backup, Time Machine will back up to the Time Capsule every hour, unless the Mac has been powered down or the previous backup took longer than an hour. These hourly backups are incremental that is, they back up only files that have changed, or have been added since the last backup. Such backups take less time and are generally handily accomplished over a wireless connection.
Missing popular features:
The internal hard drive of the Time Capsule allows you to erase its contents and manually archive it to an external hard drive and you will also be able to change the default share name to one of your choice. Unfortunately, you will not be able to physically access or replace the hard drive on your own, while most of the NAS servers and External Hard Drives allow the users to replace the internal hard drives. Apart from file sharing, the Time Capsule does not seem to offer none of the more popular NAS features. As you might be aware by now, the device cannot be used as iTunes or Media server in order to stream digital content from the device to the computers, set-top boxes or even gaming consoles which is just ironic, considering the fact that most of the other NAS servers that we have tested before feature a server for Apple’s own iTunes software. In addition to this, the Time Capsule will not be able to download files on its own or work as an FTP or HTTP server; both the features which are usually found in NAS servers.
Remote access:
The Apple Time Capsule allows the Mac users to access the shared folder remotely via the Internet using a MobileMe account, to which you will have to subscribe after the free trial offer of 60 days. During our tests, everything seemed to work just fine as if a computer was connected to the device directly through its wireless or wired connectivity. The shared folder appeared as it was when accessed via the local network, but it took a little bit longer because of the internet connection. We will also be able to make use of the Time Capsule’s settings by this way via the AirPort Utility. Note that, the remote access feature is Mac only and is not available for Windows users, even if you possess a MobileMe Account.
Another fact that you must be aware of is that, the remote access feature might not work at all if you access the net via a corporate network, where certain services of the Base Station can be blocked for security reasons. Though it is very true that the corporations tend to have tight control over their networks, some of the other NAS server’s remote access features, such as those of the Western Digital My Book World Edition which worked fine with some of the corporate networks. The way the Time Capsule shares its files with the remote users is very disappointing, as the other NAS servers, like the Synology and WD allows the users to share files with multiple users or share photo albums, but the Time Capsule only works with one MobileMe account at a time. And, unlike the Time Capsule, most of the other routers support DDNS, which allows you to set up remote access without having to pay anything at all. But, you need to have some networking know-how in order to make that work.
Operating System:
If you have the Mac OS 10.5 Leopard installed, the Time Capsule compliments the Time Machine well, which is Apple’s fancy backup software. All that you have to do is, run the Time Machine utility and choose the Time Capsule as the backup destination. The actual time taken to do any kind of backup job could be really long and it totally depends on the amount of data you have on the system’s hard drive. Most of the time, you would actually want to connect the computer to the Time Capsule through one of its three wired connections for the first job of backup. For the Windows users who want to use the Time Capsule as a robust backup solution, you will have to invest in a backup software application such as Acronics. Although the built-in backup utilities of both Window’s XP and Window’s vista work with Time Capsule, as they would with any other external storage device, they, especially XP is far from being comprehensive. Again, this is another disappointment as most of the network storage devices we have reviewed comes bundled with backup software and does not require any additional utilities to work comprehensively in Windows. The Time Capsule also does not incorporate a way to automatically backup the contents of its internal hard drive onto an external hard drive. Hence, in order to preserve all your important files and data, you may have to do it manually.
Security features:
The security features have been done similar to that of the AirPort Extreme Base Station. The Apple Time Capsule features a built-in firewall and also supports WPA2 and also a 128-bit WEP for the purpose of wireless encryption. The device also supports RADIUS access control, which allows you to manage wireless clients from a centralised location. Though Time Capsule does not give parents the freedom to filter specific websites, it will allow them to set time limits for kid’s access, provided, they follow the steps to get the MAC address for their kid’s computers.
Performance:
In performance testing, the new Time Capsule showed an enhanced performance than the old one. In 5GHz throughput test, the new Time Capsule scored 60.4MBps and the old one scored 57.8MBps and the difference is similar in the 2.4GHz band with the new Time Capsule scoring 29.4MBps and the old one scored 24.9MBps. Coming to range test, the new Time Capsule scored 33.8MBps at 2.4GHz faster than the 20.3MBps of the older Time Capsule. At 5GHz, the new Time Capsule scored 51.5MBps and the older device could not hold a 5GHz connection at that range long enough to complete the test. In other tests too, like the mixed mode test and NAS tests, the Nov2009 Time Capsule showed an enhanced performance than the early2009 version.
Heat:
The Time Capsule was very hot throughout our testing and it made us concerned about the lifespan of the device. We recommend that you leave it in an open and well ventilated space when in use. As we had mentioned in the introduction, there were numerous claims from consumers that the Time Capsule dies after 18 months of use. So, we hope Apple take the necessary steps.
Service and support:
Apple offers its Time Capsule one year standard support. This is extremely less considering the fact that the device has a non-removable, built-in hard drive and also runs very hot. We recommend you to purchase an extended AppleCare coverage plan and also note that, if your Apple computer or Apple TV is covered under Apple Care, then your Time Capsule is also covered. Apple offers 90 days of complimentary, toll free phone support and as always, at Apple’s website you will be able to view FAQs, troubleshooting articles, user forums and also the manuals and software.
Verdict:
Apple Time Capsule is one of those devices that some geeks were just waiting for. Once again Apple has delivered another impressive product. Its elegant integration of two things most people need in their lives network storage and a high-speed wireless router makes it a highly useful product for both Mac and PC users. Obviously, Mac users will get more mileage out of it due to its ability to work with Time Machine so it is less of a must-have for PC users. It is a shame we ran into a few setup issues because once we ironed the problems out the unit performed flawlessly.
The bad news is that it is really expensive. Even the latest versions remain costly and though the device has a much improved performance than its previous version, it still seems to be suffering from some of the key shortcomings such as, lack of many of the NAS and networking features, no iTunes, a nonuser serviceable hard drive and no web interface management or media server support. For that cost, you will be able to get the Linksys WRT610N plus a 2TB version of Western Digital MyBook Mirror Edition external hard drive, which will give you all the basic functions of a Time Capsule as well as the missing features that we have mentioned above. However, we also have to admit that Apple’s Time Capsule is the only wireless router and network storage combo that comes in a very good looking package.
Apple Time Capsule 1TB, 2TB - Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Apple |
| Model Name | Apple Time Capsule |
| Model Numbers | MC344LL/A |
| Drive type | NAS server and Storage device |
| Capacities Available | 1TB and 2TB |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4” |
| Weight | 3.5 pounds |
| Colours available | White |
| Host Connectivity | Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Hard Drive Type | Standard - 3.5″ x 1/3H |
| Interface Type | Serial ATA-300 |
| Networking Type | Wireless access point - Integrated |
| Data Link Protocol | Ethernet, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet |
| Storage | 1TB or 2TB Serial ATA server-grade hard disk drive |
| Interfaces | One Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL or cable modem Three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting computers or network devices USB port for connecting a USB printer or USB external hard drive 802.11n wireless |
| Wireless protocols | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Frequency Bands | 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously |
| Software included | AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows AirPort Disk Utility for Windows Bonjour for Windows |
| Compatibility | Interoperable with Wi-Fi Certified 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n enabled Mac computers, iPhone, iPod touch and Windows-based PCs NAT, DHCP, PPPoE, VPN Passthrough (IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP), DNS Proxy, SNMP, IPv6 (6to4 and manual tunnels) |
| Package | Time Capsule AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows AirPort Disk Utility for Windows Bonjour for Windows Power cord Printed and electronic documentation |
| Power | Line voltage: 100-240V AC Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase Maximum continuous power: 34W |
| Security | Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA/WPA2)2 Wireless security (WEP) configurable for 40-bit and 128-bit encryption MAC address filtering NAT firewall Support for RADIUS authentication 802.1X, PEAP, LEAP, TTLS, TLS, FAST Time-based access control |
| Warranty | One year |
Leave a Reply