Time Capsule instead of Airport Express?

[Giuanniello]

I am using an Airport Express to extend the LAN, a cable connects it to a router (used as a switch) and the AP simply serves as a WiFi extension of the LAN, I was thinking to replace it with a Time Capsule (found some A1355 with 1TB disk for cheap) as to also have a backup device along with the AP.

Question being, not very informed about the Time Capsule series, would it work the way I intend it to? Is it any difficult to eventually replace the disk with a more capable one?

Grazie

 

[glenthompson]

Yes, the Time Capsule will work in in your scenario. You will have to put it in bridge mode since you're connecting it to another router. Replacing the drive isn't too difficult. Instructions are on Ifixit and rated easy to do. Not sure if there is a limit on maximum drive size.

 

[Giuanniello]

Grazie mille!

 

[RabidMacFan]

Time Capsule has been discontinued for a while now, I don't think it's received a software update in over a year. You may be better off buying a NAS device from QNAP or Synology and setting one of those up for Time Machine instead. Using the NAS in RAID mode may also provide better integrity for your backups. I had a time capsule backup get corrupted a few years ago, and I was never able to get the data on it back.

 

[Boyd01]

If it has a 1tb disk then it's a pretty old model, those were introduced in 2008 and discontinued in 2011. These older time capsules don't support 802.11ac wifi, so they will be slow. I have a 2013 2tb Time Capsule (was also available in a 3tb version) and it has the fast 802.11ac wifi. 2013 was the final model of the Time Capsule and it was discontinued in 2018. The internal disk is very slow on the 2013 model (also kind of noisy in a quiet room).

Some info about the different models here

AirPort Time Capsule - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I only use mine as a wifi access point now and have my 2012 Mini setup as a server and time machine destination. IMO, there are much better backup solutions than a time capsule today - especially the old, cheap ones you're looking at. With one of those old 1tb time capsules, I doubt it would be worth the effort to swap the disk, the slow wifi will be the bottleneck no matter how fast the disk is.

 

[Boyd01]

I had a time capsule backup get corrupted a few years ago, and I was never able to get the data on it back.

Three times over the years, I got an alert that my Time Capsule disk failed an integrity check and my backup needed to be deleted and started over again from scratch. I had a clone anyway, but that did not inspire a lot of confidence, especially when it happened again.

 

[Giuanniello]

I already own a QNAP NAS but not for backups, I upgraded with twin 4TB disks to run RAID1 but they are already filled up (movies for the most part and GoPro files), 6TB disks are still too expensive to think of an upgrade so I need a cheap solution with 1-2TB I could remotely store and backup my main Mini onto it through WiFi, maybe one of my two 2008 MacMini could do it, upgrade the disk and setup as a server to store backups

Grazie e buona domenica

 

[RabidMacFan]

I already own a QNAP NAS but not for backups, I upgraded with twin 4TB disks to run RAID1 but they are already filled up (movies for the most part and GoPro files), 6TB disks are still too expensive to think of an upgrade so I need a cheap solution with 1-2TB I could remotely store and backup my main Mini onto it through WiFi, maybe one of my two 2008 MacMini could do it, upgrade the disk and setup as a server to store backups

Grazie e buona domenica

It sounds like you made up your mind. But one other option is to use the USB ports on your QNAP to add another disk. You can get a USB connected 1TB solid state SSD for about $150 to plug in to your NAS, and it will probably be faster than the time capsule.