Can I make my airport time capsule into ONLY a external hard drive?

I currently live in Japan and we recently bought a wireless plan through a Japanese company which provides their own modem. You basically connect this modem into the power and WHALA instant internet. It does not allow me to use my airport as router, but I still need to back up all my info since i only have a mini mac which hardly has space, into my time capsule. I really want to keep my time capsule because eventually we will move back to the states and I know i'm going to be right back on it.

As long as the router has ethernet ports you are fine.
Plug the TC WAN port into the router and set the TC to bridge mode .. all will be good.
On the other hand if the ISP has provided you a wireless only device you will find it very hard to setup the TC. It cannot readily join a foreign router (non-apple that is).
In this case, plug the TC directly into your mini by ethernet. And then use it without wireless. (keep the wireless for your internet connection). You might need to do a bit of fiddling .. I can give more details on how to do this setup. But I must say for now it is probably easier to put the TC away and just buy a USB drive. Faster, and much more reliable using a directly connected drive.. especially if the Mini is 2012 model with USB3 ports. But even USB2 is faster than TC.

Similar Messages

  • How do I use my airport time capsule extreme as a external hard drive

    How do I access files and save files to my airport time capsule like its an external HD.  How do I access the external HD that is connected to the time capsule?Ai

    The TC is no different to any other network drive... you mount the drive and copy the files to it.. or copy files from it.
    Same with USB drive plugged into the TC.
    BUT.. TC is not suitable for live files.. ie files you are actively editing and working on. It is storage.. not working disk space.. and the USB drive more so.. it is slow.. much slower than same USB plugged into the computer by at least half.
    And USB 2 wasn't that quick to begin with. The TC itself is slow.. although over wireless it is actually wireless that is the hold up.
    Here is what I normally say for this question. It is asked every day.. often several times.
    Store files on the TC.
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/24380694#24380694
    This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
    The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
    It cannot be partitioned. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
    Major issues.
    1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup. You will also need a USB drive somewhere else in the network to act as target for backups.. and if you use the TC itself over wireless you will experience a new definition of pain and suffering.. slow.. extremely slow..
    (cf Belly of the sarlacc http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sarlacc)
    2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great.
    3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no controls.
    4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
    5. iTunes will constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is too slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
    6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
    7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
    Read pondini for some work arounds.
    Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

  • How do (or can) I use my new time capsule as a wireless external hard drive?

    I want to access my time capsule as an external hard drive, both from two Macbooks (on is a Macbook Pro, the other regular), as wall as two PC's that are both on the wireless network in my home.  How can I do this?

    Click here and follow the instructions.
    (59996)

  • Can i use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a backe up?? im thinking for music and photos

    Can I use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a back up?  I'm thinking for music and photos

    Nickles96 wrote:
    Hello friends.. I have a similar question, in that I would like to purchase the 2TB TC for use as a NAS device, in addition to taking advantage of the Air Port extreme.. Then I could dump my Linksys router.
    I was originally looking at a Synology NAS solution, but the TC seems like it can meet my needs.
    I have a Synology NAS as well as the Time Capsule.  If you look at the 3.2 beta program, the Synology actually attempts to replicate TC functionality in that you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac.
    I must say, Airport on the TC is definitely a nice feature!
    Nickles96 wrote:
    In addition to the obvious feature of the backup, can I indeed also use the TC as a NAS drive to access from remote locations (example from the office)?
    I'm surprised more people aren't using the TC as a dedicated NAS deviced.. I've searched high and low on forums around the web, and don't seem to see many people trying to use it as I've outlined.
    I can't see why this wouldn't fufill my needs, and take the place of a separate NAS solution (like the Synology, or iOmega, Seagate, etc....)
    Has anyone used this TC as such?
    Yes, you can do this and it's something I've been trying to do, but I'm currently having issues.  I have another thread stating I consistently get "connection failed" messages.  I'm basically storing my music/photo/video files on the TC and keeping my Mac hard drive fairly lean.  In terms of NAS functionality, the TC is very basic.  Synology/QNAP and others have a lot more features so don't rule them out.

  • Can I use Time Capsule 1TB as an external hard drive tos tore my music library(but with cable connection,not WI-FI)

    Can I use my Time Capsule 1TB as an external hard drive to store my music library but with a cable connection(Ethernet or USB) and not Wi-Fi.

    Yes, with the following warnings.
    1. A 1TB TC is a Gen3 or earlier and can die at a moments notice.. So backup is essential.
    2. A Gen1 or 2 is slow.. even over ethernet they were processor bound and so transfer speeds are not great.. a USB2 plugged into the computer will be faster. Gen3 is about 50% better as the processor was upgraded by 50% speed.
    3. TC has no built in backup.. TM cannot backup network drives.
    4. TC is designed to spin up slowly and spin down quickly.. you will have issues with itunes constantly losing the library.
    5. You cannot use USB to the TC.. it is a network drive. If you want to use USB directly on the computer buy a USB drive.. but buy as fast a drive as your Mac supports.. Thunderbolt>USB3>FW800>USB2
    USB3 is cheap and very good.. but the port is only from 2012 so check your Mac specs.
    Thunderbolt whilst being super fantastic and around since 2011, has a bank account clearing price although there are Thunderbolt to esata converters.. for around $160. esata falls between usb3 and fw800.
    FW800 from WD is no better than USB2 but other brands it can be twice the speed of usb2.
    USB2 is the worst. But still faster than a TC.

  • Can Time Capsule support an additional external hard drive?

    A friend of mine is using Airport Extreme and has both his printer and external hard drive hooked through it accessing both wirelessly. The Apple site says this works great with Extreme but does not say you can do the same thing with Time Capsule. I called our local store and she wasn't sure. Both Extreme and Time Capsule have one USB port so no matter what, you have to split the USB(I know this works with Extreme). All my music is on an additional hard drive and it would be great if I could access it wirelessly. If anyone has done this with time capsule please let me know. I want to purchase it but if not I will go with Extreme.

    Can Time Capsule support an additional external hard drive?
    Yes.
    (41832)

  • Can I simply just use my Time Capsule as a normal External Hard drive? A wireless external hard drive?

    Can I simply just use my Time Capsule as a normal External Hard drive? A wireless external hard drive?

    I am not sure what you mean by normal external but yes, it is a network hard disk drive.. and you can use wireless.. the only trouble then is, if there is no ethernet connection and internet is by wireless to a different router, then you cannot do both at once.

  • Can time capsule back up an external hard drive attached to my imac and the iMac internal Harddrive

    Can time capsule back up an external hard drive attached to my imac and the iMac internal Harddrive

    In addition to Kappy's comments, the external drive must be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in order for Time Machine to be able to back it up.

  • Can you use the apple time capsule as just a wireless hard drive without using it as a router

    Can i use the apple time capsule as just a wireless hard drive without using  a router

    You can, but this type of configuration is not recommended or supported by Apple.
    Two cautions if you want to try this:
    1)  The Time Capsule has to be configured to "Join" your existing wireless network in this type of setup...and to do that, you must know the exact type of wireless security that your network is using.
    2)  Backups are going to take twice as long. The wireless signal must travel from your computer to the wireless router and then from the wireless router back to the Time Capsule.  Two "hops"......even if the computer is located close to the Time Capsule.
    If you want to try this, we can tell you how....but with no guarantees on your results....since this is not officially supported.

  • Is it possible to sync time capsule data to a external hard drive

    Is it possible to sync time capsule data to a external hard drive connected to time capsule via usb. (as an precaution just incase time capsule fails)
    Thanks

    Yes, if the USB drive has been previously formatted correctly in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.
    Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup
    Click the Disks icon
    Click the Disks tab below the icon
    Click Archive
    Allow plenty of time for the copy process to occur. You will not be able to make Time Machine backups from your Mac until the Archive process has completed.

  • Does Time Capsule works as a External Hard Drive?

    Does Time Capsule works as a External Hard Drive?

    The Time Capsule works as a network drive.
    An external drive connects to your Mac using either the USB or FireWire ports.
    If your real question is to ask whether you can store other data on the Time Capsule drive....you can.

  • I have a macbook air and need additional storage should i consider a time capsule or a simple external hard drive?

    I have a macbook air and need additional storage should i consider a time capsule or a simple external hard drive?

    If you move live files (files you don't want to lose) to an external drive, you need to back them up.  Any files not backed up are at risk of loss.  Hard drives and SSDs can fail at any time.  It is hard to backup a Time Capsule so a TC should be used only as a backup device.
    Do you have a Time Machine backup now?  If so, and if it is large enough, you can backup your internal and external disk to it using Time Machine.  If not, you all need to purchase an external drive or TC as your backup device.  (I recommend an external hard drive for backup instead of a TC.)  Ideally the backup drive should be twice the size of what you are backing up but 50% larger will work so if you have an external 1 TB disk and an internal 250 GB SSD then a 2 TB backup disk will work well.
    By default, Time Machine will not backup the external disk.  You need to remove it from the exclusions list:
    To have Time Machine backup your system disk and your external offload disk up onto your Time Machine disk:
     > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.

  • Will time capsule also back up external hard drives?

    will time capsule also back up external hard drives?

    Yes. If you're using Time Machine, open its preferences and ensure the drives aren't excluded; Time Machine can't back up drives in some formats, such as FAT32.
    (71818)

  • I got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does someone has a fix???

    i got a macbook pro 2008 and can not back up using time machine. it eject my external hard drive everytime. does anybody has a fix???

    Does your external hard drive have it's own power supply?  It should.
    Is your external hard drive formatted with the NTFS file system?  It won't work.
    It needs to be formatted either with Mac OS Extended or FAT32.
    (There are drivers available to add NTFS support to OS X but their quality is unknown, especially the "free" ones.)

  • Can anyone make a recommendation on the purchase of an external hard drive for my Macbook Pro? I am currently using OS 10.6.8 because I can't upgrade until I clean out my start up disc space. I have a ton of pictures to transfer. Thanks!

    Can anyone make a recommendation on the purchase of an external hard drive for my Macbook Pro? I am currently using OS 10.6.8 because I can't upgrade until I clean out my start up disc space. I have a ton of pictures to transfer.Thanks!

    best options for the price, and high quality HD:
    Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or  $65 per TB on 2.5"
    Perfect 1TB for $68
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
    Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
    2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package)    $117
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
    *This one is the BEST portable  external HD available that money can buy:
    HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive $88
    http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Mobile-Portable-External-0S03559/dp/B009GE6JI8/ref=sr _1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383238934&sr=8-1&keywords=HGST+Touro+Mobile+Pro+1TB+USB+3.0+7 2 00+RPM
    Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"
    Hitachi is the winner in hard drive reliability survey:
    Hitachi manufacturers the safest and most reliable hard drives, according to the Storelab study. Of the hundreds of Hitachi hard drives received, not a single one had failed due to manufacturing or design errors. Adding the highest average lifespans and the best relationship between failures and market share, Hitachi can be regarded as the winner.

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