More Apple stuff that Just Works
Sunday, 20. April 2008, 15:44:56
I know, I know... it's a cliche that Apple kit just works and I'm beginning to sound like some mad fanboi, but I do like the way Apple stuff generally behaves itself and does stuff without needing a degree in nuclear physics.
After a couple of weeks with my MacBook I decided to bite the bullet and do something about a proper backup solution, to take advantage of MacOS Leopard's Time Machine backup software.
Obvious simple solution was an external USB hard drive, but the one I got (Seagate portable) turned out to use two USB ports to get enough power, which therefore takes up both available ports on the MacBook. So not something you want plugged in a lot of the time.
Eventual solution was to try out a Time Capsule - an Apple combined network drive and wireless router. Possibly overkill, but you can use it for file sharing across your network too, and it would speed up my wireless by providing 802.11n instead of the 802.11g of my current router (Belkin combined router/ADSL modem). I wanted to add the Apple unit into my existing setup as the Belkin has the modem and everything was happily working on it already. So yesterday I made another foray up to the Trafford Centre to the Apple Store and came away with a 1Tb Time Capsule, a bag for the MacBook and a wireless Mighty Mouse. Thank heaven for credit cards...
Anyway, reading the manual had me slightly worried as none of the examples matched what I wanted to do, though the text implied it was possible, as had an article I'd read online. I needn't have worried: after connecting the TC to the Belkin via Ethernet cable and powering up I launched the set-up utility and it worked like a dream. It's wizard-based, but unlike most Windows wizards which tend to tell you everything you don't need to know and nothing you do, this clearly explained the options at every stage, and by the end of a few minutes I had the TC bridging into my existing network via the cable and providing a 5GHz 802.11n extension network. So my EeePC, XP machine and printer server all connect to the g network with no changes and my Mac can take advantage of the faster n network and still talk to all the stuff on the g network, eg the printer. The TC can act as a print server too but I have it in the living room with the Belkin (where the phone line enters the house) and want the printer upstairs out of the way.
Time Machine was equally straightforward to set up - you just turn it on and tell it which disc to use. In the absence of a second Ethernet cable which would have speeded up the initial backup, I used the n connection and left it going overnight. It finished in almost exactly 10 hours, during which time it transferred 63.5Gb of data. So it's capable of transferring over 6Gb an hour over wireless.
Oh, and the mouse took seconds to pair with the laptop and similarly just works.
Happy happy joy joy! (OK showing my age...)
After a couple of weeks with my MacBook I decided to bite the bullet and do something about a proper backup solution, to take advantage of MacOS Leopard's Time Machine backup software.
Obvious simple solution was an external USB hard drive, but the one I got (Seagate portable) turned out to use two USB ports to get enough power, which therefore takes up both available ports on the MacBook. So not something you want plugged in a lot of the time.
Eventual solution was to try out a Time Capsule - an Apple combined network drive and wireless router. Possibly overkill, but you can use it for file sharing across your network too, and it would speed up my wireless by providing 802.11n instead of the 802.11g of my current router (Belkin combined router/ADSL modem). I wanted to add the Apple unit into my existing setup as the Belkin has the modem and everything was happily working on it already. So yesterday I made another foray up to the Trafford Centre to the Apple Store and came away with a 1Tb Time Capsule, a bag for the MacBook and a wireless Mighty Mouse. Thank heaven for credit cards...
Anyway, reading the manual had me slightly worried as none of the examples matched what I wanted to do, though the text implied it was possible, as had an article I'd read online. I needn't have worried: after connecting the TC to the Belkin via Ethernet cable and powering up I launched the set-up utility and it worked like a dream. It's wizard-based, but unlike most Windows wizards which tend to tell you everything you don't need to know and nothing you do, this clearly explained the options at every stage, and by the end of a few minutes I had the TC bridging into my existing network via the cable and providing a 5GHz 802.11n extension network. So my EeePC, XP machine and printer server all connect to the g network with no changes and my Mac can take advantage of the faster n network and still talk to all the stuff on the g network, eg the printer. The TC can act as a print server too but I have it in the living room with the Belkin (where the phone line enters the house) and want the printer upstairs out of the way.
Time Machine was equally straightforward to set up - you just turn it on and tell it which disc to use. In the absence of a second Ethernet cable which would have speeded up the initial backup, I used the n connection and left it going overnight. It finished in almost exactly 10 hours, during which time it transferred 63.5Gb of data. So it's capable of transferring over 6Gb an hour over wireless.
Oh, and the mouse took seconds to pair with the laptop and similarly just works.
Happy happy joy joy! (OK showing my age...)
WIDGETIZE