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Got my Time Capsule today, set it up in less than 10 minutes, linked to my Netgear ADSL Modem router with just a couple of clicks, was browsing the net through it in no time.

Linked it to time machine as if it were just a local hard drive.

Small amount of sound, mainly through the hdd spinning up on boot up. You can hear hdd access slightly as you may expect. Looks Great, gorgeous silver Apple on top!

All in all, very pleased so far, seems to work a treat.

I do think its a bit naughty that I had to buy this rather than just an Extreme Base Station which I could have connected my own drive to though. I think Apple pulled a bit of a flanker there.

Great product nevertheless though

(672 of 941 people found this review useful)

Great little product. I loved simplicity of the set up, the new wireless n standard (a definite step-up from g) and most of all the ability to connect a printer to it. Previously, I was sharing a printer connected to the downstairs eMac, which meant I had to turn the eMac on to print from upstairs, but no more now.

Previously, I tried using a Lacie Ethernet harddrive to back up over my network using Time Machine... this didn't work, Apple have obviously decided to make Time Capsule the only product that works over a network. Nevertheless, a good product, I recommend for small home networks.

(644 of 922 people found this review useful)

First Impressions:
Initial set up with a MacBook went smoothly and I was browsing the net wirelessly within about 10 minutes of plugging Time Capsule in.

Printing:
TC detected the attached printer, but printing failed with "Printer not responding". Removing the printer driver in System Preferences then adding it again fixed this.

Writing Performance:
102MB (88 photos)...
Wireless N: 22 seconds = 37 Mbits/sec
Ethernet: 16 seconds = 51 Mbits/sec

1MB (486 very small files) 30 seconds < 1 Mbit/sec

Ethernet seems very slow for a Gigabit connection. Writing a lot of small files takes longer.

Noise & Temperature:
TC emits a low hum from the hard drive motor and white noise from its fan. Both are clearly audible, but not particularly intrusive. The drive spins down when not in use, so when idle or just browsing the net TC is silent and warm to touch.

If the disk spins for any length of time the top becomes hot, and the metal Apple logo borderline too hot to touch. A room thermometer placed on top during a 30GB transfer indicates 50C (room temperature 21C). If Airport Utility File Sharing is disabled the drive spins continuously and runs hot.

Security:
TC fails the standard 'Shields Up' Internet security test. TC only closes its access ports - it doesn't stealth them, so responds to incoming pings, probes and unsolicited traffic from the Internet. Surprising, since most other routers offer stealthed ports, and especially given the 500GB drive containing all your personal files sitting behind those ports. Previously I've always connected to the Internet with stealthed ports, so this is concerning. An option to stealth the ports would be very welcome.

Summary:
A neat device that does exactly what it says - but would welcome improvements in ethernet performance, temperature and security.

(197 of 254 people found this review useful)

I got it set up fairly quickly without too much pain. The first backup was 41GB from my macbook and took nearly 4 hours (it is worth doing this first one via ethernet!!). Since then it has been working perfectly. As you'd expect from Apple, It looks great and does exaclty what it says on the tin.

There are however, a few niggles which dropped my rating from 4* to 3*.

Firstly in router mode you are limited to using only three addresses for the first two parts of the IP address (10.0.x.x, 192.168.x.x and 17something). Not that this is a deal breaker but I had to change my entire 10.23.77.* network to accomodate this. I wonder why we cannot have full choice?

Secondly there is no web interface to this requiring that you load Apple's Airport utility. Again, not a deal breaker but annoying if you have several machines like me - especially PCs where I try to limit what is installed

Thirdly, there is no way to demote it to only 802.11b/g mode. A shame as I have one piece of kit (Axis 207W) that will not see the SSID of the TC.

Lastly, and the most significant niggle, is that this things runs hot and loud - especially under load. Too loud to be left in the living room and too hot to touch at one point!

So, overall a great product which is marred slightly by some small niggles that let it down.

(115 of 150 people found this review useful)

I bought the 500GB Time Capsule just 4 days ago and i'm taking it back tomorrow!!
This device has the potential to be so good, but falls far short! Contrary to most of the reviews on here, the setup really was straight forward and took literally 5 minutes, so i don't know how some of the morons have been setting it up! Connected to my existing network no problem.
Where the time capsule falls short is the data transfer speeds! I was getting 1mb/second AT BEST!! now, for a time machine backup it took like 36 hours!! and that was only for 63GB!!! it was terrible! i then had some movies and other media to transfer, this came to about 100GB, when i started the transfer it said estimated time would be 72 hours!!! i clicked cancel straight away and started to pack it up!! my advice......buy a USB 2.0/Firewire drive! You just can't beat wires!!! I know their inconvenient for MacBooks/Laptops, but its so much better and quicker to have a wire!
I so looked forward to get my time capsule and connect it and was very disappointed!

(160 of 245 people found this review useful)

Got my Time Capsule yesterday, really nice piece of kit and simple to get set up.
However there were a few issues with setup for me, especially using it with Time Machine.
I kept on getting the error message when trying to backup in Time Machine:
"the backup disc image could not be created"
The fix was very simple in the end but took me a while to find in a forum.
All I had to do was go in to System Preferences / Sharing and give my computer a name in the top field, and also make sure file sharing is turned on in this menu.
Then when you go back to Time Machine backup it will work just fine to back up wirelessly.
I would suggest any user does their first backup using Ethernet Cable rather than wireless, you can do this by going in to Airport Settings for the Time Capsule and following commands to connect via Ethernet (Cabled) - this is much quicker for 1st backup. You can then re-activate Wireless in Time Capsule after your 1st backup.
Also, do not be fooled that you can simply plug in your broadband cable to the Capsule and access the internet straight away. You will need to connect through your existing wireless router on most occasions if you are using ADSL Broadband, check with your ISP or Apple if you are unsure - this will not replace your router for all people - it is more like a home network add-on.
Just a few hints there for potential buyers, or to help out anyone in need!
Really cool once it is working, network drive for all my Macs at home, and shared printing... brillient product from the boys at Apple!

(95 of 118 people found this review useful)

Bought this product a few weeks back. Set was simple with my Virgin cable modem. Did the first backup over ethernet to speed things up which took a couple of hours. Incrementals have all been wireless with no problems. I'm not sure about those who have had a hard time with the product - it would be hard to make it hard to set up imho Thus far it is reliable and invisible, just what I wanted.

(116 of 169 people found this review useful)

When i bought my timecapsule i only had PCs & a linux box in my house, and fair play the setup and use of the timecapsule was very easy and straight forward. All the pc users out there complaining about the lack of backup software (like time machine) from apple for the pc should just use google, as there are loads of free tools out there. Backing my PC up across the gigabit lan was a dream.

I have since taken delivery of my MacBook and i am even more impressed with the timecapsule. The n wireless and gigabit lan make streaming films and audio and backing up really quick and easy. I highly recommend the TimeCapsule for MAC & PC users.

(109 of 156 people found this review useful)