Can an Airport Time Capsule (7.9.1) provide reliable wifi connectivity for a 2024 MacBook Air M3?

Yes. But set up the Airport TC so that it uses:

• WPA2 Personal security (do not use WPA/WPA2 Personal or any option that includes WPA)
• Both 2.4GHz & 5GHz bands
• Automatic channel selection unless you understand how & why to select specific channels

Good question, and SSDs are all superior to hard disk drives in all respects, but their enormous speed advantage is completely lost on Time Machine. There is so much "overhead" involved with TM backups that SSDs won't be any faster.

One arguable advantage of old, slow, spinning, mechanical hard disk drives is that their common failure mode — usually — results in a lot of warnings before they fail completely: They tend to get progressively slower with age, TM will eventually start to throw warnings that it couldn't back up, and you can often restore their function by reformatting them until that need becomes too frequent. On the other hand SSDs tend to fail completely with no notice at all. Neither one of those concerns is a show-stopper because when a drive fails, we simply throw it out. They can't be fixed.

HDDs are also cheaper, but the dollar to byte difference has been diminishing for years. There is every reason to believe SSDs will eventually become cheaper than spinning HDDs, and then they will disappear from the market. No one will miss them.

None of my Macs use hard disk drives for any purpose whatsoever — except for backups. For that they're ok.

MrHoffman wrote:

John Galt wrote:

You’re buying decade-old or older gear, long unsupported, ...

I'm sure you are aware that the most recent AirPort models remain fully supported. Those are the ones I'd advocate looking for.

AirPort and Time Capsule Wi-Fi gear are all considered obsolete:

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

Not correct. Only the 802.11n models are considered obsolete:

• Time Capsule 802.11n (1st generation)
• Time Capsule 802.11n (2nd generation)
• Time Capsule 802.11n (3rd generation)
• Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen)

All the most recent models remain fully supported. Same goes for the AEBS models. Even the most recent Express model remains fully supported. It's not even "vintage".

You're very welcome!

When considering what works best for backups, there are at least two very important factors to consider:

1. Is the data critical to you?, and
2. If it is, that the overall backup strategy NEVER relies on only one backup solution ... it should include on multiple drives (locally attached and/or network,) multiple locations (onsite, offsite, cloud,) & multiple types (clones, incremental, etc.) Ref: macOS Backup Strategy - Apple Community

I'm coming in a bit late in the game here, but I thought I'd add from my experience.

I have been using the Time Capsule (TC) since their very first models appeared. When Apple decided to get out of the wireless router business, I started to explore other options for a direct replacement for the TC. Sadly, there isn't any, at least, not an exact match to include an internal drive.

What I found is that I had two basic options:

1. What works best for backups.
2. What works well for backups and best for being a wireless router.

The former is a NAS. Like others here, I settled on a Synology NAS and it has been near flawless for Time Machine (TM). The only hiccup was when the backups stopped working and the resolution was to update the operating system on the NAS. I have been using this solution since 2016.

For the latter, I have tried both routers from Asus & Synology (yes, they offer routers as well). Both routers support adding an external USB drive to be used for TM.

In the long run, I decided to exit the Apple networking ecosystem entirely and migrated over to the Ubiquiti UniFi system instead, replacing my aging Apple networking hardware one piece at a time. I have been running in this new configuration for over 6 years now without issue. My NAS is still included with this setup, but my TC now sits on the shelf as a "museum piece."

Yes, but the wifi speed will be relatively slow (Wifi Generation 4 / 802.11n). If it is really just for web browsing or light streaming you should be OK.

Do keep in mind that a 2015 device may be "still going strong" but that can change quickly. I wouldn't necessarily trust it for Time Machine backups, for example.

Consider getting WiFi Explorer app, or a similar app.

This to see what’s going one because — from experience — that TC and its tricolor LED can be less than insightful.

And it provides a view into the local operations of your network, and other nearby networks.

That app is also how I found out the local TCs were dropping out Wi-Fi for 10 to 15 seconds, without showing any yellow LED errors. Which is also why I mention it here. Some TCs can be flaky.

You're welcome. Since you added information regarding backups, you might also consider adding one or more external USB hard disk drives to the Time Capsule, and adding them to Time Machine.

I am using Time Capsules as old as the original "flat" models. None of them have ever failed, but as you wrote anything can fail at any time. That's one reason for advocating additional, redundant backup drives. Time Machine can back up to as many as you wish to provide.

Assuming they don't have their own power supplies, more than one should be using a powered USB hub though, due to the power limitations of any USB port.

dubwisedude wrote:

John, now that we're at it and if you don't mind, I have one more related question:

I've seen that one can still buy the Airport Time Capsule in mint condition or even as a factory-sealed item for around the price it cost initially. What's your take of such a purchase? Or would you rather opt for another device considering that the Airport TC is dated and no longer supported?

You’re buying decade-old or older gear, long unsupported, and which means decade-old lubricants in the motor, and whatever corrosion or thermal or environmental conditions might have been endured during that decade of storage.

And you’re getting comparatively small storage (3 TB max), and with old and slow Wi-Fi support.

Coincidentally, I have a factory-sealed end-of-the-era 3 TB TC here, and it’ll likely remain factory-sealed.

I’ve switched over to Time Machine server on Synology network-attached storage, usually connected to an AP or mesh network. Newer gear, and gear that’s still getting vendor support. And Synology with features TC never had, too.

Yeah, the Apple AirPort Wi-Fi was very nice gear for its time. But I wouldn’t choose to install new-old-stock TC nowadays.

Two things go wrong with them.

The discs die, but all discs die. It's not hard to replace the disc; this clumsy fool did it with no problems.

The power supply dies. Not happened to me yet, but spares are available on eBay and I don't think it would be difficult to swap out or maybe even repair. I'll certainly have a go once all four of the ones I've got die.

In both cases the hardest part is dealing with tiny, delicate connectors but if you break them then you can still bodge something in if you're desparate.

BTW - I've still got the first one I bought about 15 years ago and it still works.

dubwisedude wrote:

I know but so far I haven't consider the data critical enough to justify more than one backup solution. Stuff for thought, though...

So if you lost all your files, photos, music, etc. for good, for ever, never to be recovered, then you wouldn't care? Any number of events can take out your Mac and your backup drive at the same time - fire, theft, flood, lightning strike, bodged house move, ...... etc.

I run two methods (Time Machine and a plain copy) on a multitude of discs (Time Capsules, NAS, external hard drives) and keep two of them outside my house - one in a metal shed in the garden and one at my folks'.

My thoughts are that if or when it should ever become necessary to upgrade all my networking infrastructure in the multiple locations in which they are installed, Ubiquiti would be among the first alternatives I would investigate.

Tech progresses at a rapid pace though, and who knows what options may be available at that future date. Since I am reluctant to be a first adopter of anything, I would rely upon reports of success from those whose backup requirements are similar to mine — which come down to ease of use, reliability, and idiot-proof-ness. I'd probably conduct a site visit also.

As for right now though, considering your original question was whether you can continue to use your existing equipment, you certainly can.

I just had a look at the Dream Router. There's bugger-all information on the site with superficial tech-specs and no downloadable manual - indeed there's no manual at all apparently. Contrast that with the 760-page manual that's online for my Draytek router. Also, it's not clear from answers on various websites whether or not a Ubiquity account is needed to operate the router. That's a huge red flag for me. So, no manual and possible mandatory account means that I wouldn't buy anything from Ubiquity.

I will remain personally biased against anything Synology has or will ever have. You don't blame the customer for your own problems, especially after the customer goes above and beyond doing everything you asked them to do for several weeks, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to fix them. Then, blame Apple for your own product's compatibility problems? How about no. Perhaps they fixed their problems. I imagine they must have by now, but I don't care. They're on my "never again" list.

It's mostly a cosmetic feature, but all those competing wireless products bristling with antennas scream "look at me! I am powerful!!!" No thanks again. Aesthetics are one indication a designer pays attention to detail. Not necessarily a deal breaker, but details matter.