Airport Time Capsule or Airport Extreme with external hard drive?

The only appreciable difference between the current production Time Capsule and current production Extreme is the Time Capsule's internal backup disk. If you eventually want to use Time Machine and its internal disk for backups, buy a Time Capsule.

If you are fond of your data, backups are a requirement. If you want to save money, consider refurbished models from Apple's Special Deals page.

Don't rely upon an external HD connected to the earlier "flat" Extreme's USB port for Time Machine backups. It is not supported for that purpose.

From your list of equipment.

I have the following devices to connect to the the network in the house:

iPhone 4S

iPad Mini

Epson Wireless Printer

2 Windows Laptops

Android Tablet

Samsung Galaxy S3

Kindle

You have nothing much at all that is going to gain from any apple router.

Buying something suitable for the MBA a year or two ahead of time is not really a great idea.. your needs change and equipment on the market changes.

You will find all the PC stuff actually works better with a PC type router.

And the mac stuff will connect just fine. You can plug a USB drive into lots of routers on the market now or better still buy a single disk NAS.. but if you want to save money.. a TP-Link WDR3600 or a Netgear WNDR3800.. run them on gargoyle firmware. Either of them should be $80-100.

You will find all the PC stuff actually works better with a PC type router.

I respect your opinion LaPastenague but that has been contrary to my experience. Once I upgraded from a Linksys router to an Extreme my Windows PC connection problems vanished. I have been enjoying the same reliability in a mixed Apple / PC environment from a new Time Capsule. Cursory research will also reveal that Apple routers enjoy markedly better user reviews than other products.

Besides, I don't know what you mean by a "PC type router", unless it's meant to imply the requirement to use AirPort Utility for Apple devices. Since the OP has iOS devices, a Mac, and Windows computers, each of which has a version of AirPort Utility available, that shouldn't be a concern.

And with equal respect.. just a different point of view.

A comparison of the New AC airport extreme and an Asus RT-AC66U

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2125865

Tests in smallnetbuilder.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/111-2_4-ghz-dn-c

In my network.. I have umpteen time capsules of every generation in various states of being repaired or modified.. but no AC yet.. plus airport extreme gen5.. plus my plain ordinary old Thomson G wireless router. Double storey house.. network products bottom front.. Lounge room.. top back of the house.. G wireless from Thomson works great.. No signal left from any TC or airport extreme.. that will maintain a connection.

To get N wireless upstairs I bought the cheapest dlink DIR-645 (they now sell for about $40 here).. has the same beam forming concept as the latest AC TC.

Here is the test results. From a Mac. The DIR645 sits next to a Gen4 TC in the next room.

In my Mac.. DIR645
macproie-5:~ Ray$ airport -I
agrCtlRSSI: -46
agrExtRSSI: 0
agrCtlNoise: -82
agrExtNoise: 0
state: running
op mode: station
lastTxRate: 145
maxRate: 144
lastAssocStatus: 0
802.11 auth: open
link auth: wpa2-psk
BSSID: fc:75:16:e9:69:b8
SSID: TG782T
MCS: 15
channel: 6

here is the numbers for a Gen 4 Time Capsule that sits right next to it.

macproie-5:~ Ray$ airport -I
agrCtlRSSI: -54
agrExtRSSI: 0
agrCtlNoise: -85
agrExtNoise: 0
state: running
op mode: station
lastTxRate: 145
maxRate: 144
lastAssocStatus: 0
802.11 auth: open
link auth: wpa2-psk
BSSID: 28:cf:da:b5:98:49
SSID: Tardis24ghz
MCS: 15
channel: 11

8db better signal on the Dlink.. that is nothing to sneeze at.. remember each 3db is twice the power. So speed no better.. this is close.. but the dlink is double.. double again.. and nearly double again the power output at the wireless antenna of the computer.

As with all 2stream Macs at 2.4ghz it is limited to 150mbps.. usually 130mbps or somewhere in between.. Signal from the DIR645 is very good. Covers both storeys of the house. Gives me no problems..

For comparison.. here is 5ghz from the TC.
macproie-5:~ Ray$ airport -I
agrCtlRSSI: -72
agrExtRSSI: 0
agrCtlNoise: -84
agrExtNoise: 0
state: running
op mode: station
lastTxRate: 216
maxRate: 300
lastAssocStatus: 0
802.11 auth: open
link auth: wpa2-psk
BSSID: 28:cf:da:b5:98:4a
SSID: Tardis5ghz
MCS: 13
channel: 36,1
As is expected 5ghz is faster.. but the range is terrible. Go a little further away and the 2.4ghz signal will become the faster.

The wireless output from the Apple routers from a windows product world point of view is poor. It is better on my MBP.. but the OP doesn't have a single Mac.. he has 2 iOS devices.. and 7 other brands. I would call that pretty much a non-apple environment.

Clearly the product to buy is the Asus RT-AC66U. Or even the older N model still beats both the AC extreme and the AC model up the range.

For range for speed.. for functionality with windows products.. particularly upnp which is so much easier than all the hassle with manual port forwarding.

But with Apple products.. then the tests are not relevant. For people with majority apple environment.. the apple routers are a good choice.

This is clearly an opinion.. my own.. neither wrong or right.. I hope flexible enough to be always under review and any time I see an apple router on the top of the smallnetbuilder tests.. I would happily move my position.

🙂😎

Now from the other end of the house.. Just so you have the comparison properly.

From the Mac not windows laptop.

Interesting result on the Mac the 5ghz is actually working fine although the RSSI is very low..

The DIR645 (which I named as the thomson) has RSSI of -67db as opposed to -79db from the TC (gen4).

That is 12db better signal at this end of the house cf 8db in the next room so the signal from the dlink is better at great distance.. or not suffering as badly which suggests the beam forming has improved it about 4db.

Thank you for providing those quantitative comparisons LaPastenague.

I think any recommendation requires knowing what the OP expects to do in the future. Clearly some features (Back to My Mac and its ability to wake a sleeping Mac for remote access for example) are guaranteed to be trouble-free using a genuine Apple product. Whereas other manufacturers are quick to respond "we don't support Apple", Apple on the other hand will support every conceivable network client. Hence I see an AirPort as the most inclusive choice, which is what motivated me to provide a counterpoint.

Having an AirPort Base Station also makes competent support from this site easier to obtain. As user - to - user support sites go, no one else's comes close to ASC.

To be clear, it's not just Macs and PCs I'm using with my AirPort Base Stations. I rely upon them for wired and wireless printers, MFDs, print servers, a home theater, security system, VoIP phone service, as well as an abundance of iOS and "other" devices. Everything works flawlessly. I have never experienced an Apple AirPort failure, way back to the original AEBS, so I believe they deserve their reputation.

In any event I trust your perspective will help the OP in making an informed decision.

🙂