Why does it take so long to clean up?

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Why does it take so long to clean up?

I just purchased a new Time Capsule 2TB model supporting 802.11 ac. I have a new 2013 iMac supporting 802.11 ac. I see I'm connected at over 1000 MBPS, however, it takes forever to do 165 GM backup. Actually, it's the cleaning up that's the problem. It's been over an hour since Time Machine says it's been cleaning up. (Backup started at 4:50 PM EST, it started to say it was cleaning up at around 5:10 PM and it's now 6:10 PM). Does anybody have any idea why this is happening?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9), 16 GB RAM, Fusion Drive, i5 2.5 Ghz

Posted on Nov 5, 2013 3:09 PM

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Answer 1

Johnny.Bravo Author

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Nov 6, 2013 4:49 AM in response to Johnny.Bravo

I also just noticed that when time capsule is doing a back up, it's running under 802.11n. Why is this? My iMac is 802.11ac and so is my Time capsule!

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Answer 2

Nov 6, 2013 12:04 PM in response to Johnny.Bravo

The Brave New World of AC wireless networking.. where the reality falls far short of the hype.

Unfortunately in an actual transfer situation, the signal to noise of wireless (RSSI figure drops dramatically), It simply uses AC as a link speed but speed is always renegotiated during an actual file transfer.. to some sustainable level. I suspect that level is not AC wireless but N.

It does matter if you run older devices.. nothing with a or b or g wireless should be running in your house. Even n wireless may cause issues.. try turning everything else off and see if you get speed lift.

As far as the time required for a clean up, is this a first backup as they always take a significantly longer time. Once you are doing regular incrementals the time is usually very short.

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Answer 3

Johnny.Bravo Author

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Nov 8, 2013 8:49 AM in response to LaPastenague

Also, just playing around, I noticed if I disconnect and reconnect to Time Capsule, I get the high transfer rate... BUT if I leave it overnight with PowerNap on, at some point during the night it steps down to 802.11n and my transfer rate goes down to somewhere in the 200's (271, 217).

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Answer 4

sinoue

Level 2

236 points

Nov 8, 2013 12:06 PM in response to Johnny.Bravo

I hope your bed doesn't sit between your Time Capsule and your Mac! I'm not a tin foil expert, but focused AC beam transfer is still in it's early days and I'm not surprised there are bugs to work out. If you really have a lot of data and want to make things easier, add a Cat 6 cable to your Time Capsule and manually connect it to your MacBook via the thunderbolt/ethernet adapter. Your data transfer and cleanup will go much smoother. I keep a special MacBook dock that I drop my Macbook into to make this almost painless.

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