Wireless speed advantage with newer time capsule?

Question

Level 1

17 points

Wireless speed advantage with newer time capsule?

I have an older TimeCapsule (i.e., without 801.ac) My newer Macs have 801.ac capable cards.

Currently when more than one computer hitting the router (TimeCapsule) high bandwidth activity (streaming video, etc) slows down dramatically.

Wondering it the latest TimeCapsule will fix this?? Would like to have the larger drive TC anyhow. [Current older one has only 500GB drive]

Appreciate any advice from experienced users.

Thanks

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Aug 26, 2016 3:23 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

156,308 points

Aug 26, 2016 5:38 AM in response to lonestarm

It won't make your ISP's speed any faster, if that is what's limiting performance.

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Answer 2

lonestarm Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 26, 2016 5:41 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks, but I think that isn't it. When I am connected by ethernet wire, I get my subscribed ISP speed.

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Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

186,200 points

Aug 26, 2016 5:46 AM in response to lonestarm

[Current older one has only 500GB drive]

If your Time Capsule has a 500 GB drive, then it is at least 7 years old, probably older. It is remarkable that it is still operating at all, since most of the older versions of the Time Capsule lasted on average, only about 18-36 months.

If you value the data on the Time Capsule hard drive, it would be a good idea to copy that data over to a USB drive plugged into the Time Capsule, as soon a possible The "Archive" function in AirPort Utility will do this for you. Allow 5-8 hours for this process on average, depending on how much data you have on the Time Capsule drive.

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

156,308 points

Aug 26, 2016 6:05 AM in response to lonestarm

In that case a newer Time Capsule will probably help, bearing in mind that your newer 802.11ac - capable Macs will benefit the most. In the meantime you can use Apple's Wireless Diagnostics to possibly suggest some helpful solutions to poor wireless performance: Use Wireless Diagnostics to help you resolve Wi-Fi issues on your Mac - Apple Support.

The most attractive aspect of a new TC is the availability of larger hard disk drives. 500 GB isn't that much any more.

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Answer 5

lonestarm Author

Level 1

17 points

Aug 26, 2016 9:43 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks Bob,

I recently started alternating backups between TC and another external drive "just in case." Think I will go ahead and get a newer TC with the 3 TB drive.

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