Eero and Time Machine

In theory yes......assuming that the Time Capsule (Time Machine is software) will be connected to your wireless router using a permanent, wired Ethernet cable connection.

So, the Time Capsule will connect to the Eero access point using an Ethernet cable connection, and then the Mac will connect to the Time Capsule using an Ethernet connection. Be sure to turn off the WiFi on the Mac so that it will use the wired connection for its Internet connection and Time Machine backups.

All things considered, if it were me, I would sell the Time Capsule and simply connect a USB drive directly to the Mac. Backups will be simpler, faster and more reliable this way.

Then the backups started failing. Resetting the TC didn't help. The only thing that works now is to format the TC drive when the backups start failing and start over with fresh backups....

These issues are occurring no matter whether the TC is in Bridge Mode or not....especially with the Sierra and High Sierra operating systems on a Mac.

So, the issue is not Bridge Mode, or a different setting. The real problem here is that Apple is having issues with corrupted Time Machine backups when a network drive.....like a Time Capsule.....is used. When problems occur, you will see a message that looks like this:

When this message appears, the "fix" is to either manually erase the Time Capsule hard drive and start over, or Click Start New Backup and have Time Machine erase the drive for you and start a new backup.

So far, Apple has not offered a reliable fix for this issue, and the problem has attracted the attention of industry publications. For example......https://www.macworld.com/article/3170844/macs/when-backups-go-bad-the-problem-wi th-using-network-drives-with-time-machin…

That type of setup would be a lot more complicated since you will have to manually turn off the wireless on the Mac and then manually connect an Ethernet cable when you want to back up. Then, reverse the process again when you want the Mac to connect to the Internet over wireless.

Connecting the Time Capsule to the Eero access point using an Ethernet connection and then connecting the Mac using Ethernet will allow the Mac to use the wired connections for both the Internet and backups at the same time.....so you don't have to do anything for backups to occur automatically. And....as you are aware....the Ethernet connection will be faster than wireless, so you will have maximum performance that way.

When I first got my Eero mesh system I followed the instructions to connect my TC to my MAC with via ethernet to LAN and then to put the TC into bridge mode. That went flawlessly and backups worked well for a couple of months. Then the backups started failing. Resetting the TC didn't help. The only thing that works now is to format the TC drive when the backups start failing and start over with fresh backups but who wants to do that every couple of months? Eero tells me the TC in bridge mode works reliably. Apple tells me it doesn't. My experience backs up Apple's feedback. Very disappointing as you can't connect a usb external drive to the eero's and NAS is expensive.

That’s a good point. You’re right, the backups also failed from time to time when the TC was my router. However , they didn’t fail with this frequency and I never get the error message you posted. AppleCare has been great about providing support for this issue but it’s misplaced as they will most likely not admit that there’s anything wrong with TC. I’ve now hard-wired the TC to the main Eero. It completed the first backup. I have no illusions that it will last but it may be ok while I search for another solution.

Thanks Bob. The set-up I was assuming was:

- Eero creates wifi network.

- Mac accesses internet via the wi-fi network.

- Time Capsule attached to Mac via ethernet cable purely for purpose of Time Machine back-ups.

they didn’t fail with this frequency

Once they start, they tend to pick up in frequency. The corruption issue is real, whether or not Apple Support will admit it. Countless numbers of users....including me.....are being affected by this.

I’ve now hard-wired the TC to the main Eero

That will reduce the number of "hops" that your Mac must make to back up over the Eero wireless, which might help. If your Mac is close to the main Eero router, then it will only have to make one wireless "hop" to reach the Eero.

But, if your Mac is near one of the remote Eero units, the Mac will have to make two wireless "hops".....one hop from your Mac to the remote Eero and then a second hop from the remote Eero to the main Eero. More hops means more chances of an error occurring in the process.

As you may have guessed, backups would be more reliable if you turned off the WiFi on the Mac and connected your Mac directly to one of the LAN <--> Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule with an Ethernet cable.

Time Machine is quite reliable when it used with a "local" USB hard drive that is connected directly to the Mac. The problems occur when backups are made to "network" drives because Time Machine backs up differently, and in a more complicated way to a network drive than it does to a local drive.

If "Bridge Mode" were the issue, Apple would not allow you to have an AirPort Extreme as the main router and a Time Capsule connected to the main router......because the Time Capsule would be in Bridge Mode.....the way that Apple's own software configured it to operate.

Good explanation. Hardwiring the TC to the main Eero did not work. Wiped the drive and it’s now been doing the initial backup for over 12 hours. I’m so over it. And I have 2 more macs to back up. I agree that time machine would work better backing up to a local usb drive but of course that requires extra steps I was hoping to avoid. NAS? Online backup service? I worry about security with online services. I used Carbonite for a while but I didn’t like it.

And can the Time Machine simply be connected to the Ethernet port on my Mac, taking it off the wi-fi network entirely?

- Time Capsule attached to Mac via ethernet cable purely for purpose of Time Machine back-ups.

This is possible.. no other network connection is required. The TC can be used just for backup.

See Using Time Capsule hardwired to Mac for back-up only.

Big FATT UGLY BUTT.

This does require good understanding of networking.

And the results on latest Sierra are still poor because Time Machine to a complicated network configuration is just asking for trouble. It works poorly on clean simple connections. Chuck in some non apple routers and a bit of network trickery and it all gets more and more unreliable.

Bob's advice is good.

All things considered, if it were me, I would sell the Time Capsule and simply connect a USB drive directly to the Mac.

Backups will be simpler, faster and more reliable this way.

Depending on which model TC you have.. it will cost you a lot less as well.. !! Now might be a good time to sell off the time capsule.

It's possible.....if the Time Capsule is always connected to a LAN <--> Ethernet port on one of the Eero wireless access points.

The downside.....although things will probably work OK, this type of setup will not be officially supported by Apple if there are any problems.

The reason....Apple expects you to use the Time Capsule wireless (or the wireless from another Apple router) for backups, so there will be no help from Apple Support if you have difficulties using the Eero wireless for backup purposes.

In addition to Bob Timmons' comments:

Basically, no. As far as "network" drives, Time Machine supports the following network destinations:

• To an internal drive of a Mac server.
• To an external drive directly attached to a Mac server.
• To a NAS which has built-in Time Machine support.
• To an Xsan storage device.
• To a Time Capsule's internal drive.
• To an external drive directly attached to the Time Capsule's or 802.11ac AirPort Extreme's USB port.

There are a couple of routers (non-apple) that do support Time Machine.

eg Some of the top end Netgear and Asus routers.

See for example.

http://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1004458/

However they don't tend to be that reliable. The issue is Apple uses special disk format, HFS+ and the backup must be stored in that format. Very few routers can support HFS+ disks.. the ones that do support Time Machine do it via virtual disk.. which is HFS+ formatted but that is adding trouble on top of issues.

Stick to known Apple supported methods or a NAS with known good compatibility .. eg synology are excellent.

Remember a backup that doesn't actually work is worse than useless.. because you actually think you are safe.