Replacing Airport Extreme
I am replacing Airport Extreme and need a router that can support external Hard Drive backups through Time Machine. Suggestions? I tried Linksys but found that it couldn't connect.
iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)
I am replacing Airport Extreme and need a router that can support external Hard Drive backups through Time Machine. Suggestions? I tried Linksys but found that it couldn't connect.
iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)
My experiments with Asus are ongoing.
The simple conclusion at this point is fragile.
The first USB drive I tried would not work more than once. TM could not read the backup second time it started the next backup.
Second USB drive worked.
Everything seems to then work acceptably for several weeks.. and then something will happen. The problem with most testing is it takes too long to really discover if there are issues. So it became something I could not recommend yet.. without some more fiddling.
Last week I updated the asus router I use for this from RT-AC3200 to the RT-AC88U. I am running the latest Merlin version firmware.. I started backups almost as soon as I put this router into operation. I had to wipe the disk and start over.. so the previous backup could not be used. This time I had issues with the disk so I had to format it via command line. Something in backup had really messed up the disk.
The router has more memory than previous versions.. 512MB vs 256MB and is faster as well.
So far memory recovery is excellent. I had to downgrade firmware on AC3200. TM backup caused a memory leak and eventually RAM would fill up on the older Asus. This is where you do need to spend some more time cf buying a Time Capsule which is very well known and running Apple designed firmware.
I do have to also remind people that eventually backups from Time Machine on Sierra or High Sierra are going to lack reliability. The experience so far is TM is not wholly reliable. I tried Carbon Copy Cloner to the old Asus as a proof of concept and it worked as expected. I expect longer term it will work better than TM but I was more interested in getting TM results for people.
I also tried a Linksys which does not even support TM which was disappointing.
I aim to also test a Synology router. My main concern with them is very slow disk speed read and write speeds. I guess Synology want you to buy their NAS products.
As both Tesserax and I do run Synology NAS.. we can recommend them.. they are expensive but very much faster and very reliable with Time Machine.
My experiments with Asus are ongoing.
The simple conclusion at this point is fragile.
The first USB drive I tried would not work more than once. TM could not read the backup second time it started the next backup.
Second USB drive worked.
Everything seems to then work acceptably for several weeks.. and then something will happen. The problem with most testing is it takes too long to really discover if there are issues. So it became something I could not recommend yet.. without some more fiddling.
Last week I updated the asus router I use for this from RT-AC3200 to the RT-AC88U. I am running the latest Merlin version firmware.. I started backups almost as soon as I put this router into operation. I had to wipe the disk and start over.. so the previous backup could not be used. This time I had issues with the disk so I had to format it via command line. Something in backup had really messed up the disk.
The router has more memory than previous versions.. 512MB vs 256MB and is faster as well.
So far memory recovery is excellent. I had to downgrade firmware on AC3200. TM backup caused a memory leak and eventually RAM would fill up on the older Asus. This is where you do need to spend some more time cf buying a Time Capsule which is very well known and running Apple designed firmware.
I do have to also remind people that eventually backups from Time Machine on Sierra or High Sierra are going to lack reliability. The experience so far is TM is not wholly reliable. I tried Carbon Copy Cloner to the old Asus as a proof of concept and it worked as expected. I expect longer term it will work better than TM but I was more interested in getting TM results for people.
I also tried a Linksys which does not even support TM which was disappointing.
I aim to also test a Synology router. My main concern with them is very slow disk speed read and write speeds. I guess Synology want you to buy their NAS products.
As both Tesserax and I do run Synology NAS.. we can recommend them.. they are expensive but very much faster and very reliable with Time Machine.
I believe one of our fellow ASC members, LaPastenague, has been trying a few routers for this exact purpose and has had some luck with using an Asus model. Most likely, he'll see this post and chime in to provide you with more details on his findings.
A new AirPort Extreme might be your best bet if you plan to connect the hard drive to the router. The downside to this is that the AirPort Extreme USB port is old and slow USB 2.0.
Better yet, an AirPort Time Capsule....with a built in hard drive.....will deliver substantially better performance than an AirPort Extreme and attached USB hard drive.
The AirPorts have been officially discontinued by Apple, but there appears to still be availability of the AirPort Extreme and two versions of the Time Capsule.
Offhand, I believe that Asus has a few routers that will work with a USB drive for Time Machine.
Synology appears to have a router as well that will support Time Machine backups to an attached hard drive. More info on that here: Synology RT2600ac and RT1900ac: Your Apple AirPort Extreme Replacement - The Mac Observer
Personally, I have not tried the Asus or Synology potential solutions, so cannot provide any details at this time.
Replacing Airport Extreme