Time Capsule as SOLO WiFi HD...?

Can I simply plug a Time Capsule into the wall in a corner and go—telling my MBP's Time Machine to use it for backups; what I mean is not connecting Time Capsule to anything but electricity? Can it function as a stand alone WiFi HD, not wired to a network or even the net?

(At this time my roommates are not at all interested in upgrading to an Apple Router....)

That should work. Are you going to connect the MBP to it wirelessly or by Ethernet? That will affect setup a bit. If you are connecting to it wirelessly it might be a good idea to perform the first backup while connected by wire. The first one can take a while.

Thanks, Sly, good adivce. I have read that the first back up should be wired.

I've also done some research here on the forums, and found a recent thread (that you, Sly, were involved with too) that sounds like putting the TC on our wireless network would be pretty easy, and have better security... The thread is HERE

How are you connecting to the net normally? If it is through wifi - then you would have to disconnect from the normal network, then back up to your TC, then reconnect. You can connect the TC to your network in bridge mode and not have it do anything but be a hard drive. It is probably the easiest way to set it up - just a NAS. As Slydude said you'll want to be wired the first time you back up.