Done with Time Capsule...on to other externals...

So Ive been reading a lot of other previous posts on time capsule and its ease of use with the Time Machine...only problem is I went out and purchased it, hooked it up, backed up my macbook, and realized that I can't turn off the wifi without going into the manual settings...something I hate! I like the ability to turn on my wifi and turn it off when I want my wired connected- call me old school but I like what I like.

Anyway, my reason for the post is this: I have the thunderbolt display which allows me to create a type of "docking station" with my MBP...so Im wondering if the usb slots in the back will allow me to hook up an external HD (maybe a nice Lacie) and then whenever I hook up my laptop to dock, time machine will recognize the HD and then back up to the external...at least I hope it will...any suggestions on whether this will work?

The idea of the Time Capsule was nice- the inability to turn off wifi not so much (and please, no comments about why I want to turn off wifi...I just do when its not in use...and no comments about how you CAN toggle the wifi on/off on the time capsule...b/c you can't unless you're connected to it- the airport utility app only works on devices where the wifi is turned on).

Appreciate any feedback!

Two things: First, you should be able to hook up any external hard drive to the Mac and have it back up. You can connect it with USB, Firewire, or even Thunderbolt if you're lucky enough to have one of those drives. Second, I'm 99% sure that you can indeed have the Mac back up automatically whenever you physically connect it to your backup drive. I'm not 100% because I use a Time Capsule myself and not an external drive plugged in with a physical connection. However, based on how it works with the wireless connection, I'd imagine it works very similarly.

When I'm at home, the MacBook detects that my backup drive is available over our Wi-Fi network and automatically backs up. If I'm away from home, Time Machine won't back up because it will realize that the backup drive is not available. Once I return home though, it will see the drive is once again available and perform the backup. I would imagine it works the same way with an external drive that requires a physical connection. In other words, if you connect the drive to the Mac, it will see that the drive is once again available and do its thing.

Someone who actually has a setup like this can confirm if my suspicions are correct, but I almost certain that's the way it works.

I am curious about the above post, because I have an external drive and I am going to back up my Macbook as soon as the files on my computer are organized.

If no one responds, I will as soon as I get the chance.