Time machine backup and Linksys E3000

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Mac Specs: Mid 2009 13" MacBookPro 2.26 GHz, 5 Gb, 500 GB, OS X 10.6.5
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but since I am recent switcher ... what the heck :) .. Please move me if this is not the right place.

I am planning to buy a new N router (my 5 year old G router is saying "no more") ... I currently have time machine (TM) backup on an external 1.5 TB drive ... I occasionally connect my Macbook pro to it ...

My question is ... I am narrowing down on Linksys E3000 and Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS)... Does anyone here have setup wireless TM backup using Linksys E3000? I like E3000 since its cheaper than AEBS? Dual band and has a USB port. I will appreciate if anyone can guide me to help make my decision.

Reason why I am reluctant to go to AEBS since my wife has Dell with Windows 7, and I have heard about problems using AEBS for windows ... And price is another issue.

Thanks in advance !!!
 
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You won't be able to use the external drive for a Time Machine backup with the LinkSys router. You will need the AirPort Extreme in order to do that.

You should be able to connect the Dell laptop to the AirPort Extreme. It runs on the same wireless networking standard as the LinkSys (or any other router for that matter), so compatibility should not be an issue.
 
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You won't be able to use the external drive for a Time Machine backup with the LinkSys router. You will need the AirPort Extreme in order to do that.

You should be able to connect the Dell laptop to the AirPort Extreme. It runs on the same wireless networking standard as the LinkSys (or any other router for that matter), so compatibility should not be an issue.

J.Fo, can you expand on this at all?

I have the E3000, and THE one last-straw reason I've had enough of MS and want to return to a Mac after almost 20 years is that I can't backup to a network location with my version of W7... without upgrading W7!
 
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J.Fo, can you expand on this at all?

Um, sure, I guess.

One of the features built into Mac OS X is an application called Time Machine. It's basically an automated way for you to back up and restore files on your Mac. It requires an external hard drive and can be utilized with either a wired connection directly into the Mac or over a wi-fi network. If you chose the wireless option, you either need an AirPort Extreme base station to plug the hard drive into or you need a Time Capsule, which is basically an AirPort Extreme with a built-in hard drive. Any other wi-fi base station will not work with Time Machine, although you will still be able to use it to get on the Internet.

So, for instance, we have two Macs at my home: my Mac mini and the wife's MacBook. We also have a 1 TB Time Capsule backing up both Macs. The mini is attached via an Ethernet connection and the MacBook backs up through the our wireless network. In all it works great, and we have some peace of mind in case something ever happens to our data on one of the computers. If we were to say add another Mac to the mix, we could also use the Time Capsule to back that one as well.

I hope that helps!
 
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Thanks J.Fo;

So if I understand correctly, the Time Machine app (which I must roughly equate to Windows Backup) won't write the automatic backup to a HDD plugged into the E3000, but only to an Apple base station?

The E3000 does have a USB port into which the HDD plugs directly...

The reason I'm digging into this is twofold; I was stung badly by my own recalcitrance surrounding backups when I lost a previous HDD, and I would find it ever so convenient to have auto-backups dumped to a HDD on my home network via WiFi.
 
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So if I understand correctly, the Time Machine app (which I must roughly equate to Windows Backup) won't write the automatic backup to a HDD plugged into the E3000, but only to an Apple base station?

Correct. Although I should mention that an AirPort Express will not work. It needs to be an Extreme or a Time Capsule.
 
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Hmmm... that's not what I was hoping for.

The AP Extreme is $80 more than I spent for my E3000, and the Time Capsule would net out at an even $100 more than my router plus a 1TB external drive.

Thanks Apple.
 
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FWIW, there are 3rd party NASs that support Time Machine. I'm running a LaCie 2Big Network2 and backing up to it with TM. Just make sure the specs state support for Time Machine before you buy. Also, I'm backing up over 1G Ethernet, IMO anything less than 100M Ethernet would be painfully slow, so go for .11n or 1G. I'm seeing 200-300mbps on the wire.
 
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So it's actually the external HDD that makes this possible, or impossible?

Here I was thinking it had something to do with the software itself.

A quick check shows many of the WD units list "Compatible with Apple Time Machine".

As for the network interface, it would depend on which Mac I end up purchasing. If I go with the iMac, I'd plug into the router directly. If I go with the MBP, it would be via WiFi, but the E3000 is a simultaneous dual-band N router, so...
 
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The router would have to be able to mount HPFS file system in order for it to work as the drive must be formatted in this to work with Time Machine. So, check and see if that router can do it. A quick call to Linksys would give you the right information.
 
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The router would have to be able to mount HPFS file system in order for it to work as the drive must be formatted in this to work with Time Machine. So, check and see if that router can do it. A quick call to Linksys would give you the right information.

Thanks for this info! I'll look into the problem from this angle.
 

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