Mac wireless backup using Ignite wifi

[madkoch]

Does anyone have their Ignite wifi network set up to back up their Mac wirelessly and automatically using Time Machine and an external hard drive?

Is there a way to connect an external hard drive to the Ignite box so it's findable on the network?

I have an old Time Capsule connected to my Ignite box, which is in bridge mode so the Time Capsule creates the wifi network within my house. I have an external hard drive connected to the Time Capsule for the backups because the TC's drive has died.

(Someone has suggested that I use the Ignite box to create the network, and use the Time Capsule create a separate LAN that's not connected to the wifi. But I'm not sure how Time Machine would know to use that network instead of the wifi one. The point about these wireless backups is that they happen seamlessly in the background, every hour. I also manually backup everything weekly and also use a cloud backup.)

***Edited Labels***

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @madkoch.

We're thrilled to have you join our Community, and we appreciate your engaging post!

It's fantastic that you've set up the Ignite WiFi Gateway modem in bridge mode and are utilizing your Time Capsule for your home WiFi network. The Ignite WiFi Gateway modem does not accommodate the connection of an external HDD; your configuration is well-suited for NAS (Network Attached Storage) purposes.

Please clarify if you have problems accessing the external HDD you plugged into the Time Capsule, as it's unclear from your post.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
RogersMoin

[madkoch]

Thanks, RogersMoin
Everything is working at the moment -- my wireless backups are happening automatically to the external hard drive that's plugged into the Time Capsule, and the TC is producing the network. However, I think the TC is slowly failing, as it's old tech. I often get "your internet connection is unstable" messages when I'm using Zoom, the gizmo that switches between my heat pump and furnace reports dropped connections frequently, and when I'm facetiming on my phone connected to the wifi network I also often get poor quality (although sometimes switching to the 5G network doesn't seem to help!). So I'm starting to think the TC's days are numbered.

I also have an old Apple Express box. I can plug the EHD into that, so I was thinking I could take the Ignite box out of bridge mode, and then connect the AE to the network and do the wireless backups that way. But I think it will be quite slow.

Would NAS plug directly into the Ignite box with an ethernet cable, or does it connect wirelessly? 

[RogersTony]

Hello, @madkoch 

Thanks for those additional details.

It would depend on the NAS you are using but Ethernet is usually the preferred option.

I hope this helps!

RogersTony

[madkoch]

Hm. Too bad the Ignite box only has two ethernet ports. (One is in use for my home security, the other is connected to my Sonos speakers, now that I've disconnected the Time Capsule!)