Time Capsule amber blinking and no connection

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Level 1

33 points

Time Capsule amber blinking and no connection

The power went off in the house recently, and when it came up my old Time Capsule stopped working as my WiFi base station.

The light is flashing amber, and there is no network in the house. I connected it via ethernet to a computer, and the computer doesn't see it.

Airport Utility does not see it or any other station.

I held in the reset button and nothing happened. The light continues to flash amber. I held the button in for 1 second, 5 seconds, and 30 seconds. No effect.

I cycled the power on the Time Capsule. No effect.

I cycled the power on the modem it's connected to. No effect.

How do I troubleshoot?

Posted on Aug 3, 2024 8:01 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 4, 2024 6:53 AM in response to enfolder

The "tower" is the most recent version of the Time Capsule, introduced in 2013 and discontinued in 2018, so your product is likely 6-10 years old depending on when it was placed into service.

Apple will not provide service for the Time Capsule, but parts are readily available online for this model of the Time Capsule, so an independent shop might be able to repair the device for you, if you want to check into that option.

No other manufacturers ever offered a router with a built in hard drive, so Apple was unique in that respect.

Unfortunately, very few routers from other manufacturers will support Time Machine backups to a hard drive connected to the USB port on the back of the router. Among those that do are the upper end Asus models and Synology routers. There may be more.

Popular "mesh" systems like Linksys, Netgear, Eero, etc are not going to support Time Machine backups to a hard drive connected to the router.

I know that the Synology RT2600 will do this well, because I have used this setup in the past.

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Answer 2

Aug 3, 2024 8:17 PM in response to enfolder

Im sorry, but the Time Capsule is fried if what you say about nothing happening with the reset button is accurate. Likely, one of the power supply capacitors has failed.

How "old" is the old Time Capsule?

If the Time Capsule is "flat" shaped.....like small white pizza box.....look for the model number on the bottom of the product. It is usually embedded in the foam pad base.....starts with an "A" followed by 4 numbers.

Post back with that info if possible. Note.....we do NOT need a serial number.

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Answer 3

enfolder Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 4, 2024 6:31 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for that diagnosis.

The time capsule is quite old—tower model, A1470.

I love how well the setup I have works with Airport Express extenders and Airport Utility—what are my best options for replacing the base station with a minimum of hassle? I know Apple no longer supports its own mesh hardware—can I just get a new Linksys base station and seamlessly integrate it?

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Answer 4

enfolder Author

Level 1

33 points

Aug 4, 2024 6:58 AM in response to Bob Timmons

OK, thanks!

The hard drive in the time capsule actually died quite a while ago; I only use it for the Wifi and for Time Machine support. I have an external hard drive connected via USB for backups.

I'll look into getting a router I can connect my external drive to for backups.

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Answer 5

Aug 4, 2024 10:25 AM in response to enfolder

The hard drive in the time capsule actually died quite a while ago

Ah, got that.

I'll look into getting a router I can connect my external drive to for backups.

The advantage here is that like the Time Capsule when it is working, you can back up over the Wi-Fi to the hard drive.

Good luck!

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