I have a working airport extreme, how can I configure this device to serve as an online backup so I don't have to physically plug in a backup hard drive all the time for Time Machine and will this limit performance in anyway on my erro mesh wi-Fi network
MacBook Air, macOS 26.1
You can't. An AirPort Extreme is a router, not a backup, it has no hard drive.
The backup enabled device is the TimeCapsule, and is both an AirPort Extreme and a hard drive in one package.
The AirPort Extreme has no hard drive, but you can plug in a hard drive into the USB port and set it up as a backup location for Time Machine if you really want to.
click here ➜ Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - AirPort Extreme Connected Drive - Apple Support
You can't. An AirPort Extreme is a router, not a backup, it has no hard drive.
The backup enabled device is the TimeCapsule, and is both an AirPort Extreme and a hard drive in one package.
The AirPort Extreme has no hard drive, but you can plug in a hard drive into the USB port and set it up as a backup location for Time Machine if you really want to.
click here ➜ Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - AirPort Extreme Connected Drive - Apple Support
Apple has notified that the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme with an attached hard drive will no longer work with Time Machine on Mac systems that are running any operating system higher than Sequoia.
Since your Mac appears to be running Tahoe according to the information in your profile, you will not be able to use your Time Capsule or AirPort Extreme to make backups using Time Machine.
Are there any current uses for the Apple airport extreme
