Stupid old man buys TWO new apple machines and TWO time capsules

[al007]

A couple of months ago I ordered online via Singapore a new iMac27, The new Macbook, and two time capsules, the intention being to network them with two iPads, apple TV and an Acer PC

​I put my requirements and expectations in writing and was assured by Shannon In Singapore do not worry we will provide all the technical support to get your system fully operational

I ordered Apple because as a 70 year old man I believed you get what you pay for so I bought the best at a high price, I used to drive Mercedes cars because they were reliable and they gave support

I have had technical support from Thailand , Singapore, Philippines, and Idaho,(all on the phone) I still do not have it all up and running, I have in writing a technician will be sent but after three weeks none has appeared

I live in KhonKaen, and am so terribly stressed out over my terrible mistake

​I went to the Apple store in KhonKaen was advised they have no technical advice there, so the assistant manager who had worked there for six years and had a university degree in computing, agreed to visit on his day off and I paid him, he was unable to resolve everything despite being on the phone to Singapore support for two hours

WHAT A BAD MISTAKE I MADE

I even own a big holding in Apple stock, like $250,000

I AM SHOCKED BY THE ATTITUDE OF APPLE, in this part of the world they appear not to care

I am looking for a way to find a technical Apple person in KhonKaen, and any help or suggestions would be so much appreciated

Al007 KhonKaen

[tominbkk]

Can you let us know what the problem is exactly? Also, the apple forum is pretty helpful. But nobody can help you here unless you are more specific in the problem you are encountering.

[IMHO]

It would also be handy to know what other devices you have in the system... e.g. broadband routers, switches.

[tropo]

You haven't wasted your money on these products, so don't beat yourself up about that. Getting service in Thailand is difficult at the best of times, and not having an official Apple Store here is the main problem. Just relax, I'm sure you'll get it sorted and be happy in the end.

I have one Airport Time Capsule providing Internet for a 3 story townhouse. It serves 4 Window's PC's, an iPad, an iphone and a MacBook Air on all 3 levels. All my PC's and the MacBook are backed up automatically to the Time Capsule and all the devices have access to the Airport Time Capsule's hard drive using Airport Utility 5.6.1 (on the Windows PC's). On the iPhone and iPad you need to install a file browser app to access the Time Capsule Hard Drive.

Do you need 2 Time Capsules because you have a big house? If so, it shouldn't be too difficult to link them. It will be best to link both to a switch from your Internet modem/router so you get full speed at both... therefore you will need to run some cable. You won't be able to get 802.11ac speed outside the room where your Time Capsule is situated, so perhaps that's why you wanted 2. The rest of the house will only receive 802.11n as ac has a more limited range than n.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/802-11ac-vs-802-11n-what-s-the-difference

I will say that Airport Time Capsule was not as easy to set up as I initially expected when I bought it (considering I had no help and had to figure it out for myself).

Some more information would help.

Edited June 25, 2015 by tropo

[canman]

I wasted a good part of my day yesterday dealing with apple tech support trying to get my wifes Iphone fixed under warrenty. I won't bore you with the details, suffise it to say not another product from those pr1cks will ever be bought in my house.

Simple to use products but when they go wrong and you have to deal with their tech support, forget it.

[tropo]

I wasted a good part of my day yesterday dealing with apple tech support trying to get my wifes Iphone fixed under warrenty. I won't bore you with the details, suffise it to say not another product from those pr1cks will ever be bought in my house.

Simple to use products but when they go wrong and you have to deal with their tech support, forget it.

This definitely is a worry when buying Apple products here. My wife's iPhone 6 was a mess soon after she bought it, but it was purchased in the US - that's also not a very good idea as only a US based store can replace it under warranty... but when my US based friend brought it in (after I spent over 2000 baht shipping it back), they looked at it briefly and handed him a brand new phone.

[canman]

I wasted a good part of my day yesterday dealing with apple tech support trying to get my wifes Iphone fixed under warrenty. I won't bore you with the details, suffise it to say not another product from those pr1cks will ever be bought in my house.

Simple to use products but when they go wrong and you have to deal with their tech support, forget it.

This definitely is a worry when buying Apple products here. My wife's iPhone 6 was a mess soon after she bought it, but it was purchased in the US - that's also not a very good idea as only a US based store can replace it under warranty... but when my US based friend brought it in (after I spent over 2000 baht shipping it back), they looked at it briefly and handed him a brand new phone.

I can't imagine what it must be like in Thailand. I was dealing with their Singapore authorised service centre in person and also on the phone with Apple tech support in NZ. I'll give the tech guy kudo's for dealing with my foul temper which had been wound up to the max by the muppets in the service centre.

Here's a small sample of the exchange:

me. The charger melted down last night, took out the main breaker in my condo and now the phone won't turn on

them. Before we can accept the phone for repair you must log onto Icloud from your phone

me. I just told you 10 seconds ago that the phone is broken, that's why I am here

them. blank look

me. can i use the computer you are blankly staring at to log on

them. good idea

me. log on, and it comes up with some sort of error

them. On the phone to apple tech support. after much shaking of heads she tells me the problem is that find my phone is enabled. It needs to be disabled

me. right how do I do that?

them. just go to the app on the phone

me. meeting the muppets blank stare with an evil one I wait it out until the penny drops again

And it went down hill from there

No result as yet

Edited June 25, 2015 by canman

[phazey]

There's no official Apple standing in Thailand, you are dealing with third party "agents".

[al007]

Thanks for the moral support, yes the muppets on the phone really know how to wind me up , keep me on hold 20 mins then ask me to repeat the story, then just cut the phone off

I emailed Tim Cook this morning lets see if anything happens over the next few days

Upset customer and shareholder

Last Ticket number 82100051

Dear Mr Cook

I write to you as a last resort

I have been a great admirer of you company for a long time going back to the days of the Mac plus and SE30

I am 70plus yrs old and own 2000 shares in Apple, not an insignificant holding

I am so upset and stressed out by the lack of support and no follow up on your companies written promises, I believe this goes against all your teachings

Below I attach what I have posted on Thai Visa in Thailand the expat forum

Maybe you can assist

Kindest Regards

A***************FCA

Tel no 66 86*******22

Stupid old man buys TWO new apple machines and TWO time capsules

This all began because I wanted the all bells and whistle system, I have two houses on five Rai near KhonKaen, they are 80mtrs apart, I use the airport time capsule in the main house, and link it by ethernet cat 7 cable to the airport extreme

After many battles with support in Singapore and research on the internet I with the help of a TOT engineer got it set up so that we now only have one wifi net work on the two houses, the time capsule on its own does not have enough range, Singapore wanted us to have

two separate systems.Singapore also wanted me to keep the old router in the system, and as I said if I do that I do not need the expensive time capsule, I also wanted to remove the weakest link and make more robust

​I can now walk from one house to the other with the iPad and it stays connected all the way switching from one router to the next without anything having to be done

I have three 42 in TVs with expat TV and TOT IP tv, I also have apple TV

I have two CCTV systems one on each house and when set up properly should be able to access from remote locations

​I wanted to add a vpn over the whole system so I could access either the BBC or Netflix but it appears can not do with the apple system, yes can do machine by machine but really too many things all linked

At present I do not have everything backing up onto the @2TB drive in the time capsule

I have bought many books from Amazon and ebay over the last couple of months and am moving forward

Apple advised me in writing they would get an engineer to me three weeks ago but are now ignoring me, which really winds me up

I can not put VPN on apple tv alone, maybe have to put on macbook, ( incidentally this is a very superb bit of gear about same size and weight as iPad but so much better) stream to macbook via wifi then link to TV by apple TV

​I am making progress despite Apple, can get the mack book and imac to talk and also the Acer, having problems with the iPad and iMac linking to the net work, the iPad is series 3 and am wondering is it compatible

​Prior to this I had been windows and pc orientated, although a long time ago I had six macplusees all networked in an office on one 20mg external HD, each machine only has floppy drive, so am having to relearn apple systems

I will get there eventually but any hands on help would be very much appreciated, I consider myself somewhat computer illiterate

Al007

[al007]

On the iPhone and iPad you need to install a file browser app to access the Time Capsule Hard Drive.

Thanks I think I need to do this, please advise me how, and remember I am not very computer literate

Al007

[tropo]

I wasted a good part of my day yesterday dealing with apple tech support trying to get my wifes Iphone fixed under warrenty. I won't bore you with the details, suffise it to say not another product from those pr1cks will ever be bought in my house.

Simple to use products but when they go wrong and you have to deal with their tech support, forget it.

This definitely is a worry when buying Apple products here. My wife's iPhone 6 was a mess soon after she bought it, but it was purchased in the US - that's also not a very good idea as only a US based store can replace it under warranty... but when my US based friend brought it in (after I spent over 2000 baht shipping it back), they looked at it briefly and handed him a brand new phone.

I can't imagine what it must be like in Thailand. I was dealing with their Singapore authorised service centre in person and also on the phone with Apple tech support in NZ. I'll give the tech guy kudo's for dealing with my foul temper which had been wound up to the max by the muppets in the service centre.

Here's a small sample of the exchange:

me. The charger melted down last night, took out the main breaker in my condo and now the phone won't turn on

them. Before we can accept the phone for repair you must log onto Icloud from your phone

me. I just told you 10 seconds ago that the phone is broken, that's why I am here

them. blank look

me. can i use the computer you are blankly staring at to log on

them. good idea

me. log on, and it comes up with some sort of error

them. On the phone to apple tech support. after much shaking of heads she tells me the problem is that find my phone is enabled. It needs to be disabled

me. right how do I do that?

them. just go to the app on the phone

me. meeting the muppets blank stare with an evil one I wait it out until the penny drops again

And it went down hill from there

No result as yet

Unbelievable. How do those people score a job at an Apple service center?

[tropo]

On the iPhone and iPad you need to install a file browser app to access the Time Capsule Hard Drive.

Thanks I think I need to do this, please advise me how, and remember I am not very computer literate

Al007

I'll have a look at my wife's iPhone later on and get the exact app we use. I think I paid for this one - maybe about $8. I'll check for you and report back. Too see the Apple Time Capsule you'll have to set the IP for it... which you will find in Airport Utility interface. I did this last year, so I'm a bit rusty on the exact procedure.

[tropo]

If I had to buy again I don't think I would buy another Airport Time Capsule. Main reason for me would be the inability to use the NTFS file system, which I use on all my Windows PC's and external hard drives. I accidentally wiped an external hard drive when trying to convert it to FAT 32 to use with the Time Capsule. It looks nice, but I feel it is overpriced and not as flexible as other systems which can be bought for a fraction of the price. It was a bit of impulse buying at the local Apple Store.

Edited June 25, 2015 by tropo

[al007]

With what I know now I would definitely not buy the Time capsule or Airport extreme, living in Thailand and no proper Apple support, when buying my system constituent parts I told the sales rep I wanted to put a vpn on the time capsule, it transpires it is not possible, can easily be done on other routers. I do however have on wifi covering a much larger area than normal

The configuration of these has been a nightmare with no support

The apple is also very premium priced, and with research there are better alternatives especially if matching the apple price

However I am very very happy with the iMac and new Mac book,the latter is so cute and overcomes all the short comings of the iPad, for no significant increase in size or weight, my problems revolve round the networking and sharing

I am looking at iteleport application to enable me to access my computers from a remote location on wifi from my iPads

Al007

[IMHO]

No offense intended, but it sounds to me that what the OP is trying to do here goes well and truly over and above normal product support.

For the VPN setup, you should be contacting your VPN provider's support. Apple support can't possibly understand the specifics of all 1,000's of VPN providers out there.

[al007]

No offense intended, but it sounds to me that what the OP is trying to do here goes well and truly over and above normal product support.

For the VPN setup, you should be contacting your VPN provider's support. Apple support can't possibly understand the specifics of all 1,000's of VPN providers out there.

Thank you for your observations, yes I want a sophisticated system, but only what I originally put in writing before buying and being assured it could all be done, at present I still do not have the two iPads connected wirelessly

I chose the Time capsule and airport extreme because whilst more expensive were apple products, and expected apple support getting them working

As regards VPN again I was assured no problem, prior to purchase,you are very correct Apple can not be expected to know all the third party products but I only need ONE third party VPN, and running a VPN on a router surely for the worlds largest company should be no problem

My major disappointment is some three weeks plus ago I was offered a technician in writing, by a senior supervisor after two and a half hours on the phone and this still has not been forthcoming

Yes I wanted a good system with all the apple products wirelessly linked, but only what promised and I was happy to pay the premium price

Al007

[tropo]

It is the FileBrowser 6.3 app available in the Apple Store for $5.99 that I use to read content from my Airport Time Capsule on my iPhone and iPad. I tried the free Lite version first, then upgraded.

https://itunes.apple.com/th/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8

Edited June 26, 2015 by tropo

[al007]

It is the FileBrowser 6.3 app available in the Apple Store for $5.99 that I use to read content from my Airport Time Capsule on my iPhone and iPad. I tried the free Lite version first, then upgraded.

https://itunes.apple.com/th/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8

thanks for posting appreciated, i think what you are suggesting is an alternative for iteleport, I will definitely do one or the other, generally I prefer the paid for application versions

Al007

[tropo]

It is the FileBrowser 6.3 app available in the Apple Store for $5.99 that I use to read content from my Airport Time Capsule on my iPhone and iPad. I tried the free Lite version first, then upgraded.

https://itunes.apple.com/th/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8

thanks for posting appreciated, i think what you are suggesting is an alternative for iteleport, I will definitely do one or the other, generally I prefer the paid for application versions

Al007

I had a look through the features of iTeleport and I don't think It's going allow efficient and easy access from your iPad/iPhone to the Airport Time Capsule. FileBrowser is a simple file browser which allows you to see what is on your iPhone/iPad and access your Airport Time Capsule while you're in wifi range.

Of course, as often is the case with Apple product home pages, their explanations are as clear as mud and you really need to go to forums and other places to find out how good things really are and how they function before buying them, something I should have done before buying my Time Capsule. Apple support for this product is woeful.

I read this in the FAQ for iTeleport:

Can I play audio from my computer on my device?

No, we do not currently support audio at this time.

Can I play video from my computer on my device?

Yes, you can play video, but it's usually pretty slow. Improving the performance is something we're working hard

I don't think you can directly access the Time Capsule with iTeleport, but only through your computer. If you can't play audio and video files from your Airport Time Capsules, it wouldn't be very useful to me. I can use FileBrowser to play movies on iPad or iPhone which are loaded on my Airport Time Capsule.

[wooloomooloo]

Not sure whether this link will help as it would appear to be slightly removed from what you wish to achieve but this thread helped me no end. I purchased a 3TB AirPort Time Capsule last December and I initially struggled to get it synced with the modem. It was delivered during the week when I was at work and spent the next two evenings trying to work it out. I don't give up easily and read dozens of websites looking for the ultimate answer.

It's just a matter of getting the modem and router to work in harmony, and, properly. It didn't take long to get the modem and router working together but it still wasn't quite right and I was baffled.

But, when it all clicked into place it was great and never looked back or experienced any problems.

There's one other small matter and that's your internet speed. The Time Capsule does require some juice to get the best out of it, but you can't expect it perform miracles with nothing in the engine. I'm running a steady 62Mb down and 20Mb up with ping ranging from 9 to 31.

I'm running an iMac, iPhones (6 and 6 Plus), iPad Air, Apple TV and B&W A7 AirPlay speaker. All these devices deliver with the aid of the Time Capsule and some broadband heat.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6449320

[tropo]

Not sure whether this link will help as it would appear to be slightly removed from what you wish to achieve but this thread helped me no end. I purchased a 3TB AirPort Time Capsule last December and I initially struggled to get it synced with the modem. It was delivered during the week when I was at work and spent the next two evenings trying to work it out. I don't give up easily and read dozens of websites looking for the ultimate answer.

It's just a matter of getting the modem and router to work in harmony, and, properly. It didn't take long to get the modem and router working together but it still wasn't quite right and I was baffled.

But, when it all clicked into place it was great and never looked back or experienced any problems.

There's one other small matter and that's your internet speed. The Time Capsule does require some juice to get the best out of it, but you can't expect it perform miracles with nothing in the engine. I'm running a steady 62Mb down and 20Mb up with ping ranging from 9 to 31.

I'm running an iMac, iPhones (6 and 6 Plus), iPad Air, Apple TV and B&W A7 AirPlay speaker. All these devices deliver with the aid of the Time Capsule and some broadband heat.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6449320

LOL. You were complaining (or boasting) about your Internet speed on another thread. We're in Thailand, so we need to be realistic about broadband speed available in Thailand. Although you can obtain 60Mb/20Mb speeds here, it is extremely expensive and unrealistic for the majority of home users. For example, 35Mb/7Mb costs me just under 6000 baht/month. Ping is irrelevant as it is determined by the distance from the server one is accessing. Being in England you have an additional advantage of being much closer to most major web servers (US & Europe) which foreigners living in Thailand would most likely be accessing on a daily basis. From Thailand that's normally in the 300ms + range for Europe and in the 200ms + range for the USA, at best with an expensive service.

You are using your Airport Time Capsule as a wifi router. Obviously it performs at the speed provided by your modem and your broadband Internet service. Information access on your Time Capsule hard drive is determined by the speed of the wireless network adapters on your devices AND distance from the Time Capsule. For example, you won't get 802.11ac speed outside the room where your Time Capsule is positioned. In the adjacent rooms or other floors it will drop to 802.11n speed or lower. Your iPad and iPhones will automatically switch between "n" and "ac" depending on where you are in the house. I have 3 levels (Time Capsule is in the middle floor), so my iPhone and iPad are constantly switching.

Being realistic here, although the Time Capsule costs about 10,000 baht (2TB), it doesn't perform any better than my 2000 baht TP link router except when I am close to it with an iPhone or iPad where they can receive at 802.11ac speed. My other devices (Windows Laptops and PC) can only receive at 802.11n speed. Going further with the comparisons, I would give my TP Link router a slight edge in signal strength around the house on all 3 levels. The advantage of the Airport Time Capsule is having an integrated hard drive that is accessible on all my devices 24/7. Of course this can be easily achieved (and cheaper) with other routers with an attached hard drive. In actual fact, having a separate hard drive connected to a wifi router is probably a safer option because if something goes wrong with the hard drive it can be easily replaced rather than risking a problematic Apple customer support nightmare, which seems be all too common in Thailand. Also, not being able to use NTFS format is inconvenient to me as I use that format for all my Windows computers.

One must wonder why I have so many Apple devices considering my ambivalence toward them. Well, my wife just had to have them.. She's not interested in anything technical - just loves the little Apple logo LOL.

Edited July 15, 2015 by tropo

[al007]

All interesting and continue to learn, I pay TOT for fibre optic to my house in the country, about 1500 batt per month and "get" about 30 down and 3 up, but the 30 usually nearer 23/24, and thats OK, included with my TOT is IP tv for all standard Thai channels, so my wife has her Thai TV I use expat IP tv at about 600batt, can access anything in last two weeks

On TOT we check their prices about once a year and normally this results in decrease in price and increase in speed just by changing

I like good looking things so I bought apple, and still do not put my time capsules in the centre of the room on public view, my cute wife yes!! and I am not paying for the Issan nose job!!

I make very slow progress getting the best from my system, and am still looking for that illusive apple technical freeque who lives nearby in issan north Thailand

This is all of my own making, i was so very stupid to buy APPLE with no hope of technical support, but the good news is it not lifestyle threatening, and maybe a trip to an Apple Shareholders meeting, they have to let you ask questions and talk and they hate it, that small shareholder $250,000, can create embarrassment and problems out of all proportion to the problem

[tropo]

All interesting and continue to learn, I pay TOT for fibre optic to my house in the country, about 1500 batt per month and "get" about 30 down and 3 up, but the 30 usually nearer 23/24, and thats OK, included with my TOT is IP tv for all standard Thai channels, so my wife has her Thai TV I use expat IP tv at about 600batt, can access anything in last two weeks

On TOT we check their prices about once a year and normally this results in decrease in price and increase in speed just by changing

They have similar deals in Pattaya if you go for their (True, 3BB etc) promotional low entry fiber optic packages. When you get these deals you're sharing with everyone who takes the same deals. You could be lucky until a bandwidth hog or two move into you neighborhood. They are still in the early rolling out stage of FTTH in Pattaya, so there's no indication how it will go long term with their promo packages. I've heard of some early very poor performance reports by some who have taken up these packages. I suppose upgrading is always an option. With CAT I haven't had a free upgrade in the year since I signed up. They're generally pretty slow offering more, but I always get the speed I'm paying for and extremely good customer service if needed. They'll have a tech team at my door same day or first thing in the morning if I have a problem.

Edited July 15, 2015 by tropo