Time Machine - 2 Macs, 1 External Wireless HD

[n1cemarm0t]

I now have two MacBooks in the home (one is mine, one belongs to partner). We do not share files, but both wish to back up our data on the same device.

Here's my setup:

• MacBook Pro - Big Sur (500GB drive)
• MacBook Pro - Monterey (512GB drive)
• Netgear Nighthawk R700P Router with (1) available USB-A / (2) available Ethernet ports -- on Gigabit internet connection

I want to wirelessly back up both Macs to the same external drive, which I intend to purchase soon, if there is a solution here. I like the idea of automatic backups of files with Time Machine--don't need bootable files, only backups of data. I'm one of those people who will never remember to do regular backups--it needs to be done automatically for me. We have Gig speed internet that is very reliable, so I can run Time Machine perhaps overnight, at different intervals.

Is it possible to do two Time Machine backups? If so, what type of drive should I be looking for, and can it attach to my wireless router? I found a few similar posts on here, but I don't think I understand this process well enough to know we're talking about the same things. I've owned Macs for years, but it just dawned on me that I really should be backing up my important files. D'oh!

If there is a service better than Time Machine that will also accomplish the regular automatic backups, I'm open to other suggestions. I really just can't think about hardwiring a drive to both Macs on a regular basis to remember to back up.

 

[zorinlynx]

Time Machine will work fine on most routers that support sharing a connected hard drive over the network. Your router's manual should have instructions on setting it up if it's supported.

The speed of your Internet connection doesn't matter, since Time Machine backups happen entirely locally between your Macs and the router.

I suggest buying a USB hard drive that's 2TB of larger, so you have room for full backups from both your Macs and space to keep a reasonable backup history. If you can afford it, get an SSD, they tend to be more reliable long term than hard drives and will perform better. You'll be happy to have this performance if you have to do a restore.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Backing up 2 different Macs on the same device is flirting with possible fire. I highly suggest each of you have your own primary backup device as well as having a secondary backup device in case the first drive goes bad. With your current scenario, if the drive goes bad, gets stolen, or otherwise inaccessible, both of you will loose out.