Question 1

How big of a hardrive does it support?

Accepted Answer

I've put a 2TB drive in it with no problems.  I don't own anything bigger at this time.  I would think as long as the PC/filesytems you're plugging it into can work with it, then this device won't be an issue.

Question 2

Could this be used as an alternative to time capsule?

Accepted Answer

I suppose this could be but it would not be my first choice.  What this device is good at is making different hard drives available to devices on your network wirelessly.  Swapping drives in and out is the neat trick.  This is probably the last thing you would want to do with Time Machine.  With time machine you want a hard drive sitting ready all the time, backing up with no intervention from you and always there when you need to retrieve it.  I am not an expert on hard drives but I think you could probably find many that you could hook up to your router via USB  or hook directly to your Mac with USB or firewire or Thunderbolt that would be a solution.  
I run a Time Capsule and it has been good to me for years but I probably won't go that route when I replace.  Making your router be separate from your hard drive means you can replace one without replacing the other... with Time Capsule you are replacing both when only half the device needs it.  Time Capsules are expensive to begin with and keep on being more expensive when you have to repair either the router functionality or the drive.  The gift that keeps on giving!

Question 3

Could the wireless be used to share media to multiple tablets/phones without an established network?  For example, I'm envisioning putting movies on a connected hard drive and letting my kids watch movies in the car on longer trips.

Accepted Answer

Sorry, I can not give a good answer on that!

Questions & Answers