The internal SATA hard drive is directly connected to the SoC (System on Chip). With custom firmware, you have full control:
As of 2025, OpenWrt 23.05 and newer supports the A1470 under the target name: bcm53xx (specifically, apple,timecapsule) .
Before diving into the "how," let's examine the "why." Apple stopped updating the Time Capsule’s firmware in 2019 (AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on Windows was the last hurrah). Here is what you lose with stock, and gain with custom: apple time capsule custom firmware
| Feature | Stock Firmware (Apple) | Custom Firmware (OpenWrt) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Wi-Fi Security | WPA2 (aging, vulnerable to KRACK) | WPA3, 802.11r (Fast Roaming), OWE | | Protocols | SMBv1 (insecure), AFP (deprecated) | SMBv2/v3, NFS, rsync, SFTP | | VPN | None (L2TP via NAT PPTP passthru only) | WireGuard, OpenVPN, ZeroTier | | Ad-blocking | None | AdGuard Home, uBlock origin on router | | File System | HFS+ (proprietary, slow) | ext4, F2FS, Btrfs (full POSIX support) | | USB Port | Printers only | 3G/4G modems, USB drives, DACs, Zigbee dongles |
Simply put: custom firmware turns a deprecated router into a swiss army knife for your home lab. The internal SATA hard drive is directly connected
Three main open-source projects support the later AirPort/Time Capsule hardware.
Install WireGuard (opkg install wireguard-tools). Configure it as a client to a commercial VPN (like Mullvad or ProtonVPN). Then, set up policy-based routing so that only your Apple TV or specific IPs go through the VPN. Your Mac still gets local access for printing. As of 2025, OpenWrt 23
Installing a Linux-based or BSD-based firmware turns your Time Capsule (AirPort Extreme 802.11ac, A1470) into a completely different machine: