First Wireless Network - for Music (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I am finally taking the steps to set up a wireless music system in my house. I am taking advantage of closeouts on the b/g AirPort Express to save some $. So, my questions regard how to set up the wireless network.

My iMac has an (original) AirPort installed, which I have never used, because I had nothing to connect it to. So, for those who have done this before, do I actually need to create a wireless network just for music, or will AirTunes let me connect to the AirPorts without creating a network? If I create a network, what are the most secure settings? I don't plan to network the 2 Macs wirelessly, since I already have them on a wired network. I'd like to maintain the greatest security possible.

All this may be obvious once I have the Airports and software, but I figured I'd ask in advance.

 

[Citizen87645]

Yes, you can do a point to point connection between computer and Aiport Express to stream music. The Airport Express will broadcast its default SSID and you can just connect to it with your computer. Keep in mind you will need to connect via the computer's wireless control panel; once you are connected the AirTunes option will show up in your iTunes window (bottom right).

I'm not sure what the latest capability is for streaming to multiple Airport Expresses. I only have one of them myself, but iTunes is able to stream to an Airport as well as play to the local speakers.

The most security includes
- MAC address filtering
- WPA encryption
- not broadcasting the SSID

I'm sure there are more capable folks who can explain how to do all that.

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks for the info Cameron. I will be streaming the same music to all the Expresses, not different music, though I believe iTunes can do both. There is also AirFoil, which you may have told me about, which also lets you stream the same source across a wired network. I hope to eventually have as many as 4 Expresses running.

I turned on the Airport for the first time and found a couple networks appearing and disappearing. I guess that is common, but how would I know?

 

[JohnRice]

The AirPort Expresses arrived today. Getting started was absolutely baffling, since the instructions clearly assume you have already set up a wireless network and know what you are doing, which I don't. I ended up doing a factory reset on both units and starting over.

One thing I don't understand. I can't get the iMac to create a network from the internal AirPort. It just doesn't seem to work. It insists on me creating the network with one of the AirPort Expresses. The problem is, neither of them is in a central a location as the iMac.

One piece of info. You can stream music to Expresses without having them join a network, but you can only stream to one at a time. If you create a network and have them join it, you can stream to (I believe) 10 Expresses at the same time.

 

[Citizen87645]

The iMac Airport is a wireless card, so it is meant to connect to wireless access points (e.g. the Airport Express or Airport Base Station) not create one of its own. Think of it as a tuner receiving radio signals / TV stations. Though the analogy doesn't hold up (or gets confusing) when you are using the iMac to "send" music to the Express.

Having tried various configs, having them all be part of the same network is definitely the most convenient and slick.

 

[JohnRice]

Yeah, I figured that one. Does an AirPort Extreme create a network, or is it just a better version of the same thing?

Anyway, I'll be getting a couple more Expresses and will put one in the living room and use that to create the network, since it is fairly central.

 

[JohnRice]

I guess I finally understand how this stuff works. Almost everything is working the way I want. There is just one thing I want to clarify. I thought my desktop Mac would also be able to communicate with the Expresses, but it won't, because it doesn't have an airport.

So, here's the deal. The two Macs are on a wired network, the iMac has an airport and the desktop doesn't. If I add a wireless router to the wired network, then will that allow me to send music to the Expresses from either Mac? Would that pretty much eliminate the need for the AirPort, unless I wanted a wireless connection from one of the computers to the wireless network?

These are the b/g Expresses, so I understand if I got an n router, it would be held back to b/g capabilities anyway. b/g routers seem pretty cheap. I take it I just need a Mac compatible one and the necessary software is built into the Mac OS. Any suggestions on routers? The Apple Extreme is a bit more than I am looking to spend.

 

[Citizen87645]

That's the way I understand it. I tried to do this with a Netgear WGR614 wireless router but it wouldn't allow it, so that's at least one recommendation against a particular model.

 

[JohnRice]

I think I'll try a NetGear 824, which is on sale everywhere this week, to expand my music options, and to get a more solid signal to the Expresses. It sounds like it should do the trick. The 824 is a MIMO model, so hopefully it will give a solid signal throughout the house and into the back yard.

 

[JohnRice]

Got the wireless router and had it set up fairly quickly. Fortunately I'd already had a trial by fire with the first round of this, so I had some idea what I was doing. The router is currently streaming music throughout the house (3 Expresses running at the moment), though there have been a couple hiccups to the sound while streaming to all 3 units. I'm sure I have to replace my 2.4 GHz telephone to avoid more problems. Anyway, this model does work with the Expresses.

A funny thing setting it up. There is zero printed info. The set-up is in an .html file. The funny thing is, the first thing it tells you to do is turn off your computer. I wonder how they expect people to use their online help when you have to turn your computer off.

Anyway, the wired/wireless networks are kind of a hodgepodge now, and it is not 100% functional. I'll have to figure out the best way to put the router and modem in a central location and run ethernet between the computers.

 

[JohnRice]

I finally cleaned up the whole network, but there is one thing that isn't working. Originally, I just had a wired network. When I added the wireless router, I hooked it up to my second Mac with the internet port on it going back down to the switch in my office. Not the 100% proper way to do things, but it get things going. The second Mac was able to play music over the network, no problem. Because of my screwy setup, the office Mac could not see the wireless network, plus though I could access the second Mac from the office one, I couldn't access the office Mac from the second one. This all made sense to me.

So, I finally just disconnected the switch and hooked everything up correctly. Modem into the wireless router, then off to the two computers. Everything works great. The two computers can access each other properly again annd the second Mac can still stream music over the wireless network. The problem is, the office Mac does not seem to be connected to the wireless network. As in, it can't access the AirPort Expresses, and it doesn't seem to show up on the "connected devices" list in the router configuration. It shows what appears to be the second Mac and the two Expresses which are currently powered up.

I have tried dissect the indecipherable instructions for the wireless router, but can't find the solution. Does the office Mac have to be "logged" into the wireless network? FWIW, I used the second Mac to originally set up the wireless router, and the office Mac CAN log into the router setup, so it is seeing it. The router just doesn't seem to be seeing it, except on the wired network.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

Does anyone have a solution?

 

[JohnRice]

OK, I finally checked the AirPort Utility, and the office Mac IS seeing the Expresses through the wireless network. I just can't get the AirTunes feature of iTunes to turn on with that Mac. Any idea what I am missing? What is a good place for info about this? It has to be very simple.

 

[Yumbo]

All software updated on each Mac and Airports?

 

[JohnRice]

Yeah, software (AirPort Utility) on both Macs is up to date and firmware on all Expresses is also up to date.

All I can figure is I might need to log into the router from the office Mac and run the configuration from it as well. It shows the proper config for the router, and I can see all the Expresses from the AirPort utility from that Mac, but it just won't let me play music through them. The iMac works fine, but that is also the computer I used to initially configure the router.

I'm completely new to wireless networking, and I am a bit stumped.

 

[JohnRice]

What a bonehead. It helps to have "Look for speakers connected with AirTunes" selected. Somewhere along the lines, it got unchecked.

 

[Citizen87645]

Now you can get all fancy by getting an iPhone or Touch and installing the Remote application: YouTube - Apple Remote App for iPhone

 

[Citizen87645]

A word of warning before upgrading to iTunes 8: iTunes 8 kills AirTunes, iPod touch causing BSOD - Engadget

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks for the link Cameron. It appears to me if the airports have the latest (6.3) firmware then it isn't a problem. Is that correct as far as you know?

 

[Citizen87645]

That's how it reads to me, but I haven't gone for the iTunes update (and I'm not sure what firmware version I have on the Airport).

 

[JohnRice]

The firmware version is easy. Just open the AirPort Utility and click on a base station. It will give the firmware version in the middle of the window.