Airport Express woes. . .

[Charlie Jefferson]

I'm off work looking after our youngest, and also trying to get an Airport Express up and running.

Everything was going fine - base station set-up disc installed, airport utility configurations seemingly straightforward - and then nothing. When I ask to join my existing but never previously used wireless network, the Airport scanner says there isn't an Apple wireless device. My BT Homehub seems to be all set up correctly but does anyone have any idea whatsoever about bypassing this and just streaming directly from my Mac to the Express?

Is this possible? Does any of this make sense? When will my sleeping one year old wake up and scupper my configuring & listening plans?

 

[John Duncan]

To answer the final question - just when it becomes most inconvenient. I find that taking floorboards up, for example, is a cue for my three year old to walk in the door.

Firstly, why is your wireless network 'previously unused'? (this is almost certainly the key to it all...)

 

[John Duncan]

(s)he woke up, didn't (s)he......

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

He certainly did.

Post beans on toast, he's happily playing with an old Mac's keyboard, providing me with a little window of opportunity to investigate the inactive airport express.

John, when I mentioned "previously unused wireless network", I meant that although the wireless light is clearly displayed on the BT Homehub, I haven't actually transmitted anything wirelessly. That is, I haven't previously needed to.

Despite/because of over a decade of Mac use I'm struggling to make sense of what I have/haven't done here. The BT Homehub isn't showing up in Spotlight, so I can't seem to re-configure that, if indeed that's what's required.

Initially the Airport utility identified the Express device but when I was asked to join an existing network or create a new one, I plumped for the former, but to no avail. I've tried rescanning several times but draw the same blank each time.

Now I'm flummoxed and no mistake.

 

[John Duncan]

Is your internet connection wired then, and the Home Hub is not being used as a router at all?

 

[John Duncan]

The "join existing/create new" step appears to be the nub of it - let's ignore the BT Home Hub for the time being and try reinstalling the AE with the directions here for starters.

 

[John Duncan]

Or even look at the apple help, which makes it sound remarkably straightforward:

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/setup.html

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks John. Your guidance is much appreciated. However, I'm still in limbo land. The Airport Express is continually flashing amber and when I try to join my apparently existing network I need to input a WEP password. Any ideas what this is?

Hair being pulled out. . .patience frazzled. . .returning device to sender being considered.

Childcare now in shared mode, but my girlfriend is giving me the "I knew you wouldn't get it going" look.

 

[John Duncan]

OK, first principles. In order to create a network between your Mac and your home hub, you ought to be able to just click on the 'Airport' icon in your menu bar, select whatever your home hub is called (probably 'BTHomeHub', surprisingly enough) and carry on - the WEP password for the router should have been given to you when your BT Hub was set up and will be in any documentation you may have (if I recall my FiL's, it was in a letter.....).

Let's try that first, then we can work on the AE.......

We'll discuss WEP later, it's not the most secure encryption, but can be the easiest to get running - if we can get it going with that, we can look at changing it to WPA.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks John, I'll go right back to basics. I may struggle to find my BT Home Hub documentation, so could be scuppered before I've even begun. But here goes. Don't suppose you know whether there's a way to proceed without the WEP password?

Thanks in advance for any further diagnostic assistance.

 

[John Duncan]

If you can't join the BTHomeHub network, then you should try to create a new network, with only the airport express, referring back to this page, substituting what I said above for step 10.

It may be worth doing a reset on your AE (there's a little button on it somewhere) so that you're starting from scratch if you try the latter.

 

[Dave_]

JohnDuncan:the WEP password for the router should have been given to you when your BT Hub was set up and will be in any documentation you may have (if I recall my FiL's, it was in a letter.....). just thought i'd mention that the wep password/code is on a label on the back of the homehub also, may save hunting for paperwork

 

[John Duncan]

kerching

 

[Anonymous]

John suggested I post this here to too

ÿ

"Assuming you have a functioning wireless network at the minute

disconnect from your existing network

join the network created by the AEÿ

set the AE to join the existing network ( I think extend might work too)ÿ

The trick is that once you get the airport express to join an existing network it becomes invisible.

Then reconnect to your old network and set iTunes to look for AirTunes speakers

They should appear bottom right in iTunes the you are set.

ÿ

The disappearing wifi network makes sense, but can be confusing.ÿEssentially you are changing the mode of the AE from base station to client if you set it to join.ÿOnce it is a client it no longer broadcasts the name or SSID. If you set it to extend, it'll seem to disappear too, but it is actually seamlessly broadcasting the same name (kind of like RDS and FM radio)

Try that and see if it works "ÿ

 

[John Duncan]

(ie once you get the wireless networking working - see above - try this)

 

[sc1]

On the back of your home hub should be 2 boxes of text printed. One says BT Wireless settings, the other BT Fusion settings. The WEP key/password should be there next to the words "wireless key" in the box for wireless settings.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks everyone for pitching in during my hour(s) of need.

Still struggling with this. Inbetween cooking and baby's bathtime, I have discovered the WEP password and logged it in accordingly but can't seem to get any further.

I can't access the Airport Set-Up Assistant. I've installed the start up disc (several times for good measure) but nothing else seems to ensue.

When we moved here three years ago, a Sky TV installation guy commented on how rudimentary the inherited cabling was. It took him yonks to activate the multiroom viewing due to the "ancient" phone line terminals. The internet is fine now but is this perhaps at the route of my problem regarding enabling a wireless network?

The amber light is still flashing away on the AE, and I'm very close to hurling it against the wall. Domestic harmony is under threat and my no alcohol until at least Thursday night rule is in jeopardy.

What gives, anyone??

 

[professorhat]

Think it might be worth hitting the reset button (small hole you push in with a paperclip on the bottom) and starting again with zzgavin's instructions...

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Will try again at the weekend.

After the youngest was safely tucked up, I relaxed and tried to forget about my wireless woes, and listened to Paul's Boutique on vinyl. Followed by a few excerpts from The Proclaimers' Sunshine On Leith. Vinyl saved my day once again.

Thanks again folks.

 

[John Duncan]

Sometimes the old ways are the best....

But when you do try again, presuming your Mac is now talking to your router (with WEP password), reset airport express, and tell it to join the network you just set up - you should be prompted for password again (fingers crossed).

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Hello folks,

I'm (vainly?) trying once more to get the AE up and running.

Despite various restarts and attempts I'm still basically getting the flashing amber light of despair on the AE itself.

The Network tab in System Prefs assures me Airport is connected to the BT Homehub but there seems to be no recognition of the AE device itself once I run Airport Utility.

An additional frustration is that I can't access any of the settings/preferences in Airport Utility - only the Rescan facility, which unerringly reminds me "no Apple wireless device can be detected".

Any further advice anyone?

 

[professorhat]

Do you mean you're not even getting the green light once you've hit the reset button? If so, something is very wrong I think (though have to admit, it's been a while since I set one up now!). Also, if you already have a wireless network connected, you will have to ensure your PC / Mac is not connected to this wireless network when it's attempting to find the AE. This is because, if you are connected to your BT Home Hub wireless network, the Airport Express once reset will be on a different network, and therefore you won't be able to see the AE unit. Disconnect the PC / Mac from any wireless network, and then have a look at the available wireless networks. You should then be able to see the Apple network in the list and connect to it so you can configure it.
Hope this helps.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Hello ProfH,

Firstly, I'm only getting one second's worth of green light, followed by 20 seconds or so of solid amber before it gives way to the flash of near death!

Secondly, this sounds rather a basic question but how do I disconnect the Mac from the BT hub? (Other than taking out cables form the hub itself?)

I've even moved the AE from downstairs near the hi-fi, to underneath the Mac itself but to no avail. I'm losing more of my mind that I knew I even had. . . if you follow my strife-knot of frustration.

 

[professorhat]

Ok, you're on a Mac which is good news as so am I!
So, to disconnect from the wireless network, go to System Preferences, click on Network and, at the top, should be an option box saying Show - click on the arrow next to this and choose Airport. It's likely here, you have your BT network in the list and it's set by default to join it. Highlight this network and choose "-" to remove it from the list so that the box is blank and click Apply Now.
Once this is done, you need to turn the Airport card in your Mac off and then on again. From the above screen, click again on the arrow next to the Show box and choose Network Status. Highlight the Airport entry and choose Disconnect. The Airport window should come up, and you can then click the button to turn the Airport Off and then, click it again to turn it on again. Once this is done, you should now have no connection to any wireless network. At this point, run through the Airport Setup Assistant application in the Utilities section of Applications and this should take you through connecting to and configuring the Airport Express.
Hopefully this will work!

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks for your time and advice ProfH, I'm just on domestic duties for a couple of hours then I'll try to follow your seemingly excellent walk-through.

Will let you know how I get on.

Cheers.