Off to buy...

[admin_exported]

Airport Express!

No big deal of course and not a great expense, but it will definitely make for a better listening experience especially for Spotify (via Airfoil). Expect rants/setting up headaches/questions to follow... Got to enjoy my last week of "garden leave"!

 

[John Duncan]

Well we'll be here cheering you on and saying things like "have you tried a different channel on the router?"

 

[Anonymous]

I'll be optimistic. I set my AE up about 3 weeks ago. No problems at all. It found some updates and updated itself then the software updated and all went fine. Only thing was that the software disconnected the pc from the wifi network whilst doing it's stuff. It then tried to find the AE before the pc had restored the network connection. All I had to do was a rescan then all was fine. I didn't realise straight away that you could give a name for the AE in i-Tunes. So the drop down menu showed the name of the AE. I only seem to have the odd problem with Remote on my Touch dropping out and needing a restart. I'm using a pc with XP service pack 3. I have not yet installed i-Tunes 8.2 yet though.

 

[Anonymous]

Problems have started already (expectedly - I'm a pessimistic by nature).

AE has 'broken' my wireless connection to the internet. I know how to fix it again. But I'm not sure I'm connecting correctly to my internet connection. I only have a broadband modem (O2) not a router. I have the Base Station plugged into the back of the modem. Do I want to "join an existing wireless network"? Or do I want to "create a new one"? I must add that my modem, DAC and laptop are in different rooms. Another issue when trying to connect the Base Station to my wireless network was that the BS didn't recognise or like the format of my WEP key (64 bit). Which I think is what is causing the Intel wireless adapter on my laptop to crash. Tech Support please...

 

[Anonymous]

Update: We Have a GREEN Light!!

:-D

 

[John Duncan]

Wahay.

Dont use WEP, it's rubbish.

My internet always disappears after I play around with AE configuration - it's always solved by turning off the router and turning it back on again.

So, got any music playing yet?

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:Wahay. Dont use WEP, it's rubbish. My internet always disappears after I play around with AE configuration - it's always solved by turning off the router and turning it back on again. So, got any music playing yet?

No music. It's gone wrong again. Bah HumBug!! Ggrrrr...

I'm starting to wonder if this is ever to be doing what I need it to do.

Can it work not wired into the back of the O2 modem? Right now, it's into the DAC and showing an orange light. And because the modem and DAC/hifi are in different rooms, it has to be that way...

 

[Anonymous]

Also where to I find AirTunes?

 

[professorhat]

Shouldn't need to be wired in - did you choose to join an existing wireless network? As JD says, don't use WEP, it causes nothing but issues and it's so insecure, you might as well not bother anyway.

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Also where do I find AirTunes?

 

[professorhat]

Not sure what you mean - AirTunes is the name given to the fact that you can play music from iTunes over the wireless network. Once the AE is present on your wireless network and the PC / Mac is also connected to this wireless network, you should have the option to choose different speakers within iTunes.

EDIT - though just noticed within the AirportÿUtility, there is a tab at the top which says Music and then a tick box to enable AirTunes.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:

Shouldn't need to be wired in - did you choose to join an existing wireless network? As JD says, don't use WEP, it causes nothing but issues and it's so insecure, you might as well not bother anyway.

Insecure? My modem only has a WEP key (as far as I can tell). What WAP/WPA key or password shall I use then? I'm lost.

And I really need to uninstall my wireless adapter and reinstall it each time this crashes, simply switching it off and on again will not work. :-(

 

[John Duncan]

OK, hang on - tell us what your setup is - what model O2 Broadband router, and what wireless dongle in the PC?

Then we may be able to provide step-by-steps to set them up for WPA (which airport express much prefers).

And I mean I have to power down and power up my router (Belkin) whenever I reset my AE (which isn't often, or wasn't until i moved it this weekend).

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:OK, hang on - tell us what your setup is - what model O2 Broadband router, and what wireless dongle in the PC? Then we may be able to provide step-by-steps to set them up for WPA (which airport express much prefers). And I mean I have to power down and power up my router (Belkin) whenever I reset my AE (which isn't often, or wasn't until i moved it this weekend).

Seems like the WEP key was accepted as the new WPA/WAP pwd. Shall I feel more secure now? ;-) Green light still on.

I'm going to disconnect from the modem (O2 Wireless Box II by Thomson Telecom, white) and see if I can "see" it wirelessly - so far it wasn't working.

 

[professorhat]

momo72:Seems like the WEP key was accepted as the new WPA/WAP pwd. Shall I feel more secure now? ;-)ÿÿ Green light still on.

Hmmm, that doesn't sound right to me. The encryption method should be set on the modem really - so when you set up the O2 broadband box, you should have an option on what security to use and WEP or WPA should be chosen there. You then set the AE unit to use the same method and the same password as was setup on the O2 box and also do the same for your PC / Mac wireless config. Do you mean the O2 box doesn't give you an option for WPA? Unfortunately I don't have any experience with this box.

 

[Anonymous]

Prof, there's nothing other than a WEP key underneath the box. Which is why I selected WEP in the AE set-up menu.

Something that's crossed my mind: Can I connect the Base Station to my DacMagic using USB? (otherwise, looks like I'm gonna have to buy yet another cable as I don't have one with the required mini-jack).

 

[professorhat]

Understood, so I think you're just using the O2 box as it came and haven't gone into the config on it? This page might help in getting the O2 box to use WPA instead of WEP (as it suggests it can be changed). You can then set your own WPA password rather than using the one written on the bottom of the box.

I'm afraid you can't use the USB on the AE as it's merely there to allow shared printing of a USB printer. However, you can get a simple adaptor like this from Maplin to allow a standard optical cable to fit.

 

[Anonymous]

Apple Tech Support are telling me that the Base Station has to be connected (wired) to my internet modem. If that's right, I'm not going to connect to the DM in that case since they're too far away. Major bummer. I hope there is a way for it all to work wirelessly. Isn't it the whole thing of the gizmo? [currently still not working...]

 

[John Duncan]

momo72:Apple Tech Support are telling me that the Base Station has to be connected (wired) to my internet modem. If that's right, I'm not going to connect to the DM in that case since they're too far away. Major bummer. I hope there is a way for it all to work wirelessly. Isn't it the whole thing of the gizmo? [currently still not working...]

I'd respectfully suggest that Tech Support are talking out of their...Apple (unless they know something about O2 Broadband routers that I don't).

In windows, go to a command prompt (Start/Run, type 'CMD' - you get like a DOS prompt) and type ipconfig, press return, and tell me what the default gateway is.

 

[Anonymous]

I spent over an hour with a different Apple Tech Support (level 2) person tonight and it is still not working. We agreed that error 6753 that is coming up at the end of the setting-up process is not helping. lol. And he has no idea what it means. Therefore he will be helping me further tomorrow. This is very annoying. I've reset that BS god knows how many times today. In the meantime I'll get one of those Toslink converters

 

[John Duncan]

You might not have DHCP set up on our router. Do the ipconfig thingie above...

 

[JoelSim]

Hmmm. On-open-load-close-play

 

[John Duncan]

JoelSim:Hmmm. On-open-load-close-play

You forgot:

open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play-damn-where-did-I-put-that-one?
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play-curses-why-is-there-jam-all-over-this?
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play
open-load-close-play

 

[JoelSim]

JohnDuncan:JoelSim:Hmmm. On-open-load-close-playYou forgotpen-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-play-damn-where-did-I-put-that-one?open-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-play-curses-why-is-there-jam-all-over-this?open-load-close-playopen-load-close-playopen-load-close-play

All part of the fun, once an hour JD. Unless you like Nick Drake, when it's once every half an hour!

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:You might not have DHCP set up on our router. Do the ipconfig thingie above...

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.254

Is it serious, Dr.?