Help!
I have spent the whole weekend trying to sort this, and have gotten nowhere. Am I missing something? A search of the site hasn't helped.

I have a Windows PC, and up until now, a basic broadband modem that is non wireless.  For a long time now, I have wanted to distribute my digital music, wirelessly, to my equipment in the lounge, from where it is stored on my PC and hard drive in the kitchen.
I went to the Apple shop in Manchester and bought an Airport Express, and ordered a wireless router from my Internet Service Provider.

I was hoping that my AE, plugged into the back of my Avant (Camcorder) would be able to pick up the Wireless router, and therefore my music. Alas, the AE can not see my router unless I plug the ethernet cable in.
Am I expecting too much? 
If you can help, I would appreciate it very much. Please bear in mind that I am a complete thicko when it comes to computers.

Andy T.

Andy are you using iTunes?

If so you have to select "remote speakers" and have your Wlan on your computer connected to the AE. You might loose internet if the AE can't re-route from the WLan station you have connected to your modem.

You can easily re-route the Wlan signal to several AE or AExtremes, but I'm not sure if this works by using other than Apple wlan stations.

Thanks for the reply Andreas.
I can use itunes, but haven't got that far yet.
My Wlan is a combined router and modem, and it is non Apple. Can AE only 'see' other Apple devices?

I spent some of my weekend sorting out a wireless media streamer (Netgear MP101, bought for a song from eBay) but I have no knowledge of the Airport Express.

I found that wireless was a bit flaky for me (kept dropping the connection) , so am using a pair of  Homeplug/Poweline adapters, one plugged into the wireless router, and the other into the media streamer which is roughly speaking the equivalent of using a very long ethernet lead but the data travels through your mains wiring. You can then miss out all the steps to do with discovering wireless networks etc. Everything seems to be working fine now.

Powerline adapters

I was initially using Windows Media Player 11 to do the streaming but that was a bit lacking, so I downloaded Twonkymedia server (Google it!) and that is a lot better.

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, interesting concept Simon, tho' your link didn't work (This does).
I may look deeper into this if I can't get the AE working. I already spent £80 on the AE, so will try this route first.
Cheers pal.

Link fixed now, but your link looks better value!

I still use my wireless router, just not for streaming music.

Cheers

Simon.

Jandyt:

Hmmm, interesting concept Simon, tho' your link didn't work (This does).
I may look deeper into this if I can't get the AE working. I already spent £80 on the AE, so will try this route first.
Cheers pal.

The setup you describe shall (will) work. There is a setup asistant on the CD you get with the AE, that will make the AE connect to your wireless router. Once you have that up running, iTunes on your PC will detect your AE, and you will be able to stream your music through the AE to e.g. your Avant.

If you have an iPhone or Ipod Touch you can use that as a remote and select music on you PC. Really cool.

/Claes

Andy,

What security do you use on your Wireless router?

Is it WAP or WEP? Do you have the "key"? How long is it?

p.

Hi Andy,

While I can't help directly, I can share with you something, patience in all things techinical is a true virtue...

My trials lasted about 5 months! Starting in December last year when I foolishly decided to 'upgrade' my router from my foolproof 'g' series (non apple) router to the newer, faster, wider coverage 'n' series .... this was at my old 2 storey terrace house. The previous router never dropped the music stream to my AE, and the only issue really being I thought my internet was a tad slow, so I took up an offer by my IP to upgrade to improve this... 

Well the new router came and inaddition to no improvement in internet speed I now had music dropping out most days for up to a minute or more..... 5 visits by 'expert service' from my IP later there was no answer to either problem, only that my incoming line must be slow and the hope that in my new single level apartment the music stream wouldn't drop... 

Fast forward to my new apartment, well I now have good internet speed, but only when i can receive a signal, there is none in the front master bedroom or front of the living room... now the router also can't locate my AE at all in the location where it should be positioned, so I have to use an extension cable to a ridiculus location, but still the line drops with such frequency and time lags its unspeakable...

...one new router, 2 firmware updates, numerous hissy fits to telephone operators and several service visits later, I can now move my AE to a more discrete location, signal still not reaching many locations, music drops for a minute or more still every other day.... especially when you have people over!

The solution?... in sheer desparation, I mount the router at ceiling level outside the study door, to clear the top of a marble clad partition positioned infront of the bedroom /study which must be filled with steel reinforcement as it doesn't reach the ceiling. And this by all accounts must be  blocking the signal!

.... at last... Success.... signal in most areas, and the music streams with only the occasional blip....

A trying and completely ridiculus experience, but I'm glad I persisted as I can now enjoy wireless music and internet throughout the apartment.

Good Luck, trust your problem is quickly resolved!

Laurence

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiort:

The setup you describe shall (will) work. There is a setup asistant on the CD you get with the AE, that will make the AE connect to your wireless router. Once you have that up running, iTunes on your PC will detect your AE, and you will be able to stream your music through the AE to e.g. your Avant.

If you have an iPhone or Ipod Touch you can use that as a remote and select music on you PC. Really cool.

/Claes

Andy,

Hiort's advice is a good start.

I truly wish I could help further (and I certainly will if I can offer anything), but alas my setup is entirely on an Apple network and works w/o issue...

One thing though... I know you use BeoPort and you better take a look here before proceeding any further, though it may not have any relevance as you are running a PC.

 

++++EDIT++++

 

Oh heck... take it for what it is worth (thinking PC's...) This is a raw layout and from the top of my head.

 

1.) CAT the router to your PC and setup/establish your wireless network "HALIBUT" or whatever on the router

2.) Use the CD install as Hiort suggested to connect the AE to the network

3.) I like to name the devices (e.g.) Router = "HOME" and AE = "KITCHEN" or whatever

4.) Setup and use iTunes (maybe just drop a few albums in it to get started)

5.) Line out from the AE to the BEO and select that source for input

6.) Lower right frame of iTunes (small dropdown menu) select "KITCHEN"

 

More to follow as I (or anybody else ...PC guys) think about it.

Andy, isn’t your PC in the kitchen (with BeoPort, right?) MasterLinked to your lounge equipment - anyway?

 

1.      Buy a laptop with wireless connectivity (it’s practical for a guy like you – to have one)

2.      Get a modem/wireless router and connect this to your kitchen PC – ‘with a wire’

3.      Connect the laptop to your new wireless network, and make the desktop of your kitchen PC available for the laptop

 

You will be, among other things, able to enjoy comfort of your lounge chair (or of any other link room’s) plus access to BeoWorld while having control of your network and music – the latter with your Beo4, of course, plus the visual feedback (BeoPort) on your laptop screen … just an idea. Or – alternatively – become an apple-head (just joking)

Hi I had a similar problem I have changed from bt to virgin media and the netgear router does support apple as i have a mac! I bought a different router and now all is fine!  Hope that helps cheers Nick

OMG!
I said earlier that I was a thicko, but now realise I have grossly over estimated myself!
Thank you all for trying to help

Where do I begin??

Ollie. --- Yes I have Beocom 6000 very near to my router, so I tried with it unplugged, but to no avail.

Claes.---  I am aware of the ability to use iphone or ipod touch as a remote, and this is indeed my goal. The setup assistant didn't allow the AE to see my router, I am begining to think my router is blocking it.

PhilLondon.--- I am even thicker than you think.  WAP, WEP, KEY???

Laurence.--- Thanks for sharing this. Hope I can do the same in 5 months!  Temporarily, I have the AE within six feet of my router, so I'm not trying to send a signal into some sort of Faraday cage. If I can get it to connect here, then I will move it into the lounge.

Jaff, I know you would do anything you can to help, and thanks for the Beoport info. I have itunes , and three albums in it.
3, 4, 5,and 6 are irrelevant, as I can't complete 1 and 2. CAT the router?? What is meaning CAT?

Saf. ---  I am amazed you know and remember my set up still! Unfortunately, my Avant and 7000 are not NMusic compatible. Buying a Laptop is out of the question at the moment, I'm going to Shetland for a week in three weeks time, and the boat fare alone is over £600!

Nicky. --- This router/modem was sent by my service provider, and they set it up before sending. Therefore, it did not come with a setup CD. I am pretty sure that it can be configured to accept a Mac device, but my ISP guys are unfamiliar with Apple products. I will get there eventually. 

Meanwhile, I will try and get used to this flashing amber light!

I feel like a foreign tourist, who has used an electronic language translator to ask where the nearest Post Office is, but can't understand the answer!

Andy T.

Oh well nevermind!

If you're interested Kathryn Tickell is on Sky Arts at 8:15.

Hi Andy

 

My Eircom router would not work with Airport Express, although some routers do.

I did speak to Apple who said the only way to get connected was to also purchase Airport Extreme Base Station (£139.00)  

Unfortunatley it is extra cost - but it worked, if you can stretch to it, will get up and running very quick.

 

Movie

Jandyt:

OMG!

Jaff, I know you would do anything you can to help, and thanks for the Beoport info. I have itunes , and three albums in it.
3, 4, 5,and 6 are irrelevant, as I can't complete 1 and 2. CAT the router?? What is meaning CAT?

Andy T.

CAT is  a reference to CAT5 which is one of the ways that techie types refer to ethernet cables (or CAT5e or network cable or patch lead or RJ45, they are all the same thing) so CAT the router means connect an ethernet cable from the network socket on the back if your PC to the modem/router which you have probably already done.

The next step is to connect you AE to the router which you can do (at least)  three ways  

1.   a very long ethernet cable

2.   buy a pair of homeplug adapters

3.   figure out the wireless

WAP and WEP  are to do with wireless security, WAP and WEP are simply two different methods of doing it. If your router has wireless security enabled but you are not entering paswords etc that might be your problem. the advantage of options 1 and 2 above is that you don't need to worry about it! You would  still be using the router, but a a modem and wired rounter instead of wireless.

 

Simon

 

It seems that the router has been set to limit the access to a determined list of devices (identified by their MAC adress, nothing Mac related here...)

That quite frequent : ISPs make that for two reasons:
a) Improving security
b) Billing the customer for a technician each time he buys a new computer/wifi accessory

So what you have to do is go to the configuration page of the router, find something called "wireless/mac filter list", and add the MAC adress of your Airport Express to the list.

In order to verify that this is the issue, you can ask a friend to come with his laptop and try to access to your home network via wifi, with your key. If it can't access, even with the correct key, that's the issue!

mbee:

So what you have to do is go to the configuration page of the router, find something called "wireless/mac filter list", and add the MAC adress of your Airport Express to the list.

In order to verify that this is the issue, you can ask a friend to come with his laptop and try to access to your home network via wifi, with your key. If it can't access, even with the correct key, that's the issue!

Or just disable the whole damn MAC filtering, because it doesn't add any real safety anyway, and will be a nuisance every time you want to allow a new device to use the network.

Further up, the references to "WAP" of course mean "WPA" WEP/WPA/WPA2 are just three different ways of authentication/encryption on the wireless connection. WEP can be cracked in minutes, so it isn't worth using anymore. Select WPA2 whenever possible (both devices must support it), and just use the correct preshared key.

Andy

Airport Express needs iTunes for remote streaming of music. With AE connected a menu shows up in the lower right corner of iTunes that lets you decide where you want to output the sound.

The sound quality may disappoint you as AE's digital to analog converter (DAC) is rather limited. Fortunately AE also outputs digital (optical) sound into a separate DAC. The digitial sound has CD quality - no less, no more.

Sigmund

 

Come on Tulloch - get your finger out!

Jandyt:

.I have itunes , and three albums in it.

Thats going to an awful lot of trouble to play three CDs!

 

Have you considered a CD player? 

In response to all the new posts... all very good points!

I agree that the MAC (not as in "Apple/MAC" ...Andy ) is locked up -I have experiened that countless times w/ friends. How flippin' aggravating!

Regarding CAT'ing... I always setup routers directly connected, then remove them for placement.

I would "can" the canned router!

If you really want to do this right, buy the Apple Extreme router, and then the little AE will be happy!

It would be a good start to changing over to the lightside!

 

 

 

 

...and then buy an iMac

wirralsimon:

Jandyt:

.I have itunes , and three albums in it.

 

Thats going to an awful lot of trouble to play three CDs!

 

Have you considered a CD player? 

You crack me up Simon!
Thanks though, for explaining CAT WAP and Wep. If you don't have a CAT WAP, your CAT might have to stay out and may get WEP.  I am getting wiser by the minute!
Thanks to you Marc and Mika, I didn't realise there was a difference between Mac and MAC! I presumed that because I found a box marked  "Allow MAC addresses", then it would defo accept a Apple device.
I disabled MAC filtering, but to no avail.

Sigmund, thanks for the reply. Because I haven't successfully gotten the AE connected yet, there is no option to chose speakers on my itunes box.

Sod off Puncher!

PS I hope you watched the whole of "Kathryn Tickell's Northumbria" last night, I have it stored on my Sky+ box. (thanks for the heads up tho')

Jandyt:

I hope you the whole of "Kathryn Tickell's Northumbria" last night, I have it stored on my Sky+ box. (thanks for the heads up tho')

I didn't bother as I've seen it before ...................... Northunbria that is, it's just up the road from where I live!