Airport Express Question

jwb1

Just got myself an Apple Airport Express with a view to streaming audio content to my hifi.

I have successfully set it up to stream audio from a Windows 7 laptop which is Ethernet-connected to a NetGear wireless router which in turn is connected to the broadband service. I can also stream audio content on my iPhone and iPad to the Airport Express.

Note: the Airport Express is not connected to the broadband service nor is it cabled to the NetGear router.

What I want to do now is use my iPad to stream internet radio content to the airport express. This requires the iPad to simultaneously grab the internet radio content AND stream that content to the Airport Express.

Is this possible (without hooking the Airport to the NetGear)?

JB

Graham

Try this, screenshots are from an iPhone but the iPad should be the same process.

Double tap the home button to bring up the running apps:



Swipe to the right (twice) and press on the AirPlay icon:



Your airport should appear on the available airplay devices list, select it:

keith_d99

jwb1 wrote: »

Just got myself an Apple Airport Express with a view to streaming audio content to my hifi.

I have successfully set it up to stream audio from a Windows 7 laptop which is Ethernet-connected to a NetGear wireless router which in turn is connected to the broadband service. I can also stream audio content on my iPhone and iPad to the Airport Express.

Note: the Airport Express is not connected to the broadband service nor is it cabled to the NetGear router.

What I want to do now is use my iPad to stream internet radio content to the airport express. This requires the iPad to simultaneously grab the internet radio content AND stream that content to the Airport Express.

Is this possible (without hooking the Airport to the NetGear)?

JB

Sounds like you have 2 wifi networks going - why not run an Ethernet cable from the net gear to the airport express and turn off the wifi on the net gear?

With your current set-up you can't play radio on your iPhone and Airpkay at the same time

jwb1

To do this, I need to "join" the Airport wifi network...which means "unjoining" the NetGear wifi...which means not being able to stream the radio content to the iPad!

Thanks anyway for taking the time....

Graham wrote: »

Try this, screenshots are from an iPhone but the iPad should be the same process.

Double tap the home button to bring up the running apps:



Swipe to the right (twice) and press on the AirPlay icon:



Your airport should appear on the available airplay devices list, select it:

jwb1

Hmmm...this is what I feared I'd have to do....I could do this but I wanted to avoid the hassle of running cable to another part of the house.....

Thanks for taking the time to reply....

keith_d99 wrote: »

Sounds like you have 2 wifi networks going - why not run an Ethernet cable from the net gear to the airport express and turn off the wifi on the net gear?

With your current set-up you can't play radio on your iPhone and Airpkay at the same time

boreder

Use the airport express as a wireless network extender. Then you have one network and you can stream to the airport express, while being connected to the internet.

Graham

Cheap powerline (aka homeplug) adapters are perfect for this as audio only shouldn't require too much bandwidth.

€40 for a cheap pair in PC World at the moment.

jwb1

boreder wrote: »

Use the airport express as a wireless network extender. Then you have one network and you can stream to the airport express, while being connected to the internet.

Picked up this on the Apple support forum:

You can only use an Airport Express to wirelessly extend the range of an Airport Extreme, Time Capsule or another Airport Express. You could run an ethernet cable from the Netgear router to the Airport Express and have it provide more coverage that way. But wireless extension requires an all Apple setup, sorry.

keith_d99

boreder wrote: »

Use the airport express as a wireless network extender. Then you have one network and you can stream to the airport express, while being connected to the internet.

As far as I know - you can only extend an existing "apple" network not a a netgear one.

Graham is right - home plugs will do the job for you!

boreder

jwb1 wrote: »

Picked up this on the Apple support forum:

You can only use an Airport Express to wirelessly extend the range of an Airport Extreme, Time Capsule or another Airport Express. You could run an ethernet cable from the Netgear router to the Airport Express and have it provide more coverage that way. But wireless extension requires an all Apple setup, sorry.

They say that so they don't have to support connection to a million routers. I have one extending a network from a D-Link router, and it works perfectly fine.

jwb1

Graham wrote: »

Cheap powerline (aka homeplug) adapters are perfect for this as audio only shouldn't require too much bandwidth.

€40 for a cheap pair in PC World at the moment.

So, basically, I'd plug one of the powerlines into a spare ethernet port on the Netgear and the other into the ethernet port on the Airport, right? Then the Airport gets a broadband connection by proxy as it were...

Graham

jwb1 wrote: »

So, basically, I'd plug one of the powerlines into a spare ethernet port on the Netgear and the other into the ethernet port on the Airport, right? Then the Airport gets a broadband connection by proxy as it were...

Exactly, we have a few of these around the house.

I think you can also setup the airport express in client mode. This won't extend your wifi-network but should allow you to Airplay over your existing wifi network.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1731

jwb1

...if I set up the Airport in client mode onto the NetGear wireless network, can I then stream from the iPad to the Airport (while being "joined" to the NetGear wifi)?

If that's the case then I shouldn't need the powerline adaptors at all right? Sounds too good to be true....

Graham wrote: »

Exactly, we have a few of these around the house.

I think you can also setup the airport express in client mode. This won't extend your wifi-network but should allow you to Airplay over your existing wifi network.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1731

Graham

jwb1 wrote: »

...if I set up the Airport in client mode onto the NetGear wireless network, can I then stream from the iPad to the Airport (while being "joined" to the NetGear wifi)?

If that's the case then I shouldn't need the powerline adaptors at all right? Sounds too good to be true....

That sounds right.

I'd also look into boreders suggestion about using the Airport express to extend your existing network. If that works you'll get AirPlay and an extended wifi network.

jwb1

JB

Graham wrote: »

That sounds right.

I'd also look into boreders suggestion about using the Airport express to extend your existing network. If that works you'll get AirPlay and an extended wifi network.

keith_d99

jwb1 wrote: »

JB

If you get it all up and running - a Spotify sub might be worth it if you are into your music.
Spotify works great with AirPlay - and the iPad app is very nice!

For me, AirPlay has been the best iOS feature!

jwb1

It works! Set up the Airport Express in client mode and had it join the existing NetGear wifi network. Had to power off/on the Airport to get the audio going but, other than that, it worked very smoothly. Can now have the iPad/iPhone/Windows laptop concurrently connected to the Internet and streaming audio through the Airport!

Thanks to all for the help.....I'm trying to resist getting the sub for Spotify!

Jb

Graham

Excellent news, glad it all worked in the end jb.