Setting Up An Airport Network
Once your AirPort Extreme is set up correctly, the AirPort Express is really easy to get working. In fact, you probably won’t even need to do any custom settings at all. Once I had the Extreme working correctly, the Express locked right in to it with no problem just like the installation docs said it would do. I have my Express set up to “Join an existing wireless network” but you may choose to set it up differently. Here’s the Manual setting screens though, just for your reference.
Like with the Extreme, the most important screen here is the “Wireless” settings screen. You just have to be sure you are set to “Connect to a wireless network” and have the connection information you setup earlier all keyed in correctly.
The “Internet Connection” screen is like the Extreme, I have set everything to automatic.
All you need to do on the iTunes screen is give your “speakers” a name. This name will show up in iTunes when you are connected to your wireless network and you can play your iTunes through your network on another set of speakers. You can even specify a password if you like. I don’t have one set up, personally, because you would have to know my network password to connect to the wireless signal and thus the Express, so I didn’t feel the need to set up another password inside the network for my living room speakers. I could understand setting a password if you have multiple Express units in your house though.
I don’t have anything hooked to the USB and the Advanced tab is nothing special either, but you should get the idea.
Hopefully this tutorial has been informational and helpful. I don’t assume my settings are perfect by any means, but this definitely was something that I had to fight with for a while until I figured it out and that’s the point of this site so there you go! Let me know if you have any questions or even suggestions on different settings I should have set.
Brent, do you think that they will integrate these two products at any point? I’m kind of holding out on buying the new Extreme because I really want it to have the AirTunes feature…personally, I don’t see why they wouldn’t combine them…
I don’t see why they wouldn’t either. It does make perfect sense for sure. The express does have it’s handy uses though, like having the Extreme in a completely different location than your home stereo system and the travel perks (wireless in a hotel). But I do agree, having AirTunes in the Extreme router would make a lot of sense.
Write them and suggest it. Sometimes the most obvious ideas get overlooked. “Power to the people!” and all that.
On a different but related subject: I bought a Time Machine, which set up great and has subsequently worked perfectly. But I live in a big old apartment and needed to extend coverage away from my study to the living room, on a different floor and bought two Expresses to do so. Set them up but then they kept dropping out, flashing orange lights, couldn’t see them on the Airport Utility, etc. But then I called them completely different names, as per your tutorial, and gave them different passwords too. Problem solved! One thing though - instead of getting them to “join a network” I selected “Extend a network” - what’s the difference?
David,
I believe ‘join’ will just make it a access point. I used mine in this mode for my XBOX 360 to connect to my network as well as playing stuff through my stereo. Extend does just that. Takes your WiFi signal and extends it further. For those with large areas to cover with a WiFi signal.
I think that’s it… anyone want to correct me if I’m wrong?