Airport Express (for Airplay) on a non Airport WLAN

[adam9c1]

Background:
home lan, single vlan, non-Apple router and wireless access points, Time Capsule in bridge mode with WiFi off (used as backup)
Scenario:
want to setup a vintage Airport Express connected to wired network to provide AirPlay connectivity

Is it possible to set this up? I reset Express to default and connected. The configuration app found the Express and wanted to config as extension to Time Capsule and wanted a wireless lan.

 

[techwarrior]

If you only need it for Airplay, set it up in client mode (simply joins the existing Wi-Fi network, but doesn't broadcast for clients to connect to it). With Airplay enabled on the express, you will be able to stream audio to it wirelessly. (I do this today, on an Airport Wi-Fi network). Alternately, if the Ethernet connection is good, set it up with Wi-Fi "Off" on the Wireless > Network Mode (I have used an express in this mode as well in the past).

Some Wi-Fi Routers need certain settings enabled to support bonjour\airplay. I think it is generally UPNP, but consult the docs or forums of your router if it doesn't just work on first try. Generally, it should work...bonjour is a non-routable local broadcast oriented protocol, and unless the router filters it out, it should simply pass on the bonjour service discovery packets and any LAN\WLAN device on the same subnet should see these.