AirTunes/APEx/D-Link - Can I do this?

[madforrit]

We have the following setup at home:

*D-Link DI624 router, which doles out wireless to all of our home computers (3 laptops, 1 wired desktop, 1 wireless desktop).

The oldest desktop is now obsolete, and we'd like it to be just a music server. In addition, we'd like to use Airport Express to stream music to the home theater system. How will this work? Can the desktop, which is wired to the D-Link router (and therefore part of that network) simultaneously send output to APEx? Can music be streamed from the desktop music server to a laptop (via the D-Link network) and subsequently from the laptop to the APEx (can the laptop send shared music to the Express?)?

Also, if this isn't doable, how much if any would be solved by replacing the D-Link router with an Airport Extreme base station?

Thanks for any help!

 

[daveL]

First off, any machine on the network running iTunes can share the music from the "music server" and, therefor, play it. In this case, there's no need to stream anything, per se, you're just sharing it via iTunes. Audio out, from any of these machines can then be plugged into your stereo, again, with no streaming involved. With the Airport Express, you are simply adding another node to your network, another IP address. Any machine on your network that's running iTunes should see the Airport Express and be able to stream AirTunes to it.

I have an old laptop running iTunes, with its audio out plugged in the home stereo system and connected wirelessly to the home network. I can play any music on any of our systems through that laptop.