Any other Software or hardware to have music play wirelessly (similar to airport)

[illest813]

Hi guys - first time posting on the forum, although ive been checking it for the last 5 months waiting for the dam MMBP! (argh) and while this happened as well all know the c2d iMac came out, and i really want to switch my pc to that and then grab a mmbp when they come out as well..however, the only issue im having right now is:

When i play music, i have a usb adapter that sends it to a reciever on teh other side of my room which in turn plugs into my home theater reciever and plays through my home speakers. Similar to the airport extreme, and in fact that was the first thing I tried - however I did not like how you could not be connected to the internet to play music, and if you wanted to do both you had to add the airport to the network ( i live in a frat house with 9 other guys ) and it just messed everyones network up.. Currently im using a linksys adapter to do this, and my friends who use mac's in the house want to use something similar to this (without using an airport). We tried to load the software on a mac and it was not compatible, as we expected. So, although i hate posting new topics when its my first time on a forum, the quesiton is not only for me but for 3-4 other guys in this house: is there any other 3rd party hardware/software that can solve our problem? Thanks in advance!

 

[GimmeSlack12]

What?

What is the problem? You have an adaptor to play music, and can't have wireless internet at the same time? You need to specify what you are using. Do you have an Airport card? What computer?

What kind of wireless music thing are you using? And why do you need a separate USB dongle to use it?

 

[Gee]

You could get something like a slimp3 from slim devices (look 'em up). It's essentially a gadget that searches your network for music files and lets you play them. It's stand alone, so it doesn't need to be connected to anyone's computer to work.

Edit - I'm a bit out of touch - their latest offering is called a squeeze box, but it does the same kind of thing. Don't look at the 'Transporter' device, it's very very expensive ;-)

 

[illest813]

Heres the situation - i have a big room with a home theater system that is hooked up to my TV. It is too far away from the computer to just thread hook it right up. So what i have now, plugged into my desktop PC is a linksys USB adapter that wirelessly sends the music to the other linksys reciever which is plugged into my home theater reciever. This way, when not watching TV i can play Itunes through my home speakers wirelessly. Now, i know airport extreme can do this (as well as do wireless printing etc) but i DONT want that. I want a 3rd party (similar to linksys) that has mac-compatible software. The exact system i have now is perfect, however you cant install the software on a mac, therefore it cannot work.

 

[Eraserhead]

Now, i know airport extreme can do this (as well as do wireless printing etc) but i DONT want that

Sorry if this seems a bit rude but why? Airport express is probably cheaper than a media controller, and you can use Airfoil to stream other media, though you could wait for iTV (due in January for $299).

 

[illest813]

Sure--i tried using airport, I cant use airport because if I want to play music wirelessly I have two options:

Use the airport when I am not connected to the internet, and play itunes
OR
Change my router settings to 128kb bit encryption, change the entire p/ws, add the airport to the network, and this in turn makes everything on our floor (especially the one below too) slower, and then kids with laptops cant connect to the original netwrok for some raeson but had to connect to my airport, and it just completely screwed the internet up. Cost is not really any issue, airport ran me like 140$ and the linksys cost me like 160$. 20$ is nothing so long as it works

 

[illest813]

Oh and I understand you can run windows on macs so that if i wanted, i could still use the linksys thing but I dont want to have to be in windows to do that (im always playin music, would defeat the purpose of even buying a mac if i cant use osx)

 

[The General]

You need to use "Airport Admin Utility" and go to the Airtunes tab and enable "Allow Airtunes over ethernet."

That should allow you to send the music from your Mac ---> router ---> Airport --> stero

 

[The General]

It works for me anyway... Had any luck?

 

[illest813]

yeah - no, airport works perfectly i just dont want to use it..im not sure if im being specific enough on why i dont wnat ot use it or not but regardless i am just looking for something simpler and compatible on mac like the linksys isfor windows

 

[The General]

Do you have an Airport Express base station and a wireless router?

 

[illest813]

yes..but i dont want to use airport- no airport! i just want a 3rd party company product (such as the linksys reciever im using now) to enable me to play music wirelessly through my mac computer/laptop

 

[BurtonCCC]

yes..but i dont want to use airport- no airport! i just want a 3rd party company product (such as the linksys reciever im using now) to enable me to play music wirelessly through my mac computer/laptop

As the guy stated above, I also don't want to be a dick, but why don't you want AirPort? It's definitely your best option for your Mac. It's really the only product that works seamlessly with the Mac like LinkSys does with Windows.

Also, you mentioned earlier that with the AirPort, you can't stream music and connect to the internet at the same time... that's not true. Doing both of those at the same time has worked fine for me and everyone I know since day one.

Dan.

 

[illest813]

Airport does not work with my ethernet cables. I dont want the network to be on 128 bit encryption. We tried airport, we enabled airtunes over ethernet and all. It doesnt work for our settings, thats why we need a 3rd party company.