Extending a 2-wire network to an Airport Express for AirPlay
I was able to connect my Airport Express to my existing 2-wire network, so I could use AirPlay. (I can't do it with My Mac Pro, because it doesn't have WiFi hardware.) This is not quite the same thing as "extending a wireless network," but you may be able to do that by choosing "Extend a wireless network" instead of "Join a wireless network in step 10.
I should add that I intend communicate wirelessly with my Airport Express, even though I hook up an ethernet cable in step 1. I disconnect this cable in step 13 and continue communicating with it wirelessly.
Here's what I did:
1) I reset the Airport Express to its factory settings, which resets its password to the word public.
2) I connected it to my 2-wire router using an ethernet cable. (The cable is temporary. It isn't set up for wireless yet.)
3) In my browser, I went to the 2-wire setting, which, on your system is probably at
http://192.168.1.254
4) I figured out what is the ip address of my Airport Express unit. If you know which devices are on your network, you can use the "Home Network Devices" table under the "Home" tab. Just click "Device Details" next to your Airport device and look at your ip address. If you're not clear which is the Airport device, Click on your Settings tab, then click on the LAN tab in the second row, and look for the "Devices" table. This table shows which device is which, based on which LAN port your cable is plugged into. So if you plugged your Airport device into port 3 on the back of your router, Just look for Port 3 in the interface column, then check the IP Address column for that row.
5) I also made note of my wireless network name, which you can find under the Home tab.
6) Then I went to the Utilites sub-folder of my Applications folder and opened Airport Utility (version 6.2.)
7) Airport Utility told me it couldn't find any Airport Express, so I went to the File menu and chose "Configure Other..."
8) I entered the IP address (from step 4) into its field, and entered
public
into the password field. (Use your password.) When I hit OK, it took a while before it opened the window.
9) In the "Base Station" tab, I changed the name of my Airport (this is optional), and entered a new password in the two password fields. I ignored the "Back to My Mac:" settings at the bottom.
10) I went to the "Wireless" tab specified these settings:
Network Mode: Join a wireless network
Wireless Network Name: (Here, I entered the name of my wireless network, from step 5)
Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
Wireless Password: (Here, I entered the "Wireless Network Key" printed on the side of the U-Verse Modem)
11) Under the "Airplay" tab, I made sure "Enable AirPlay" was checked, and the Airplay Speaker name was the name of my Airport Extreme from step 9. (This is optional. I did this because I was planning to use iTunes Airplay. If you're not planning to do this, don't bother with this step.)
12) I hit the "Update" button, then waited for the Airport device to reset itself.
13) Once it was reset, I disconnected it from the network and moved it to another room.
14) When I plugged it in, the light eventually turned green, and it started working fine.
Maybe there's a way around the NAT to have the aiport do it.
