How do I connect Airport Express without wireless?

[szrike]

I have an Airport Express which I have connected to a stereo receiver so I can play iTunes through it. My iMac is too far away from the Express to get a wireless signal so I want to connect the Mac to the Express through Ethernet (they're both on the same wired home network). Problem is that when I open Airport Utility it obviously sees no wireless Express and tries to rescan. Airport Utility doesn't give me an option to configure it to connect through Ethernet. Any suggestions?

 

[skorpien]

Is the Express set up in Bridge Mode?

 

[szrike]

I don't think so. How do I do that? (Whenever I open Utility it immediately tries to scan - even when I have the Mac's Airport turned off. It never gives me an option to do anything else.) Thanks for your help!

 

[waw74]

if they're both on the same wired network, the express should show up in airport utility. you should be able to turn wireless off completely and only use the wired connection.
are you sure they're on the same wired network? only switches or hubs in between, and are both on the same side of a router?

try reseting the express to factory defaults

 

[skorpien]

If the Express is acting as a router, even if it's on the same wired network as the Mac, the Mac will not be able to access it via AirPort Utility. It is required to be in Bridge Mode in order for clients on the wired network to access it (and subsequently to stream music via AirTunes). What you'll need to do is to join the network that the Express is creating. Move it closer to your Mac temporarily and connect either wirelessly or directly via Ethernet. Open AirPort Utility, go into Manual Setup, and set Connection Sharing to Off (Bridge mode). Once that is done and your Express has restarted, connect it to the Ethernet cable by your stereo and try accessing it with your Mac connected to your wired network.

 

[szrike]

That sounded like it would work, but unfortunately it did not. I moved the AE close to the computer and reset it for Ethernet only. When I moved it back to its prior location (near my stereo) and plugged in the Ethernet cable, it was still invisible to my computer. I then moved a Windows 7 laptop near the AE and reset it for ethernet again, but the iMac still doesn't pick it up. Any other thoughts?

 

[skorpien]

Yes, set it up as a bridge.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Apple_AirPort_Networks_Early2009.pdf

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