Hi. I'm a newbie about to set up an internet connection at home. I would like to set up a wireless internet connection and therefore need a wireless router. I'd also like to be able to play music from itunes through my hi-fi wirelessly. Is airport express the only box that can do both these things? Can i connect to my hi-fi using other wireless routers? I notice that airport express is a g router- is that noticeably slower than an n? Thanks very much, and sorry if this questions been asked before!
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Wireless internet and music
- Thread starter jsk3030
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You could use an Apple TV too, but that's a bit overkill, and you'd need a TV too.
The Airport Express isn't the only "wireless" solution available, however it's the only one that'll work seamlessly from within iTunes. As you have noted, it is only "802.11g", which is more than acceptable for music streaming.
thanks for the reply. yeah, i'd be reluctant to buy an apple tv. is the airport extreme a lot faster for web surfing than the airport express, because of 802.11n? is the airport express the best combined router and wi-fi music on the market, or are there better non-apple alternatives?
I would doubt it. Unless you have a lot of computers connected to your network the limiting factor (in the UK for sure) will be your broadband connection not your internal wireless network. One thing to note is if you use the airport expresses to extend the range of your network you will half the speed (26mbps not 54kbps).
My network uses the extreme as the main base station and I run that on the mixed n/g setting. I then connect my Apple TV, Macbook (both N) and my G4 pb, Wii and airport expresses (three of them and all G).
The airport express music solution is great. I love it especailly as it means I can stream the same music to every room in my appartment. But note you cannot stream audio fo rmusic videos over airtunes.
I was looking into doing the same thing a while back and the best options I've found - still haven't done it because I can't justify the money yet when I can just plug in my ipod to my stereo...old school I know... - other than the airport express are these:
Linksys has a wireless music bridge that does essentially the same thing as the airport express and you can pick it up for around 10 bucks cheaper on the net.
Logitech also created this thing as a solution which I was leaning towards because it was the cheapest, and can be controlled when not even at your computer.
So, just some other ideas for you. Good luck with your set up.
EDIT: I just remembered this one from Sonos. Definitely the coolest set up, and probably what I would go for if I had the money.
Linksys has a wireless music bridge that does essentially the same thing as the airport express and you can pick it up for around 10 bucks cheaper on the net.
Logitech also created this thing as a solution which I was leaning towards because it was the cheapest, and can be controlled when not even at your computer.
So, just some other ideas for you. Good luck with your set up.
EDIT: I just remembered this one from Sonos. Definitely the coolest set up, and probably what I would go for if I had the money.
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thanks everyone for the advice. it sounds like the airport express is a decent one to go for- most of the time i'll only have my macbook pro on the network so i guess the express should be able to cope with that for internet and music. thanks!
Squeezebox (http://www.slimdevices.com/) is one of the more elegant ways to do it. Logitech bought them out about a year ago. Less simplistic than AE so requires a little more fiddling, but better results. Has some iTunes integration but you can control it via a web interface. Cross-platfrom clients.