Apple Airport Express and Netgear router problems - How to set up a home network to?

[Em23]

PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!

I have just bought an Apple Airport Express 802.11n Wi-Fi base station for my home network. It's mainly to play iTunes on my stereos around the house by using the Remote app on my new iPhone!

I have a very new Chillblast PC running Vista and I have a (black) Sky wireless modem router which I believe is essentially a Netgear DG834G (or GT?). The modem is connected to the PC in my office (although I have also used it wirelessly when connected to my PS3 in the lounge).

I have installed the Airport Utility BUT the problem is it fails (except once briefly!) to "find any Apple wireless device" - it's definitely plugged in and within range!

I have connected the Airport Express base station to a stereo and switched it on (I've also tried unsuccessfully to connect my printer wirelessly). It flashes green initially and then flashes amber, but I can't get the Airport Utility to recognise the base station.

I have also got a Netgear WN111 USB network stick which I thought might help (when I briefly suspected the Sky modem might not be compatible with the AE base station but I now understand that 802.11n appliances are also 802.11b/g compliant). I think it was when this was connected that the Airport Utility briefly recognised the base station (although it's failed since!) and then asked for a password - I tried various passwords (network password, router password?) but I got stuck and then it stopped recognising it at all again! The WN111 wizard seems to endlessly scan for networks and I thought it was probably conflicting with the DG834G modem/router - is there any benefit to using both? The WN111 finds my Sky57164 network but doesn't seem to connect to it or do anything!

I have tried a hard reset of the base station and the router - it probably isn't a hardware issue (bearing in mind the headaches I've had with networking previously!).

I've turned off firewall, turned on file sharing on my private network on Vista, and several other things but I've not yet tried connecting the base station to my Netgear modem (don't have another ethernet cable and would be fairly pointless, other than to confirm the base station works whilst connected by cable to the PC!)

I'm going to try setting up the base station by connecting directly to the PC with my ethernet cable as soon as I have sent this email but I'm not holding out any hope as I've just tried it and the Airport Utility still couldn't find it!

I'm sorry this is quite long but I thought I'd give all the info I could to help those considering my dilemma.

All help and advice is gratefully received.

Thanks in advance,

Em23

[amcluesent]

IMHO you'll need to wire the Express to your router, then run the setup s/w on the PC to configure its wi-fi.

Apple - AirPort Express - Easy Setup

[Em23]

Thanks for the reply - I did connect it to the PC via ethernet cable and did manage to go through the setup process on Airport Utility. Once I took the base station back to the other room, however, and connected it to my stereo, the base station now shows a green light but the Airport Utility now can't find the base station again!

I have not tried sending music to the stereo because the PC can't see it but I assume the green light does not mean all is well?

It therefore seems that the PC/Vista cannot see the base station due to networking issues - what could they be? Firewall (I've tried disabling), HDCP issues (unlikely as I've used my PC for streaming media on my PS3 in the past) or other similar problems (MAC etc)?

I've seen other posters talking about giving the base station an IP address of 192.68.1.1 (whereas the Sky wireless router is 192.68.0.1) to join it to the network. BUT when I configured the base station (whilst connected via ethernet) it gave it a totally different IP address.

I will be really grateful for any help

thanks

Em

[amcluesent]

0. Power up the Express and hard reset it.

1. Before you go wireless, physically connect your AirPort to your router with an Ethernet cable. Plug in the AirPort, and wait until the LED turns solid green.

2. Start the AirPort Admin Utility for Windows. You now want to configure the AirPort to join your existing network "wirelessly". You should see the AirPort Base Station appear with its IP address in the Base Station Chooser.

3. In the lower right-hand corner, click on Configure... Click on the AirPort tab. In the "AirPort Network" section, Use base station to: "Join an Existing Wireless Network". Underneath that, type in your existing wireless "Network Name". You will be asked to change the password as well.

4. Click "Update" in the lower right-hand corner of the Configure window. Your AirPort will be restarted, and the LED should turn solid green again.

5. Finally, disconnect the AirPort from your router, and remove the connecting cable. You should NOW be able to plug in your AirPort anywhere to join your existing network

[wysinawyg]

Only thing I'd add to the excellent post above is make sure it works before moving it to the other room. i.e. disconnect the network cable and see if it gets recognised when sitting right next to your router. Then try unplugging it and re-plugging it in.

If it works doing that and still doesn't work where you'e trying to put it the problem is in the wireless signal to the new location.

wysi

[DAVE1971]

Hi Em 23. I had problems with my router and the AE. In my case mate there were two problems. The first was when it found my network and tried to join it, the AE changed my Internet settings from WPA to WPA2 and that's why it couldn't find it! What I had to do was whilst the AE searched for my network, I had to quickly go into my internet properties and re input the original settings ie WPA and router password -hope that made sense! Also I had to change my settings on the router channel from automatic to number 1 as this also made my AE keep dropping connection! When I eventually got it working, it was the best 50 quid I had spent in ages!

[Em23]

Thanks for all your posts - they look really helpful and I will try them out once I get my hands on a second ethernet cable. I may be back!

In the meantime, I've just discovered Simplify Media's utility which you can connect to your iPhone to stream media to your stereo which appears to do a similar job!

Oh well, I've got the challenge of taming the Airport base station first!

Thanks

Em

[spinaltap]

Something that no-one else has mentioned....

On your Netgear router (I own the DG834N); choose 'wireless settings'. Choose 'Enable Wireless Access Point'. Then, alongside 'Wireless Station Access List', choose 'Setup Access List'. Turn Access Control 'On', then input the MAC Address of your Airport Express' and 'Device Name'. Finally, don't forget to 'Apply' your settings.

[Em23]

I have finally got this to work thanks to all your help - one thing which the posts don't mention and I was still struggling with was getting through to the Netgear wirelessly (even without security, bizarrely) and the key was to ensure that the network key (for WPA-PSK Security Encryption) is input into the Airport utility as the "wireless password" - I was foolishly copying the Airport Express password instead.

I can now play stream music wirelessly around the house, and if I really want to show off I can change the music with the Remote app on my iPhone - awesome!

Thanks guys for all your help - this forum rocks for all kinds of tech stuff!

Em

[Eckers]

HI Em, i've got a similar problem. which of the above solutions did you use in the end to solve your problem? cheers

[Em23]

Hi,

I suggest you follow the steps above because it's always difficult to know what step you're missing - in the end the key for me was to ensure that the network key (ie for your wireless router) (for WPA-PSK Security Encryption) is input into the Airport utility as the "wireless password" - I was foolishly copying the Airport Express password (from the first page of set up of Airport) instead.

If you connect it up to your router first to ensure it is working, then try it within arm's reach of your PC/router (so you know it's not a signal strength issue) and that should basically isolate the problem to your router not being able to communicate with your Airport - at that point you know that it must be an issue with your router/Airport setup, so it's either a firewall issue or (more likely) a simple password/login issue.

Good luck!