Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple AirPort Express with Air Tunes (M9470LL/A)

Yes, the directions stink, but there is hope for you Windows users. If you have the typical Windows wireless network setup (computer, router, laptop, access points, etc.), then follow these easy steps to get your AirPort up and running.

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.

I have read some of the other reviews in this space, and they do appear mixed. I can only offer my experience with this product, which has been absolutely spectacular. I have a G4 Powerbook, a printer, the airport express, and two toddlers. What the wireless capabilities have done is make my house much more enjoyable to all of my family. I keep my Powerbook on my coffee table, my printer on the top of my stereo unit. My oldest daughter, 4 years old right now, can walk up to my laptop, turn it on, click on her Barbie.com shortcut on the desktop, and print out new coloring sheets for her and her younger sister. Then, while they color, with a couple of clicks, she can play any of her music from iTunes. With everything so accessible, my daughters are becoming more computer literate, and have very little interest in watching TV anymore, and there are no wires traipsing across the house. And as far as ease of use? I had it up and running in less than 5 minutes, without ever looking at the manual. After being a PC person until just two years ago, these are the exact reasons that I converted to the Mac world. This is just another great product by the people at Apple.

Took 2+ hours to get this set-up as a "client" on my existing 802.11b network - awesome product once you jump through the hurdles!...

I read other folks advice, but none of them gave me a complete A-Z for connecting to an existing network using WinXP and 802.11b. Here's my instructions borrowing certain parts from other postings (thanks, btw!)...

1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes.

2. Physically connect your new AirPort Express to your wireless router with an Ethernet cable. Plug in the AirPort Express into the wall, and wait until the LED turns solid green (up to a few minutes).

3. Insert the CD-ROM that came with the product and run the Install program on your computer.

4. Once installed, start the "AirPort Admin Utility" for Windows. [Note: do NOT use the "AirPort Express Assistant" AT ALL as this software will lead to a dead end if you're trying to connect to your existing non-Apple AirPort Basestation network (eg; this tool doesn't work if you have Netgear, Linksys, Belkin, etc).]

5. Select your new Airport Express name in the Base Station Chooser list and then click "Configure" in the bottom right corner.

6. Click on the "AirPort" tab. In the "AirPort Network" section, select "Use base station to: Join an Existing Wireless Network".

7. Type in your existing wireless "Network Name" [note: if you don't know this, in WinXP go to "View Network Connections > View available wireless networks" and find the name of the wireless network you are using. Note this name and how it is spelled, as it is case sensitive = you have to enter it just like this in the AirPort set-up.]. If you have security on your wireless network, click "Security" and enter in the correct key(s), which you can get from your router's home page [note: find the IP address for this in your router's documentation].

8. Change the password to something you'll easily remember. It doesn't let you use the default "public" password.

9. Click on the "Music" tab at the top of the screen, and name your iTunes speaker system. For example, "Living Room".

10. Click "Update" in the lower right-hand corner. Your AirPort Express will be restarted, and the LED should turn solid green again after a few minutes.

11. Go to http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ and download the latest firmware update for your AirPort Express (eg; AirPort Express Firmware 6.1.1 for Windows). Run this software to update the firmware. Once the installation is complete, your Airport Express will again restart and the LED will change to yellow then back to green after a few minutes.

12. Unplug the Ethernet cable and relocate the AirPort express where you'd like, plugging in your audio jack and plugging the unit back into the wall.

13. Turn on your audio receiver, make sure it's connected to the jack you just plugged into the Airport Express.

13. Open iTunes. In the bottom right, select your new Airport Express speaker name (eg; Living Room) as the speakers to use.

14. Select your song, press play, and there you have it.

15. Happy AirTuning...

Sure wish Apple would just grow up and post these instructions on their own Web site.

The diminutive Airport Express is an amazing overachiever. It does:
1) connect to your stereo to play music from iTunes
2) connect to a (supported) USB printer to serve as a wireless print server
3) serve as a convenient, take-everywhere wireless router
4) extend the wireless range of some WDS-compatible wireless routers (such as Apple's recent Airport "flying saucer" routers)

That's quite a lot, and the most surprising thing is that it does them all quite well.

I mainly use mine to play music from my computer onto my main stereo system. It couldn't be easier to use: from any computer in the house, launch iTunes, select the Airport Express (instead of "Computer") for output, and from then on the music you play on iTunes plays on your stereo instead, with zero loss of quality. This applies not only to MP3 or AAC music (including tunes purchased from the iTunes Music Store) but also to internet radio and even music CDs played straight from the drive.

Most networked music players either have some sort of display (such as the Squeezebox and the Roku Soundbridge which are also great products, and the Netgear and Linksys boxes, which aren't) -- or they rely on a video interface (Roku media box, Happauge MVP, etc...). The unique design of the Airport Express is that it places the user interface on the computer and pushes the music to the receiver, instead of giving the receiver a user interface allowing the user to pull music from the server. All in all, the Roku Soundbridge and the Squeezebox are probably better products if all you want is a network music player. They're also much more expensive. But if you don't mind going to your computer to select music, the Airport Express is very compelling with its reach feature set, very high quality and reliability, and inexpensive price.

Let me start by saying that this is a fascinating product, and once you get it working the ability to stream itunes into any room will work flawlessly. You will be very pleased.

Now for the aggravation. I have a Windows desktop running XP plugged directly into an AT&T wireless router, and the router is plugged directly into my cable modem. I followed the directions provided by Apple and could NEVER get the Airport Express to find my wireless network. I read every forum article I could find that had me changing DNS or MAC addresses, setting up clients and servers and WDS things. I do know a little about computers, but this was approaching my limits. Nothing worked. If you buy this item and follow all directions and it still does not work, save yourself endless hours of aggravation by trying the following:

1) Perform a hard reset by unplugging the AX from AC, waiting 20 or so seconds, and then plugging it back in while depressing the recessed reset button for 10 or so seconds.

2) Connect your AX to your router via ethernet cable. After 20 or 30 seconds the light on the AX should turn green.

3) Start the airport admin utility program on a computer that you know works through the router. You should see that AX show up on the AX admin utility main page, along with its firmware version number. Go to apple.com/support and make sure that you have the most up to date firmware. If you do not, download the newest firmware for the AX and install it. While you are at it, make sure that your router has the most up to date firmware installed on it. If you had to install new firmware, do another hard reset for good measure.

4) From the airport admin utilities program (do not use the assistant!), select your new AX from the main screen, with your AX plugged in to the router via ethernet. Here is where I kept having problems, but as you will hopefully see, the answer is SIMPLE. Once you have selected the AX, go only to the "AIRPORT" tab. In the section marked IDENTITY, name your AX something that will not conflict with anything else on your network. Go down to AIRPORT NETWORK and select "JOIN EXISTING..." and then under that type the exact name of your wireless network (which will show up nowhere), and it is case sensitive. If you have security on your wireless network, click SECURITY and enter in the correct key(s), which you can get from your router's home page. Then click on the MUSIC tab at the top of the screen, and name your Itunes speaker system. Click UPDATE.

Your AX will restart itself, and with any luck its green light will turn solid. Magically, when you disconnect the ethernet cable it will STAY SOLID :-) :-) :-) And when you unplug the AX from the AC power to move it to its new location, the green light will once again show after several seconds of being plugged into AC.

The bottom line is that this is a great product and troubleshooting it on a Windows XP network was much much easier than I was led to believe. Do not use the "assistant", and only only only mess with the AIRPORT and MUSIC tabs. I haven't tried the print server thing yet, but eventually will.