Airports and Routers for Mac
Posted by: pcstockton on 30 January 2010
I am trying to help a good friend set-up some streaming/sharing. I cant think of a better place to ask. I know this has nothing to do with Naim. But this forum is seriously chock full of people I trust.
He has a desktop Mac hard wired to cable modem.
We want to get him streaming video (from iTunes) to his PC laptop in his bedroom.
And send audio from iTunes to the living room hifi.
My thoughts were for his to get an inexpensive wireless router
Then get an airport express in the living room for audio out to his hifi.
I had a sneaking suspicion that the airport might not jive with just any wireless router.... maybe he needs 2 airports? One at the Mac and one in the living room?
Then on the bedroom side PC laptop, I am assuming he can share his iTunes from the Mac to the lapper in his bedroom?
Apple TV doesn't seem to have a place here???? With the laptop in the bedroom he can output RBG to the LCDTV provided his Mac can share wirelessly to the PC.
Thanks alot for the help. Im not fully hip to how to use Airports.
Thanks in advance,
Patrick
garyi????
He has a desktop Mac hard wired to cable modem.
We want to get him streaming video (from iTunes) to his PC laptop in his bedroom.
And send audio from iTunes to the living room hifi.
My thoughts were for his to get an inexpensive wireless router
Then get an airport express in the living room for audio out to his hifi.
I had a sneaking suspicion that the airport might not jive with just any wireless router.... maybe he needs 2 airports? One at the Mac and one in the living room?
Then on the bedroom side PC laptop, I am assuming he can share his iTunes from the Mac to the lapper in his bedroom?
Apple TV doesn't seem to have a place here???? With the laptop in the bedroom he can output RBG to the LCDTV provided his Mac can share wirelessly to the PC.
Thanks alot for the help. Im not fully hip to how to use Airports.
Thanks in advance,
Patrick
garyi????
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by David Dever
NETGEAR RangeMax Dual-Band stuff: WNDR3700 gigabit router + WNDA3100 USB 2.0 adapter (or WN311B PCI card), really the only way to go, far better than the Apple products (which are easy to configure but not as good performance-wise).
Works fine with Mac / PC / Linux and is rock-solid range-wise.
Works fine with Mac / PC / Linux and is rock-solid range-wise.
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by Peter Dinh
Airport express (wireless N) is definitely the way to go. It is so reliable, so fast plus the the fact that you can stream the Itunes library to any HIFI system in the house, print wirelessly, built-in firewall, and WPA/WPA2 support.
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by pcstockton
Thanks for the help gents.
Dave, he can output his iTunes to his hifi with these devices? What does he use at the hifi in the living room?
I thought an airport would be inexpensive way to do it. But he could get an SB or something.
He only plays MP3s and has a fairly shitty kit. He wants my set-up using his Remote App on iPhone. But his Mac is in another room so streaming needed.
Peter, Does he need two Airport Express? One at the Mac and one at the Hifi?
Thanks again!
-Patrick
Dave, he can output his iTunes to his hifi with these devices? What does he use at the hifi in the living room?
I thought an airport would be inexpensive way to do it. But he could get an SB or something.
He only plays MP3s and has a fairly shitty kit. He wants my set-up using his Remote App on iPhone. But his Mac is in another room so streaming needed.
Peter, Does he need two Airport Express? One at the Mac and one at the Hifi?
Thanks again!
-Patrick
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by winkyincanada
Yes, a single AE lets him stream iTunes audio to his HiFi. I only had truly reliable success with the AE once I started using a TimeCapsule as a router, but in theory the AE will work with non-Apple routers.
He shouldn't need two AEs. Just one at the HiFi; it receives the signal via standard WiFi. He can also use the AE connected direct to his modem with ethernet, thus using the AE as the router and outputting audio to the hifi. I did this when my non-Apple router proved too flakey
Remote App should work fine. The DAC in the AE is likely not the best, but it is passable. Upgrade with a SPDIF DAC is very easy.
The AE is a remarkable piece of kit for the money.
Can't help with streaming video to his PC. There might be some software that would do it over WiFi?
He shouldn't need two AEs. Just one at the HiFi; it receives the signal via standard WiFi. He can also use the AE connected direct to his modem with ethernet, thus using the AE as the router and outputting audio to the hifi. I did this when my non-Apple router proved too flakey
Remote App should work fine. The DAC in the AE is likely not the best, but it is passable. Upgrade with a SPDIF DAC is very easy.
The AE is a remarkable piece of kit for the money.
Can't help with streaming video to his PC. There might be some software that would do it over WiFi?
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by garyi
Patrick for streaming video he wants nothing more than software.
XBMC.
Oon his mac end he has his videos in ANY format and uses XBMC on his PC to tap into this library.
And as mentioned all thats to do then is set up wireless.
I recommend a draytek 2820 but these are pricy. Otherwise rangemax. This replaces the modem his mac is currently plugged into. I presume his laptop has wireless built in, otherwise it needs a dongle or pcima card and an airport express for the hifi end.
XBMC will happily share the itunes library if thats where is video is but its not to happy with Apple DRM stuff
XBMC.
Oon his mac end he has his videos in ANY format and uses XBMC on his PC to tap into this library.
And as mentioned all thats to do then is set up wireless.
I recommend a draytek 2820 but these are pricy. Otherwise rangemax. This replaces the modem his mac is currently plugged into. I presume his laptop has wireless built in, otherwise it needs a dongle or pcima card and an airport express for the hifi end.
XBMC will happily share the itunes library if thats where is video is but its not to happy with Apple DRM stuff
Posted on: 30 January 2010 by pcstockton
Garyi,
Perfectly understood. The Lapper/Bedroom is sorted. What should he use at the hifi end. Think budget-friendly. If it is an airport express at the hifi, does he need another at the MAC? Or can it be a generic wireless router?
thanks alot. Maybe this will also help others get something set up.
-p
Perfectly understood. The Lapper/Bedroom is sorted. What should he use at the hifi end. Think budget-friendly. If it is an airport express at the hifi, does he need another at the MAC? Or can it be a generic wireless router?
thanks alot. Maybe this will also help others get something set up.
-p
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by garyi
Th erouter which he will buy whether that is draytek or netgear will be the wireless for the home.
The express is just a means on converting that wireless signal to a digitial stream, so in this context do not think of it as a wifi router persay.
So his shopping list is:
New wireless DSL/Router/Modem (draytek 2820, netgear rangemax)
Airport express.
He has everything else he needs, assuming his lappy has wireless
The express is just a means on converting that wireless signal to a digitial stream, so in this context do not think of it as a wifi router persay.
So his shopping list is:
New wireless DSL/Router/Modem (draytek 2820, netgear rangemax)
Airport express.
He has everything else he needs, assuming his lappy has wireless
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by pcstockton
DONE.
He will get whatever wireless router I tell him.
OF the two you suggest which is ideal?
thanksgain for alllof the help
-p
He will get whatever wireless router I tell him.
OF the two you suggest which is ideal?
thanksgain for alllof the help
-p
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by garyi
They are both great, Netgear is half the price though. Go with that.
Make sure he gets the rangemax wireless N with gigabit ethernet. Just covers him then.
And make sure he gets the right one for his home connection to the net, usually in America its DSL, in Uk its ADSL
Make sure he gets the rangemax wireless N with gigabit ethernet. Just covers him then.
And make sure he gets the right one for his home connection to the net, usually in America its DSL, in Uk its ADSL
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by nap-ster
I have a Netgear 834 wireless router. I had problems with a couple of things using iTunes streaming to an AE and an AppleTV with an iPhone 3Gs.
I found that the songs didn't update using the remote app. Even though the next song would play the app would still show the first song chosen.
Using the collectorz Music Collector app I couldn't get the app to synch with the PC to transfer the database.
I switched to an Airport Extreme and all was immediately good with both issues. Minor problems I know but still annoying all the same.
I found that the songs didn't update using the remote app. Even though the next song would play the app would still show the first song chosen.
Using the collectorz Music Collector app I couldn't get the app to synch with the PC to transfer the database.
I switched to an Airport Extreme and all was immediately good with both issues. Minor problems I know but still annoying all the same.
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by Keith L
An iMac with Airport Extreme and Airport Express is a doddle to set up and maintain with a simple Mac Airport Utility built in the OS. Just plug the cable modem straight into the Extreme.
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by Peter Dinh
Patrick - It seems that you have some good suggestions here. However, I am strongly in favor of an Airport Extreme base + Airport express combo.
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by David Dever
Not to rain on the AirPort parade, I just don't think they're as good as the NETGEAR products–again, as a Mac guy, I appreciate that the AirPort Extreme and Express are easy to set up, but the Express is not terribly good as a wireless extender, nor as a wireless bridge (to Ethernet). The AirPort Extreme, on the other hand, is not nearly as good for what it does at the price point.
Oddly enough, strolling through Fry's this morning, I saw a NETGEAR wireless-N combo (router + USB adapter) at Fry's for $99. Might be worth checking out on price/performance alone.
Oddly enough, strolling through Fry's this morning, I saw a NETGEAR wireless-N combo (router + USB adapter) at Fry's for $99. Might be worth checking out on price/performance alone.
Posted on: 31 January 2010 by garyi
However for someone with a mac already the obvious advantage of an extreme is you can stick an Harddrive on it for time machine
Posted on: 01 February 2010 by tonym
quote:Originally posted by David Dever:
Not to rain on the AirPort parade, I just don't think they're as good as the NETGEAR products–again, as a Mac guy, I appreciate that the AirPort Extreme and Express are easy to set up, but the Express is not terribly good as a wireless extender, nor as a wireless bridge (to Ethernet). The AirPort Extreme, on the other hand, is not nearly as good for what it does at the price point.
Oddly enough, strolling through Fry's this morning, I saw a NETGEAR wireless-N combo (router + USB adapter) at Fry's for $99. Might be worth checking out on price/performance alone.
I do agree with this. I was using an Airport Express as part of a second system with a Mac Mini as source, but TBH it was a bit quirky and I had trouble trying to reconfigure it as a wireless access point.
When it drowned (don't ask...) I decided to get another Netgear & it's a much better device - easy to set up, much better wireless range.
Posted on: 01 February 2010 by pcstockton
I was only planning on him using the Airport Express at the hifi location. If it isnt the best option, what would you suggest in the same budget range?
thanks everyone!!!
patrick
thanks everyone!!!
patrick
Posted on: 01 February 2010 by garyi
The express will be fine.
It should not be set up as a wireless access point. The intructions are shit but it should be set up as a print server in order to play audio.
It should not be set up as a wireless access point. The intructions are shit but it should be set up as a print server in order to play audio.