Airport Express to a WIRED network?

Hi ladies and gentleman. This is my first time posting on this board with a question. Here it goes. I want to stream my ITunes to my reciever. I was wondering if I can do this if I do not have an airport card. I will explain my set up as follows:

1. 3rd floor of house:
Broadband Modem going to dlink router. Router connected to 1 airport express (for use for broadband connection to wireless Apple powerbook), 1 Imac, and to another Cat5 ethernet cable which is wired going down 3 floors to the basement

2. Basement Room:
The ethernet cable is connected to another dlink router so I can have 4 open ports for broadband connectivity downstairs. The d-link router downstairs has cat5 ethernet cables connected to my G4 tower and Xbox for online gameplay.

Now that you know how I am connecting, my question is this: Can I purchase an airport express and connect it with an ethernet cable wired to my router downstairs and have it play Itunes on my reciever which is also located downstairs (about 15ft from my G4 tower) taking the signal from my G4 (downstairs)? I was wondering about interference from the other 2 macs also(Imac upstairs and powerbook) ? I am really confused here and need some advice. Thanks for your time!- Barry

barryjr said:

Hi ladies and gentleman. This is my first time posting on this board with a question. Here it goes. I want to stream my ITunes to my reciever. I was wondering if I can do this if I do not have an airport card. I will explain my set up as follows:

Click to expand...

Yes you can. You can plug the AE into the router with a Crossover cable. You should configure the AE to not act as a DHCP server if your DLink already provides that service. The AE will now act as your iTunes streamer, and wireless access point.

From the AE you wire it to your stereo received and viola. You'll have to use the Airport Admin Utility to configure it as a standalone, no DHCP and iTunes device for Airtunes, but the computer that are cabled on your network will be able to see it and stream to it.

I don't know what you mean by interference (RFI or CPU radiated interference?) but you shouldn't have any at all. All wireless devices will be able to communicate thru the AE simultaneously. Turn on WEP so you can lock it down against any neighbors that also have wireless, or the occasional "wardriver" if they're in your area.

-Ian

Thanks! One question....what is a crossover cable? Sorry, sometimes I am a little slow when it comes to networking ect. Thanks so much for your help though. Very informative and helpful! :headphone

A crossover cable is a Cat5 Cable which is designed to connect from computer to computer.