Dual Wifi's

February 9, 2006 6:03 AM

Can I have two wifi's? READ MORE

I want to commit my airport extreme to my itunes and thus transmit to my stereo receiver but I don't want to use the airport for my other wifi needs, I have the dsl provider wireless modem for that purpose...any hints on how to do this?

posted by jamie939 to computers & internet (9 comments total)

In ad hoc configuration, you can select from several wifi channels.
posted by orthogonality at 6:16 AM on February 9, 2006

You'd need a second Wi-Fi card to connect to two different networks. It would have to be PCI or PCMCIA - don't buy a USB one, they universally suck - meaning you'd need a Power Mac or PowerBook to do this.

Alternatively, open AirPort Admin Utility and set your AirPort Express to "Join an existing network", enter the details of your DSL modem's wireless network, and you can use both at the same time.
posted by cillit bang at 6:24 AM on February 9, 2006

There's no "do" to it...set up the airport on your stereo, and turn off the "repeater" function using the software provided. It will act as a passive receiver, while the other WiFi provides the signal for the rest of the house/and to the airport.

I've got a similar setup now (wifi router upstairs, airport downstairs to stream my iTunes to) and it works just fine.
posted by griffey at 6:26 AM on February 9, 2006

Not to throw another wrench into this, but i have a photo ipod as well....how might this configure into a scheme to transmit directly to my receiver?
posted by jamie939 at 7:04 AM on February 9, 2006

You can't, other than by plugging it into your Mac and playing it through iTunes.
posted by cillit bang at 7:25 AM on February 9, 2006

All you have to do is put the Airport Express in 'client' mode... it just becomes another node in your wireless network. It can act as a host itself, but doesn't _have_ to, which I think is where you're confused. In client mode, it's just like any other wireless client would be... sort of a stationary laptop. :)

If you set it up on a separate network, then to control it, you'll have to switch networks with your iTunes machine, and then switch back if you want to go on the Internet. Huge PITA. You don't want to do it that way.

I had an Airport Express running in client mode with my Linksys WRT54GS for more than a year here. Very easy to set up... you just tell the Airport to join an existing wireless network, configure it with the right encryption key, and it's connected. You may have to give it an IP address if autoconfig doesn't work. Most APs will handle that automatically for you, so try the autoconfig first.

Also, make sure you enable iTunes over the wireless link... I think it's disabled by default.
posted by Malor at 10:41 AM on February 9, 2006

jamie, unless something has changed, you can't use an iPod to drive an Airport Express. iPods have no ability to network; they can only plug in as a USB or Firewire device. The Express has a USB port, but I think it can only talk to printers.

Unless something dramatic has changed in the last six months or so that I don't know about, the only way to drive an Airport Express is with iTunes running on a computer.
posted by Malor at 10:47 AM on February 9, 2006

> Can I have two wifi's?

Only in Utah.
posted by iconjack at 1:07 PM on February 9, 2006

you rock....thanks so much...is working out great

jamie
posted by jamie939 at 4:16 PM on February 10, 2006