[DeeKat]

I'v been having problems with my Airport Express routers. I experience intermittent drop of the AirTunes, sometimes its just a few seconds but sometime I have to reset the routers!!! It just drops out without any apparent reason. Very annoying Odly enough, as normally I have 4 bars of reception, but when Airtune drops, the reception also drops to 1 or 2 bars witch is very odd as my PB is just 2 feets away from the base??? Then for no apparent reason the reception come back to 4 bars? Even more odd my girlfriend's 12" PB never experience those drops if we use side by side on the same table (so I rule out some interferences from a neighbor as I live in an appartment buiding).

I have 2 Airport Express, one in the office and one in the living room plugged in the receiver to stream the music in the sound system. I'v run the firmware update for the Airport Expresses and reinstaled the Airport card's software. I'v reset and reconfigured the WDS. I'v also checked for phisical barriers that could interfere with the signal but it's a clear line of sight.

I just dont understand what's up with my WDS! Do anybody experience the same thing and/or know what to do? Could it be a defective Airport card? how could check that?

I have a PowerBook G4 1.5Ghz, 1G ram, running OS 10.4.8

[peeb]

Is your pb running at full tilt - take a look at activity monitor, and see if it is lagging when the connection is dropped.

[DeeKat]

No I have a processor meter in the menu bar and I have drop even when the processor is being used only at 10% ???? How odd is that

[slpdLoad]

The airtunes drop is a documented problem. Do a google search for "airtunes dropout" and try some of the remedies. Here's one article: macosxhints.com - An odd fix for AirTunes intermittent dropouts

[hangarbum]

i have the same problem when my neighbor answers his phone. of course by the time they come out with a 5ghz express he'll get a new phone and cause the same problem all over again. this obviously isn't your problem, i just needed to vent.

[DeeKat]

Originally Posted by slpdLoad 

The airtunes drop is a documented problem. Do a google search for "airtunes dropout" and try some of the remedies. Here's one article: macosxhints.com - An odd fix for AirTunes intermittent dropouts

you'r right, I'v founjd a few article pointing to some possible solutions. Yours at macoshints is a very good one, Thanks.

here's another one.
Wireless Networking: Audio Issues

I think it inacceptable that Apple sells Airtune with so much issues. A lot of us bought this unit for the sole purpose of streaming audio to our speakers and the damn thing doesn't WORK properly Isn't Apple suppose to be Plug'n Play? It's even more odd that with all this evidence of a problem that Apple doen't offer a good solution.

I'v tried «Airfoil»; it's a third party software that permits you to broadcast ANY audio source to your Airport express. there is a 10 min demo or buy it for 25$. So far so good...

deekat

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by DeeKat 

I think it inacceptable that Apple sells Airtune with so much issues. A lot of us bought this unit for the sole purpose of streaming audio to our speakers and the damn thing doesn't WORK properly

The "damn thing" seems to work properly for enough people that they still sell a lot of them. In other words, your experience seems to be out of the ordinary rather than the norm. Have you returned yours for a replacement? Contacted Apple for help?

[hangarbum]

don't know why, this worked perfectly for about 3 years, except when my neighbor got on the phone, until i read this thread. then mine started going screwy. i changed my airports to channel 6 from 1 and now it seems to be peaches again. lucky me that the solution was so simple.

[ghporter]

Nearby (and that can be quite a ways away) 2.4GHz cordless phones are HORRIBLE for any wireless B or G network, so it's quite common to find out your neighbor has one of those phones by having your network die when he's talking. Frequently changing channels will fix this-and many other "drop out" problems. I gotta stick that in my "FAQ-lite"! Of course people have to read that to make it work, but it doesn't help if the info isn't there.

[macmad]

Microwaves and phones will mess up 2.4 Ghz wireless, I wonder if the new 5 Ghz band is less susceptible.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by macmad 

Microwaves and phones will mess up 2.4 Ghz wireless, I wonder if the new 5 Ghz band is less susceptible.

The 5GHz band is not used by microwaves, and there are fewer 5GHz phones. But the issue isn't as much what's in that spectrum, but how the wireless system handles interfering signals. Of course with a leaky microwave, your 2.4GHz network can be washed out by strong leakage signals (which also are not terribly frequency-stable). But those 2.4GHz phones could be a problem less from their signal strength than from their signal coding-I'm not sure.

[eMackie]

I have the same problem with intermittent drops of Airtunes (and slow internet connections, variable signal strength ratings, etc) and have had it for years now, in two different locations. I have purchased additional Express modules to put in as relays and recently upgraded to the new 80211n base station, all to no avail. My apartment is relatively small, so this shouldn't be an issue. I have tried different security settings (none, WEP, and WPA 2 pers), and network setup with without WDS, selecting "multiple speakers" (sometimes works, sometimes created additional interference), and turning my (new) 2.4ghz wireless phone on and off. Nothing makes a difference. It works fine for hours then suddenly just starts dropping out again. I do notice the signal strength drops suddenly in the Activity Monitor when this happens. I wish there was a way to set up a larger buffer to get around this, but I am at wits end. I feel like I have been in every forum on the web over this problem, with lots of things to try, but nothing that solves the problem.

So I have a question maybe somebody can answer - If I run an ethernet cable from the office directly to the Express unit in the living room that is plugged into the receiver, will I get an uninterrupted signal?

Or another possibility would be to run an ethernet cable to a computer in the living room, then plug that computer directly into the receiver via optical. This one seems more reliable but also requires an additional computer, and it would seem that any sounds coming from that computer would then come through the stereo receiver, which is not optimal.

I just want internet radio to play through multiple speakers, but particularly in the living room, at the same time. Is this so difficult Apple? This is why I purchased 3 Expresses and one Extreme N base station, for a total of over $600, not to mention my premium internet radio subscriptions.