iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

Using iTunes with AirPort Express

Two very exciting possibilities arrived with the release of Apple’s $129 AirPort Express mobile wireless base station in mid-2004. The first was that you could now have a portable base station so that you could make your own super-fast 802.11g wireless network wherever you found a broadband connection—whether it be in a hotel room, a board room, or a play room.

The second great thing, and way more exciting because this is iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, is that the AirPort Express also makes it possible to call up a playlist on your computer upstairs and have the music come out downstairs through your stereo’s speakers. This is because the AirPort Express has a stereo cable jack in addition to its Ethernet cable jack (Figure 10-4). The AirTunes software, included with the AirPort Express, makes it happen, but you also need to be running iTunes 4.6 or later.

The Airport Express comes with software that guides you through setting up your network and connecting it to iTunes. You can also find more details on the AirPort Express installation online at the “Missing CD” page at http://www.missingmanuals.com.

Note

Only one computer at a time can play iTunes music with a particular AirPort Express, so if you’ve got only one Express and a house full of music lovers all jockeying to be the AirTunes disc jockey, you may want to set up a programming schedule so everyone gets a turn.