Re: airport express & x32
Is anyone using an apple airport express router that could offer some tips for solid connectivity? I can get it to work but sometimes I have to restart the router 4 or 5 times and that's frustrating if you are running late or in a time crunch to get a show started.
I'm currently using the router in "bridge mode" and using a static IP address with my iPad.
I'm sorry to be ignorant of what "bridge mode" is, but here is what has usually been working for me:
1) Power up the Airport first, make sure it's disconnected from the console.
2) Power up the console.
3) When the green light is showing on the Airport, and the console is stable, connect the two together. I've been plugging into the <-> connector on the Airport.
4) When those are connected, power up the iPad. Go to "settings". Make sure your wifi is showing as connected to the Airport, with a check next to the name.
5) Go to XControl, or whatever its name is now, make sure the correct IP address for the console is showing.
6) I've only had luck having the console address something like "192.168.20.18" or similar last digits (.11-.19). My iPads have the first three sets of numbers the same as that (e.g. "192.168.20.22"). Our iPad addresses are the next decade up from the consoles (so .21-.29 if we got that high). The subnet mask and the gateway on the console are both 255.255.255.0, and that is the only setting that has consistently worked for me. I"ve gotten in arguments with people who say the Gateway should be something else, but this is what works for me consistently and it doesn't connect for me using other numbers.
That all said, sometimes no matter what I do, there is no connection to the console with the iPad. When that happens, I sleep the iPad and let it sit for a while, sometimes up to half an hour. Waking it up causes it to connect to the console, and I have no idea why or what changed.
Sometimes restarting the console has resulted in a connection, but it's harder to do that with speakers and amps connected up.
None of this may work for you, I'm just telling you what works for me.
And is your Airport the one with the cord and square with sharp edges and rounded corners, or the one with the plug attached and square with rounded corners and edges? The former works better for us, the latter has been problematic and I don't use it anymore.
On this page
Refurbished Mac Accessories - Apple Certified, 1-Year Warranty - Apple Store (U.S.) the one that is problematic is the first, older one, and the one that works for us is the second one.
Good luck, as it seems like there is a large component of that involved.
Oh, and you're right, static IP has been the only thing that works, although my kid who helps me set it all up (i.e., who does all the work while I sit there and try to understand what's going on) says he might have come up with a way to do dynamic IP, but hasn't actually done it yet.