Using Airport Express A1088 alongside newer Airport devices

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Level 1

18 points

Using Airport Express A1088 alongside newer Airport devices

I still have two of the old A1088 Airport express devices kicking around ; for my mobile devices I have a 6th get Airport Extreme A1521 and upstairs a 5th Gen Airport Time Capsule , which i think is A1471 ?

All I want to use the two older devices for is to stream music from iTunes on my mac Pro to my hi-fi system in the living room , and to a small audio system in the kitchen ; these Airport Express both have mini jack out and can connect to line in on my amplifiers .

I know that the Airport Utility I use to configure my Airport Extreme devices ( version 6.3.6 ) does not recognise these older devices , but I still have several older Apple computers with the 5.6.1 version of the utility which I used in the past to configure them , albeit to work with an earlier Airport Extreme base Station ( one of the flat ones - no longer have it , but must have been 1st or 2nd generation ) .

On plugging in the A1088s , they both show a green light for a second , then go to orange . None of the Airport Utilities pick them up wirelessly ( but I might try connecting them via ethernet to one of the older computers ) although both old and new utilities 'see' my Airport Extreme devices .

I did use them for this in a previous house and it worked , although with the earlier extreme base station ; as far as I know all devices support 802.11g , so slightly puzzled why they aren't working now .

Does anyone have any useful information which might be helpful ?

Posted on Jun 4, 2022 5:26 AM

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Answer 1

Derek Heeps Author

Level 1

18 points

Jun 4, 2022 5:29 AM in response to Derek Heeps

I should add that I did try pressing the reset button on one of the Airport expresses for just over a second , and then the factory reset - 5 plus seconds until the light was flashing orange , to no avail

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Answer 2

Derek Heeps Author

Level 1

18 points

Jun 4, 2022 5:57 AM in response to Derek Heeps

Ok , problem solved . I don't know why the units weren't recognised wirelessly , but with an ethernet cable linking each Airport express to an old white MacBook core Duo , then holding down the reset button for more than 5 seconds , a new base station would appear in the list within the utility . Doing them one at a time , I designated them Derek's Airport Express 1 , and 2 . Set them up to join my existing network and to use for streaming music , now they both show green after restart . With all that done , iTunes is playing in the living room ( haven't set the kitchen system up yet ) and I can choose within iTunes where to play the music to .

So the solution was to plug in to an older computer with the supporting utility , and then do a factory reset with the utility open .

Hope this is of help to others

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Answer 3

Jun 4, 2022 6:00 AM in response to Derek Heeps

Try holding in the reset button a bit longer......7-8 seconds.....and then release

Allow a full minute for the Express to restart to a slow blinking amber light status

On your Mac with the older 5.6.1 version of AirPort Utility........

Click on the WiFi menu at the top of the Mac's screen

Look for a listing of Apple Network xxxxxxx, which is the name of the WiFi signal that the Express is producing at this time. Your Mac must be connected to this signal in order to establish a connection with the AirPort Express

Click on Apple Network xxxxxxx

If things are working correctly, AirPort Utility will open up automatically, so you can reconfigure the Express. If AirPort Utility does not open, you can try to open it up manually. The Express should appear on the left panel of the AirPort Utility window, click on the AirPort Express to begin the set up process.

If no luck, you can try connecting the AirPort Express to your Mac using an Ethernet cable, but if the WiFi setup is not working, it is unlikely that the wired Ethernet connection will work as well.

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Answer 4

Derek Heeps Author

Level 1

18 points

Jun 4, 2022 10:27 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Hi Bob ,

I was holding it a bit longer , more like 10 seconds plus ... counting one thousand , two thousand and so on ,,,,

It didn't work wirelessly , but once I plugged the ethernet cable into my old white MacBook ( now my son's ) it did register within the Airport utility , and I was able to get it all sorted .

I did see the other unfamiliar Apple networks wirelessly , but I was unable to join them .

I think the ethernet cable was the solution as it all 'just worked' from there .

Thank you , sincerely , for your help .

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Using Airport Express A1088 alongside newer Airport devices

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