Adding Apple AirPort Express to Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System

For whatever reason, this was posted a little over a year ago and the system wouldn't let me post to the original. So here is the solution.

Talking to Linksys support, they were clueless. After a good night's sleep the simple solution occurred to me.

1: Set up your Linksys AX4200 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh System (I'm presuming this should work on just about any backwards compatible system).

2: Unplug your Airport Express, then plug in the power and connect it to your Linksys via Ethernet cable.

3: Fire up the Airport app. In the upper left corner of the Airport window, select Other Wi-Fi Devices and "Ethernet." Your Airport Express should pop up on the screen. Click on the Airport Express icon, then click Edit in the lower right corner.

4: Under Base Station, name your device and set your Password for it. Under Internet, it will most likely self populate all the necessary figures for a DHCP device. Under Wireless set Network Mode: to Join a wireless network. Under Wireless Network Name: enter the name you gave your Linksys Wi-Fi system. Under Wireless Security: most likely you will want WPA2 Personal. Under Password(s): Enter the password you gave to your Linksys router. Under AirPlay: Set this to Enable AirPlay only if you are actually using it in this mode, else leave this unchecked [I'm driving a stereo receiver with Apple Music and leaving AirPlay enabled confuses the system.] Don't forget to hit "Update" to save all of your changes.

5: Ah, ah, ah — you're not done yet. Unplug your Ethernet cable. For whatever reason, I found it helpful to again unplug the Airport Express' power, then plug it back in. To make certain everything is copasetic, I also quit Airport and fired it back up again. This time, under Other Wi-Fi Devices, select "Wi-Fi." Your AirPort Express should pop onto the screen with a green dot and be fully operational. Enjoy : )