rijowysock
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: AIRPLAY DROPOUTS....

how can i alleviate these random airplay dropouts?

 

I am running the newest gen airport extreme to 4 bowers&wilkins zeppelin Air's,

 

i get CONSTANT CUTOUTS, every 5 minutes it drops out...

 

how can this be alleviated?

 

i have used "istumbler" to check networks around me and changed my channel not to overlap any other network (local people using 1/2/3/11 so i am on channel 7)

 

i have tried to separate 5ghz so that they run on a 2.4ghz dedicated network and still dropouts (running imac's and so forth on the 5ghz only and zepp's on the 2.4ghz)

 

my extreme is centrally located and not being blocked by anything (direct sight to 2 zepp's and other 2 are on other side of wall)

 

i have tried many different setups but still cannot figure out how to alleviate/eliminate these dropouts...

Posted on Nov 20, 2011 4:13 PM

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rijowysock

Q: AIRPLAY DROPOUTS....

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Ifor Phillips,

    Ifor Phillips Ifor Phillips Nov 24, 2011 10:59 AM in response to rijowysock
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Wireless
    Nov 24, 2011 10:59 AM in response to rijowysock

    I too am frustrated by this and have been trying to sort it for a couple of years. The one thing I have learned is not to use the microwave oven.

  • by Cottonsocks,

    Cottonsocks Cottonsocks Mar 19, 2012 8:59 AM in response to Ifor Phillips
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 19, 2012 8:59 AM in response to Ifor Phillips

    I have two iHome iw1 speakers, both recognised by iTunes, but don't always automatically link to iTunes. They're both kept charging and on standby. Often I need to switch one unit off and back on to get it to connect. If I pause play in iTunes and then play a while later, the link to the speakers is lost and iTunes cannot connect. Has anyone had the same experince? Could my BT Home Hub router be to blame?

  • by Ifor Phillips,

    Ifor Phillips Ifor Phillips Mar 19, 2012 12:24 PM in response to Cottonsocks
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 19, 2012 12:24 PM in response to Cottonsocks

    I can't help with your specific issue, but I can tell you that I have eliminated all my Airtunes dropout issues.  It was a two step solution:

     

    1) I wired each of Airport Express units to the network via Ethernet and homeplug and then cabled to each of the three amplifiers.  I turned disabled wireless on each of the three AE units.

     

    2) this wasn't a 100% success until I replace the single b/g AE with a new n AE unit. i.e. all 3 AE units are now n.

  • by Mac Meyer,

    Mac Meyer Mac Meyer Apr 3, 2012 3:01 AM in response to Ifor Phillips
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 3, 2012 3:01 AM in response to Ifor Phillips

    Just wanna say "me also". I am sitting here for years with a WDS network. AirPlay (or like it was called before "AirTunes") worked for me until iTunes 7.5 (when all features causing network traffic were switched off: DJ, Jukebox etc.).

     

    At least nowadays apple seems to admit that problems might occur with this setup: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4587

     

    BUT: why was it working before? I was hanging around with an old iTunes 7.5. Now I am thinking about getting myself an iPhone after all. But to be able to sync that thing with my computer I have to upgrade my iTunes. It is indeed frustrating that there is no solution in sight.

     

    And I cannot agree to other statements here, that the dropout issue is a WiFi related problem: I have a Mac mini here in my home network, completely wired network connections to everything (AirPort Extreme n, AirPort Epress b/g) and the dropouts are still there when playing music over AirPlay ala AirTunes.

     

    Finally I decided to kick iTunes and AirPlay altogether and not purchasing an iPhone. There are a lot of alternatives out there, that do work.

  • by Mac Meyer,

    Mac Meyer Mac Meyer Apr 3, 2012 4:07 AM in response to rijowysock
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 3, 2012 4:07 AM in response to rijowysock

    Found A Solution to the DropOut-Problem - BIG TIME!!

     

    Here is what did on my MacBook Pro, and DropOuts are almost completely gone! Only when the WiFi signal is very weak, dropouts occur, but playback resumes as soon as signal strength comes back to normal. So for everyone who likes to join my experiment and post his experience, here is the howto:

     

    • setup a virtual machine on your Mac (I use Parallels Desktop)
    • install Windows in this virtual machine (I use Windows XP)
    • download and install the latest iTunes for Windows in this virtual machine
    • configure you virtual network as "bridged" and choose "AirPort" as your network adapter so that you can connect to your AirTunes or AirPlay devices
    • play your music from iTunes for Windows inside the virtual machine and enjoy playback with no dropouts!