Faff

I cannot be bothered with faff.

This is one personality trait that has definitely changed as I’ve gotten older, or perhaps it’s just a reaction to the years I spent indulging my ‘gadget-geek’ and allowing myself to think that jumping through 5 hoops to get a simple task done was “OK”.

My mindset these days is very much that technology is there to serve me. If something starts getting in my road I’ll work around it, or replace it completely, ruthlessly.

I’m about to talk about a technology company which I know some people don’t like, but bear with me.

I have an iPhone, an iPad, Apple TV and an internet connected Samsung TV. The bulk of my content consumption happens through those devices. I have a desktop PC, running Windows 7, which is where all of my content creation occurs. More of my time is spent consuming content so I recently bought a NAS drive to allow me to remove the desktop PC (and it’s large hard drive) as a middleman.

I can now watch movies on my TV that I created (ripped from bought copies) on my desktop PC as they now live on my NAS drive. I can view photos the same way.

I can also browse and play music from my NAS drive using my iPhone, or iPad. Unfortunately I can’t hear it.

My plan was to use an Airport Express, connected wirelessly to the NAS box, with audio out to a dedicated set of speakers. I have an old (“g” standard) Airport Express and bought some new speakers (AudioEngine 2).

Alas, the plan is failing and whilst I’m still not sure why, it’s getting the Airport Express setup that is causing the problems. That might be down to the Airport Express itself, or the Windows box, or even the router (a Thomson box supplied by O2). I’ve tried every set of instructions I can find but still nothing.

What are my options now? I could buy a newer Airport Express in the hope that works easily, or I could buy Airplay enabled speakers and be done with that extra step.

Too much faff ya see. If it had just worked I wouldn’t even be moaning about it here.

Comments

  1. I’m 90% sure that you’ll need to upgrade the firmware on the Airport Express to get AirPlay to work.

  2. I have airport express working perfectly to stream my music to a few sets of speakers across my house….. Occasionally putting irritating sputters into music streams as it cuts in and out, but basically works fine 99% of the time. It has conked out occasionally, one time requiring multiple resets of the port itself using a paperclip and then setting it up again on the laptop, and once a new unit entirely.
    When I swapped the unit streaming my broadband signal around with one of the others, it took me FOREVER to get it bloody working again (just to make the internet work again, never mind the speakers). It was a fucking nightmare and I think I stumbled across the answer only after trying everything else. I wrote all the damn settings down for when I next need to do it..
    Not much help to you, I’m afraid, but thought I’d share my experience.

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