AirTunes Static

Hi,
I'm using an iBook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3.9, and I have this weird problem with my AirPort Express connection to my speakers. Sometimes, but not always, if my speakers are on but my music is not playing, there is a loud static sound coming through the speakers. It is annoying and sometimes wakes me up if I leave my speakers on in my bedroom. The problem is not in the cable, because I have tried to hook that cable up to other devices and it works without a hitch. Interestingly, if I play music in iTunes, the static disappears and the music sounds great. If I want to listen to another device hooked into the same speakers, sometimes I even turn the music on in iTunes but turn the volume all the way down, which gets rid of the static. I have used my AirPort Express for several years now and have had no problems except for this. It happens on and off, and I really can't predict what makes it happen. It is not really a huge deal, and I have been living with it for a few years, but it seems like that is not normal behavior. I often like to make a playlist to fall asleep to at night, but as soon as the playlist ends, it goes right back into loud static. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Thanks for your help-
Pete
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hello macfar14. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
For just streaming iTunes and/or for sharing a USB printer, the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) just needs to be configured as a wireless client ... which you already attempted to do.
Just to be sure nothing was missed, here are the basic steps to do this:
Either connect to the AX's wireless network or connect directly, using an Ethernet cable, to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then using the AirPort Utility in "Manual Setup" mode, make the following changes:
AirPort > Wireless
o Wireless Mode: Join a wireless network
o Network Name: <existing wireless network's Network Name or SSID>
o Wireless Security: <select the encryption type of the existing wireless network>
o Wireless Password: <enter the existing wireless network password>
o Verify Password: <re-enter the existing wireless network password>
Music
o Enable AirTunes (checked)
o iTunes Speaker Name: <enter desired speaker name>
o iTunes Speaker Password: (optional)
o Verify Password: (optional)
o Click Update to write the new settings to the AX
In iTunes:
iTunes > Preferences... > Advanced > General
o Look for remote speakers connected with AirTunes (checked)

Similar Messages

Using multiple laptops and AirTunes with one static IP

I just moved into a place that requires a static IP they provided me. After much tinkering, I finally got the Airport Express to work so that I could get online using my Powerbook. However, whenever I'm on the internet (Airport set NOT to distribute IP addresses), I can't use AirTunes. The moment I change that (whether it's using Airport Admin Utility or changing Network Settings on the Powerbook) and I am able to get online again, AirTunes quits and iTunes can't seem to find the remote speakers again.
I can't even use these both at the same time, and I would eventually like to use AirTunes at the same time as the internet AND be able to connect wirelessly to the internet using my PC laptop. Before moving into the apartment with the static IP, this was possible.
I keep reading about port mapping - perhaps that is the answer? Problem is, I have no idea what that is. Can somebody please explain why this is happening and offer a solution?

a) WEP WPA password, ive never set one up for the airport, where do i find out what this password is for my PC?
You will set up wireless security (WEP or WPA) on the AirPort Express Base Station (AX)..using the AirPort Admin Utility, which is part of AirPort for Windows.
b) Everytime I run the Airport Express Assistant it gives me an error message saying "Windows is not the current network manager...please change Windows to the default", I dont know why I get this error and I assume windows is the one managing the networks I use.
Your PC has wireless capability...correct? The AirPort Setup Assistant requires a wireless connection to the AX.
c) I can connect to the airport through windows, but when in the Airport Management Utility it does not detect the Airport
Connect your PC directly, using an Ethernet cable, to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then run the AirPort Admin Utility to configure it.
d) After all this, will Windows and iTunes allow you to stream music thru the Airport Express, like it does on my mac with itunes???
Yes, you will be able to stream iTunes from your PC to the AX, either wired or wirelessly.

AirTunes with AirportExpress cut or drop out problems - my solution...

I buyed 2 of the Airport Extreme one month ago (Firmware 6.3, Itunes 7.1.1), never got them working fine, till yesterday...
I have A Zyxel ADSL WLAN Router Switch. WPA-PSK as I wanted a secure Network. Both of the AX were connected with static IPs. WLAN was always working fine, but I had many cut outs with airtunes. I wanted a solution with lossles streaming audio with the possibility to connect my Receiver digitally. That's why I bought my first Apple hardware, as I was always told, Apple=Plug'n play. Very frustrating!
I tried other switches, Routers, WLAN adapters and cards, nothing worked. Airfoil does not support multiple speakers yet, so it's useless for me.
In the FAQ of the Airtunes, Apple mentioned to use lower security, as some Computers probably do not have enough power to stream music flawlessly. But my Computers really do have enough power! I think the AX does not have enough power to do that. So I created another wireless network with one of my AX. I set the security to WEP-40bit key and joined this new Network with my other AX. Not the best solution, as I'm now connected to the Internet or to the AX to use Airtunes. Cables could fix that problem, but then I could use a wired system instead...
I use Channel 11 for the AX WLAN (the only clean channel in my area), Multicast to 11, only G mode for Wireless and a 5 characters WEP-40 key and no WDS. Seems to work at the moment.
I hope this will help others with the cut or drop out problem. If you have a working AirTunes system, please post your setup. Mostly I'm interested in a Setup with working WPA...

Thanks, I hope I can help others with this annoying problem...
Sorry, I forgot to write about the RF Interference. Belive me, I spent hours and hours searching for a solution in the Internet and every checkbox the Admin utility offered me to try out... I'm working as a system engineer, and supporting computer systems since the early 90ties, so I'd say I have a bit knowledge about all the networking, WLAN, Audio... In school we had the Apple Mac I with the 12" monochrome monitor and appletalk for networking quite funny!
But back to the RF interference: At the moment I activated it on both AX I own. I have a microwave, wireless phone and I'm living in a Area with many WLAN access points. I can choose between 6 networks!
I'm the only one with a network higher than channel 6, so this area is clean at least.
As my AirTunes do work at the moment, I'm not going to try if I could also deactivate it.
Next step is to try if I can connect the AX Router to the internet. A connection to my ADSL router should do that, but up to now I had very strange behavior when plugging in a ethernet cable to the AX. If this will work, it will be my final solution, at the moment I only see it as a workaround...

Using AX as wireless router, how to set up w/ security and airtunes on XP

I previously had a Linksys wireless router. I just purchased an Airport express to use as the wireless router (and remove the Linksys router) as well as use the Airtunes functionality.
After some trial and error, I have been able to wireless connect my computer to the AX on it's own (the linksys router is now unplugged and out of the equation). I can connect to the internet fine on my PC (XP Pro SP2).
Trouble is, when I use the Network Setup Assistant, it shows the apple network listed, but it can't connect to it, no matter how many times I try, reboot my machine or reboot the AX. I've tried both the "setting up a new network" and "editing an existing network" option, and in each selection, after a few minutes of trying to connect to the network, I just get a failure message.
If I try and use the Admin utility, nothing shows up in the left-hand list window, and when I Press re-scan, still nothing shows (it doesn't even appear to scan).
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I can't find simple instructions on how to set up the AX as the only wireless router for a PC and set up security and Airtunes (I'm assuming enabling airtunes is done in these applications, as I haven't seen anything about that yet either).
Any ideas on how this is done with a PC? Much thanks!
Dell 4500 series

I have found the 'DHCP Reservations' option on the AirPort Extreme to be buggy. I seem to remember it causing IP conflicts for some reason. I think what I remember is that if the computer with the reservation was off, and the DHCP server then handed out that IP to another DHCP client, then there would be a conflict when the reserved IP computer was turned back on. Maybe it was an issue in ealier versions of the AE or OS X as the case may be, and maybe it's been corrected, but I've never bothered using it agian since the method I describe below has always worked without fail. Also, I'm guessing DHCP Reservations would work fine if one manually enters IPs outside of the DHCP range but in the AE 'DHCP Reservation Setup Assistant' the IP options provided are within the DHCP range which to me makes no sense and increases the potential for IP conflicts.
Here's what I do to setup a mixed environment of static and dynamic IPs on my network. It works like a charm and does not require the DHCP server (beyond the distribution of dynamic IPs to hosts using DHCP).
For machines on my network that are accepting services from the public network, I set them up with static IPs using the 'Manually' option (System Preferences/Network/Ethernet/Configure IPv4). The settings for 'Router' IP address and 'DNS Server' IP address should both be set with your gateway/router LAN IP). Use an IP address below or above the DHCP range of adresses (in AE/Internet/DHCP/DHCP Beginning & Ending Address).
i.e. if my subnet is 10.0.1.1 and my DHCP range is 10.0.1.100 to 10.0.1.150, you could set the static IPs on your local hosts as 10.0.1.x where x = any number from 2 - 99 or from 151 - 200 as an example.
All other machines and devices that do not require static routing are setup as DHCP clients and get a dynamic IP from the AE. To me it's a simpler setup though it might take a little extra time to setup initially.
John

Airtunes with an Existing Network

OK, here's the deal. I have:
1 pre-existing wireless network that is public.
1 Airport express (which is only connected to the power strip and to my stereo)
1 stereo that I'd like to connect via Airtunes.
I can connect to my Airport network just fine. When on this network, I can't get online (which makes sense, since there is no ethernet going into my APE), but I can stream music to my stereo. When I am on the public network, I can connect to the Internet but I can't stream music (which also makes sense).
Is there some way that the APE can function as a network extender, allowing me to stream music and be online simultaneously? All FAQs and instructions for doing this assume that the existing network (the one that is connected) is an Airport network (this is not), and that the user can gain access to the settings for the router (which I also cannot).
Failing any of the above, is there some additional hardware I can pick up to make this work? Maybe something that connects to a wireless network and gives me an ethernet jack to plug into?
Thanks for all your help,
Daniel
Seattle, WA

Is there some way that the APE can function as a
network extender, allowing me to stream music and be
online simultaneously?
Yes, via WDS.
All FAQs and instructions for
doing this assume that the existing network (the one
that is connected) is an Airport network (this is
not), and that the user can gain access to the
settings for the router (which I also cannot).
Therefore you can not use WDS.
In theory you could configure the Airport Express to be a client on the public wireless network (configure it as a client does not require an Airport network or access to the router). However then anyone on the public network could stream AirTunes through your Airport Express. This also assumes there is no login via a browser required for the network (which is the case with some public wireless networks).
Failing any of the above, is there some additional
hardware I can pick up to make this work? Maybe
something that connects to a wireless network and
gives me an ethernet jack to plug into?
In theory, though I have not tried it, you could use something like an ethernet wireless bridge such as the Linksys WET54G to connect to the public wireless network and then connect the Airport Express to the WET54G and use it that way.
Assign static addresses to the Airport Express base stations.
iFelix

Playing AirTunes from Mac via wifi (Orange Livebox) to Airport Express

I connect to the internet and serve a wifi network via an Orange Livebox (ADSL router + wifi) in my study. I've just bought an Airport Express with the aim of using AirTunes to stream music from my Mac to the lounge. I've also got a MacBook and ageing iBook and so use WEP instead of WPA.
Now I've managed to configure the AE to join the Livebox's network (remembering to prefix my 128-bit WEP key with a $ - took me ages to find that info) and have held the "1" button down to put it in pairing mode, but it won't give it an IP address via DHCP. I've tried configuring a static IP (10.1.1.50) using the Airport Utility which should fit in the IP range of the Livebox's LAN but although this gives me a green light, I can't ping it from my Mac.
I don't want to have to buy an Airport Extreme just to play my tunes in the lounge! Has anyone tried all this with a Livebox or similar third party wifi router?
Thanks, Barry

Hi Bob - thanks for your reply!
I guess I need to try and find out what my bottleneck is. It could be:
(1) My laptop connecting to my network wirelessly
(2) My Airport Express connecting to my network wirelsssly
(3) Both
Just thinking out loud here: your suggestion sounds like it would address (2) - if that's sufficient then my problem is solved. However, I do know that if I connect my media drive to the MBP via USB, but still have wireless connections for the MBP and Airport Express, I can get decent streaming performance. So perhaps I should try temporarily connecting the Airport Express and TC with a really long Ethernet cable to see if that is good enough when the laptop is still connected wirelessly, in which case I could then go the Ethernet powerline route.
Thanks! I guess I have a little project to keep me busy for the long weekend!
Cheers,
Justin

Airtunes Dropping out? Got A solution here!!!!

It has been found that ever since the last bunch of updates and LOT of users have been experiencing issues with Airplay a.k.a. Airtunes. A solution was found....but be aware that it is not THE solution.
_+*REVERT TO AN EARLIER VERSION OF ITUNES!*+_
Thats right. The problem with the dropouts, the static, all of it....the problem is with the so called "Updated" version of iTunes.
So get a copy of iTunes 9.x.x and revert back and you WILL get your streaming working again.
Apple I hope that you are paying attention to this.

Just bumping this up so that others can see it.
Mods please sticky.

Airtunes works, internet doesn't?

I recently moved my airport from one cable connection in my house to another. the internet was working fine before i moved it. i moved it closer to my stereo in order to use the airtunes feature, which is working beautifully with a steady green status light on the airport. i know that the internet signal is good because i've connected via the ethernet wire that connects the modem to the airport. i've attempted resetting the airport, unplugging the modem and the airport and replugging them in various sequences and lengths of time. i've also used airport setup assistance, all to no avail. i would very much appreciate any assistance with this matter.
c h ad

Agreed - seems impossible. I still think the underlying problem is most likely a misconfigured Airport Express or a connection to the ISP that has not been properly reset. But when all other possibilities have been exhausted, and since this Airport Express was previously working perfectly with the same modem in the same house...
In your situation:
Since you have been assigned a static IP address (and presumably you have also been supplied with the required subnet mask, router/gateway IP address, and domain name server IP address(es)) - you need to run the Airport Admin Utility, select your Express, click Configure, click the Internet tab, select to "connect using ethernet" and "configure manually", then enter all these parameters into the fields provided, then update settings to the Airport Express. As for your Macs, they should all still be configured to obtain an IP address automatically using DHCP in System Preferences->Network->Show Airport->TCP/IP tab.

File sharing setup causing static when using Itunes

We have 2 ibook g4's, and use an airport express to play music on our creature speakers. It's worked great up till now. We setup file sharing on both laptops ... and ever since we only get static when we try playing music in itunes.
You can hear the music, but it's very faint under the static
Speakers work fine when used with our dvd player etc
Have turned off file sharing with no change
Rebooted both machines
We both use the latest itunes & osx vers
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
cheers
FF
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

appears itunes is not the culprit, as I've used airtunes with other apps with the same result. will repost this under another category.

Airtunes user with a minor problem: Ethernet

Hi everyone I am a mostly satisfied Airtunes user with a minor problem I hope someone can help me with.
The Airtunes/Airport Express is working perfectly with my stereo and my usb printer. But even after reading and tinkering I cannot make it connect via ethernet to my G3 iMac.
My setup is thus: A G5 Dual 2Ghz has the Airport Extreme card inside it and the aerial attached. That's in the studio. In the lounge is the stereo, Airport Express and the printer and iMac.
I have the Airport Admin Utility 4.2 and there are no updates available according to Software Update. I don't have any security activated and have turned internet sharing off for the base station. I have turned WDS on. The amber light has been flashing since I first plugged the Express in yesterday. I'm using OSX.3.9 and the Admin Utility still says I am on a WAN Network, even though I am trying to setup a LAN thing so I can access the printer and G5 from the imac through the ethernet cable.
Reading around I have discovered advice that says things like: 'yes, you can connect via ethernet to an existing network using WDS... 'and then stops there. It doesn't say how, or if it says 'the Express base station needs a static ip for the ethernet to see it', it never says how to assign the ip, what it should be, just assumes I must know what that means, rather than going through the necessary steps.
So could someone please help with this? To me this seems the absolute most basic setup anyone would use and should be in the manual, or at least on the Airport Support site. Why can't the imac (also using OSX.3.9) scan for available networks and see what is hanging off the other end of the ethernet cable?

I could be mistaken, but I believe it is not possible to do what you are trying to do. I don't think you can connect the Airport Express via WDS to an airport card installed in a Mac.
You were correct when you enabled WDS on the Airport Express in an effort to share the internet connection, but I think you are only half-way there. I think you need to add an Airport Extreme to your network to act as the WDS master for the Airport Express.
In this case, you would put the Airport Extreme next to the G5. You would plug the internet connection (from DSL or cable or whatever) into the Airport Extreme. You would then set it up as a WDS master and add the Airport Express to the new wireless network using the Airport Utility that comes with the Airport Extreme.
Lastly, you connect the G5 wirelessly to the new network and plug the iMac into the ethernet port on the Airport Express. The iMac will not know it is on a wireless network. It will just get an address through its ethernet connection and start working.

Airtunes - but only wired...

I have a really strange behaviour in my wireless network concerning Airtunes.
Here's my network setup:
WRT54GL - router and central wireless access point
Airport Express - wirelessly connected to the WRT54GL in Client mode for use as an airtunes speaker client
G4 Titanium Powerbook 10.4 - connected via Airport
Mac Mini 10.5 - connected via Airport
Starting with the Powerbook, iTunes connects without any trouble to the Airport Express and streams music.
On the MacMini, however, iTunes lists the Airtunes speakers in the speakers menu, but can't establish the streaming connection.
So: the wireless Airtunes connection works on the Powerbook, but it does not work on the Mini (even if the powerbook is shut down). However, any other wireless connection does work on the MacMini.
To add even more confusion: if i connect the mini via cable to the WRT54GS, Airtunes works! So: establishing a Airtunes connection directly from the Mini via Airport does not work, but using the WRT54GS instead of the onboard Airport card does work.
Some more details of the network: every wireless device in the network is assigned a static DHCP IP address and is listed in a Mac-address whitelist.

It's seems to be a bvrowser problem..as it's working fine with IE6.
As you are getting the low signal on the wireless computer,try to adjust the wireless settings of the router..On the setup page,Under the Wireless tab...Change the Channel Width to 20MHz only and Channel to 11..Keep the SSID to unique.. Under the Advanced Wireless Settings,Disable the Frame Burst,Change the N-Transmission Rate to 15-130Mbps.Change the Beacon Interval to 75,Change the Fragmentation Threshold to 2304,Change the RTS Threshold to 2304 and Click on Save Settings...
Also,Under the Security tab,Uncheck Filter Anonymous Internet Requests.
Now,power cycle the router and check..

Cable Modem, Static IP and AE

Hello, first post here.
Last sunday, I helped a friend install a new airport extreme card in his 1.8 GHz PPC G5 and we tried to create a wireless network between his mac and and a Toshiba laptop using a refurbished AE. The installation of the card went smoothly but we were unable to set the internet connection for both machines.
He has a cable modem and his ISP assigned a static IP to his main machine, the G5. After we plugged the router's ethernet cable to the airport, there was simply no way we could connect to the internet. I read a lot of posts here regarding the subject and I really don't know what went wrong. If I got it right, in this specific case, the "Distribute IP Addresses" option should be disable since the AE would act only as a wireless access point. So, we disabled that option and it didn't work. All we got was an amber blinking light. After fiddling around with the AirPort Admin Utility, we changed the option "Connect using", under the Internet tab, from PPPoE to Ethernet. The AE was updated but the amber light was still blinking. Under the same tab, we changed "Configure" from "Using DHCP" to "Manually" and I filled out all the info I had received from the ISP. The AE was updated and finally we got the green light. But no connection whatsoever. We tried changing the settings several times but to no avail.
I brought the AE home, tested it and it worked perfectly here, where I have a broadband ADSL connection with dynamic IP (I had to turn on the "Distribute IP Addresses" option and change the connection from Ethernet to PPPoE). So I ruled out the possibility of a broken AE. Then, today, I read this post here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1114375&#1114375
Where Henry B. answers a question by saying:
"What I suggest you do is disable the router built into the Airport Express by unchecking the option to "distribute IP addresses" found under the Network tab of the Airport Admin Utility. Whether or not you manually assign an IP address to your Airport Express is up to you (but if you do, make sure it is above the range used by the D-Link router's own DHCP server). Restart all wireless computers. From this point on, ALL computers on your network including those connecting via the Airport Express will obtain an IP address from the D-Link router's DHCP server"
My question is: the whole installation should have worked if we only had restarted the computers? What about the amber blinking light when the "Using DHCP" option is enabled?
We'll probably try again later this week but it would be nice if someone could shed some light on the problem.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Dual 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hello,
I've been searching forever but no one at my isp nor any of the "geniuses" have been able to help me solve my network issues. Any advice is appreciated. If you want to avoid reading the history of what I've tried - just tell me how to set up a network to allow -
1. 5 devices using the static ips assigned by my DSL isp.
2. 5-10 devices using Dynamic ips assigned by an Airport Extreme, including both wireless and wired.
3. my ethernet connected airport express (connected to my whole house speaker) to also provide wireless access to the network for that side of the house.
Maybe you don't need to know my frustrating history. Here's the short version
Despite every configuration imaginable, using 2 different hubs, 1 main hub, modem to Airport, modem to hub... the list goes on - I haven't been able to get both my static and dynamic wired devices networking at the same time.
1. Modem to Airport WAN, hub to Airport LAN - allows wired and wireless devices but only with Airport assigned addresses. (I need to use my isp addresses too)
2. Modem to Hub, Airport WAN to hub, wired static devices to hub - allows use of my isp static addresses & Airport assigned dynamic but only for wireless devices.
3. Modem to Hub1, Airport WAN to hub1, wired static devices to hub1, Airport LAN to hub2, wired dynamic devices to hub2 - give the error message "no dchp server found".
Second Part:
AExpress- WDS extended the signal but ruined the music transfer. Songs skipping etc. Ethernet connection is great for airtunes but wireless signal disappears if I uncheck "distribute ips". Since Extreme already distributes - why won't the express grab some of them? Roaming needs static ips & I need my isp statics for other WAN devices. I just need the Express to bridge to our local LAN & operate AirTunes simultaneously.
whew! thanks for any advice

ITunes 7.0.1. did not fix play back problem through AirTunes

The sound quality in Airtunes is every bit as bad under the update (7.01) as it had been before (7.0). I cannot listen to my music, the static is so annoying. I hope they get it right soon.
IBookG4 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Did you check you have IPV6 on in the network interface settings ?
You have to have it on or else AirTunes won't work.
I think it has to do with the iTunes Airtunes internal streaming server which uses IPV6 now, which is a good thing , network wise. But Apple didn't document it correctly , IMO.
I sure can vouch for the same airtunes quality using 7.01.
I have a pretty expensive audiophile setting connected to my airport express optical out , and the quality has suffered nothing.
This sure is strange.

AirTunes Now Playing info

Well, I asked for AirTunes functionality when the ATV first came out - Apple must have listened to me:-)
Just been experimenting with this and once I realised that an iTunes update seems to have turned off the pref to search for AirTunes connected spakers and turned it on again, the ATV was then visible in the list of AirTunes destinations and soon I was playing music into the room that previously had an Airport Express for this purpose.
So far so good.
It then took a little while to fugure out what the ATV would display while this is going on. Menus are still fully accessible, but it will quickly revert to the 'Now Playing' screen after a short period of inactivity.
Even further, even better.
But now I hit the problem. The Now Playing screen shows no artwork, the Track is Untitled, Unknown Album, Unknown Artist and the progress bar is static, fixed at the beginning. IOW, it is getting NO info from the incoming data stream.
Others have reported this, with various suggestions being put forward:-
"It only shows information if the track is synced locally on to the ATV's hard drive"
Seems unlikely. Relatively simple to include the appropriate data when sending it from the Mac and I would have thought that if the track is not local, why would the ATV even bother to show such a screen when it has no data to fill it.
"Do a full reset to factory condition, that should fix it"
Seems a bit harsh as that would involve the whole upgrade to V2 again and I only did that this morning.
Maybe not a common problem, but mine is not an isolated instance. Has anyone any information on why the track info is NOT displayed and the Now Playing screen is empty?

I just posted about this issue before seeing this thread.
It is happening to us from the mac that is not synced. The mac that is synced seems to be fine.
When the mac that is synced uses airtunes to play music from the mac that is not synced (shared library, I know twisted but someone has to try it heheh) then sometimes it fails, in various ways:
* All data but no album
* No data
* All data fine

AirTunes cut-outs with wired network (solved)

To whom this may be helpful,
There are several discussions about Music cut-outs when using the AirTunes, but all of these discussions were focussing on a wire-less connection.
In my case, however, I have a wired Ethernet connection from my Mac to a 4-port-router, to which the AirPort Express is also connected. I got the first cut-outs about a year ago and it has been gradually getting worse, up to the point where it would cut out after every 5-10 seconds, pausing for 5 seconds. This is when I gave up using AirTunes.
Next, nothing much happened until I noticed a few weeks ago that my network had become notoriously slow. I first suspected a degrading ADSL connection, but I changed my mind when my router died. It turns out that my network performance was gradually degrading due to problems in my router (probably bad memory, forcing it to drop packages when the checksums were incorrect).
After having replaced the router, the network is up and running again as before and AirTunes runs smoothly again. With that in mind, you might like to test other units in your network!
Mac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I buyed 2 of the Airport Extreme, never got them working fine, till yesterday...
I have A Zyxel ADSL WLAN Router Switch. WPA-PSK as I wanted a secure Network. Both of the AX were connected with static IPs. WLAN was always working fine, but I had many cut outs with airtunes. I wanted a solution with lossles streaming audio with the possibility to connect my Receiver digitally. That's why I bought my first Apple hardware, as I was always told, Apple=Plug'n play. Very frustrating!
I tried other switches, Routers, WLAN adapters and cards, nothing worked. Airfoil does not support multiple speakers yet, so it's useless for me.
In the FAQ of the Airtunes, Apple mentioned to use lower security, as some Computers probably do not have enough power to stream music flawlessly. But my Computers really do have enough power! I think the AX does not have enough power to do that. So I created another wireless network with one of my AX. I set the security to WEP-40bit key and joined this new Network with my other AX. Not the best solution, as I'm now connected to the Internet or to the AX to use Airtunes. Cables could fix that problem, but then I could use a wired system instead...
I use Channel 11 for the AX WLAN (the only clean channel in my area), Multicast to 11, only G mode for Wireless and a 5 characters WEP-40 key and no WDS. Seems to work at the moment.
I hope this will help others with the cut or drop out problem

AirTunes Static

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