Cannot connect to remote speakers using Airport Express

Question

Yesterday I was able to connect to my hi-fi using remote speakers in iTunes 6.0.4 through my Airport Express (AE) and take full advantage of Front Row, however later in the day the speaker selecton pop-button in iTunes disappeared. I did a hard-reset of the AE unit, shutdown the computer, checked the preferences selection in iTunes etc, all without success. I checked the discussion boards of both iTunes and Airport for a solution. Found something interested where someone said that they shutdown the computer and went to bed and in the morning, hey presto everything was working. He thought that having a good night's sleep was the solution. So, I shutdown the computer and went to bed. The next morning, the light on the AE was green and after booting up my iMac Intel the pop-button reappeared (I still don't know what solved the problem) but now it will not connect to the speakers. It tries but gives us after 30 seconds or so.
Here is what I have done so far: I used Airport setup assistant to set up the AE. During that process I selected to join an existing network that is provided by my Airport Extreme base station and I selected to only use the AE to share a printer and play iTunes using WDS bridging. This process works every time.
Right now, the light on the AE unit is flashing amber. In Airport Admin Utility both the Extreme and the Express are listed but the Extreme has an IP address of the 10.0.x.x variety whereas the Express has an IP address 169.254.x.x variety! Strange. If I double-click on the Express it takes an age to get a response and when the response eventually comes - asking for the password I then get an error saying that "the airport admin utility was unable to read the configuration of the selected base station.
I have tried resetting and repeating the above without success. Therefore, any other ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. I want to boast about Front Row to my Windows friends without the embarrassment of connection problems

Answer 1

I am having almost exactly the same trouble with an Airport network I recently set up in my home. I have a G5 with a brand new Airport card, an Airport Extreme Base Station (also brand new) in the same room acting as my internet portal, and an Airport Express (yup--brand new) downstairs piping iTunes to the stereo.
I could get the G5 and Extreme base to talk without a hitch--they are right next to one another, after all. When I tried to link the Express into the same network, the Express vanishes. When I tried moving it into the same room with the Extreme, I could find it, and play tunes through a set of headphones. Moving to an outlet in the hall outside the room, it still worked. Moved to an outlet on the far wall of the room across the hall, it would play only sporadically, dropping out about 4 seconds out of every six. Anywhere else, and it wouldn't show up at all.
However, when I set up the Express to be a separate network, my G5 was able to access it and play music without difficulty, anywhere in the house. I've been playing iTunes on my stereo for weeks, with the downside that I can't do that and surf the web at the same time.
Last night I tried the experiment of moving the Extreme Base Station around. With my G5 in the living room, in the approximate center of the house (1/2-level above the basement, 1/2-level below the office--it's a split level), I was able to access the Express and play tunes on the stereo as usual. With the Extreme Base downstairs, right next to the Express, my G5 could not even locate its signal. Fifteen feet closer to the center of the house (but still downstairs): couldn't find it. At the base of the stairs: couldn't find it. At the top of the stairs (20 feet from the G5, but just around a corner): couldn't find it. Three feet out into the foyer at the top of the stairs (and now in a direct line of sight to the G5): 20-30% signal. Keep in mind that during all this, I could switch over to the Express network at will (75% signal) and play music downstairs without a hiccup.
It seems to me that there's something wrong with the Extreme Station itself (or at least, with the way it's trying to communicate). If it were external interference due to an outside network, a microwave oven, or a 2.4 GHz cordless telephone, I would expect it to effect both networks equally--but it isn't. The Express seems impervious. I've noticed in another set of posts that some people with wireless connection problems have found that switching from the most recent version of the Extreme Base firmware (5.7) to an older one (5.5.1) has fixed the problem. I plan to give it a shot myself. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Dual 2.5 GHz G5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)