Airport Express Time

This is really a network question, but it's (nearly) all Apple kit so it's in here .

Main LAN is pretty standard- assorted computers etc connecting to a 3Com wireless router, some wired, some wireless. The iMac is wired.

There's also an Airport Express, set up (after much valuable help from bosie) to "Create a wireless network", I connect the iMac to this via Airport. So the iMac is on two networks and the AEX doesn't have an internet connection.

That means that if I enable the AEX's "Set time automatically" I get the wrong time and a log full of error messages... there doesn't seem to be a way to set the time manually either.

The iMac sync's to an NPL time server, and anything else that's interested uses the iMac as a local time server and it all works fine. But I can't see how to get the AEX to do that...

Under Airport Network Prefs I've got the iMac IP set static to the same IP as on the main LAN (192.168.1.24), and the router as the AEX (169.254.221.198, dunno where it got that from).

On the AEX settings I've got its IP address set static to the above, and router and DNS server set to the 3Com router (192.168.1.1), which I'm pretty sure is wrong but I don't know what they should be.

The AEX time server setting points to the iMac, but it doesn't work... Connection sharing is set to "Off (Bridge Mode)" which I suspect is also wrong but again I don't know what it should be...

Help requested from anyone who knows more about networks than I do...

Is there a reason you're not joining the AEX to your main wirless network?

Yes- I've also got an Apple TV, and for some reason the 3Com doesn't like talking to them both at the same time

1. You have both the AEX and the iMac set up as 192.168.1.24? Every device on your network must have a unique IP address. If the main LAN is 192,168.1.x then each device connected to it has to have a different value of x. Why does the iMac have to be connected to both the wired an wireless networks? That would only be necessary if it was likely to be disconnected from the wire, which may be true of a laptop, but unlikely for an iMac. If you thought you need the wireless connection to enable the AEX to reach it - you don't. The AEX should be able to get to it via the wires. All devices on the network should have the 3com address 192.168.1.1 as their router IP address.

2. If the AEX is creating a network then you have to set whether it is a separate network (connection sharing mode) or an extension of your LAN (bridge mode). Since I think you want the wireless LAN to have the same address range as the wired LAN, you need bridge mode. Set this in the Internet tab on the AEX via Airport Utility.

3. You should be able to tell the AEX to use the iMac as its time server in the Airport->Base Station tab in Airport Utility. There's a checkbox called Set time automatically, and to the right of that you can enter a time server address. That should be the iMac's address.

That 169.x.x.x address is a self-assigned one. Whatever is using it as its address made it up because it couldn't find a DHCP server.

Edited by deleted (Mon 19-Jan-09 16:24:21)

The 3com will not talk to two devices at the same time if they have the same IP address. Are you sure that all your network devices have unique values of x in 192.168.1.x?

Edited by deleted (Mon 19-Jan-09 16:22:24)

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You have both the AEX and the iMac set up as 192.168.1.24?

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No, the iMac is set to that address on both networks.

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Why does the iMac have to be connected to both the wired an wireless networks?

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Because if I put the AEX on the same network as everything else (mainly the Apple TV) it doesn't work! (Seems to be the router for some reason.)

I don't care about address ranges, I'll try the connection sharing mode. Re your later post- yes, everything that stays in the house is set to it's own static IP (and they are all different, I know that much about networks), the laptops are on DHCP.

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The AEX should be able to get to it via the wires.

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I don't want a wired connection, that's the whole point...

Sorry I misunderstood. The iMac can't have two interfaces with the same IP address - that's two 'devices' with the same IP address.

I don't believe the 3com is unable to route to the Apple TV at the same time as to other devices.

You don't want a wired connection between which devices? you only described what you have, not what you want.

Edited by deleted (Mon 19-Jan-09 17:02:12)

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The iMac can't have two interfaces with the same IP address

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Even on different networks? But OK, I'll change that.

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I don't believe the 3com is unable to route to the Apple TV at the same time as to other devices.

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You come and tell it that . The saga started with point 1 that I made in this post. It's only the AEX and ATV that it won't talk to simultaneously (via wireless), everything else is fine.

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You don't want a wired connection between which devices? you only described what you have, not what you want.

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Fair enough. The iMac is wired to the router partly because it's only 18" away and mainly because it's less bother when I want to do anything on the router. There's a PC and print server in another room that are wired (via homeplugs and an ethernet switch), everything else (AEX, ATV, PS3 and laptops) is wireless, and I want them to stay that way.

Edited by billford (Mon 19-Jan-09 18:02:38)

Just a thought: Could it be a network capacity issue?

I wondered that, but don't think so (nor did bosie). It would work if the music streaming was started first, but not if the movie started first. And it's only SD I'm streaming, not HD.