AirPlay Unable to Connect to Airport Express

[jmw1480]

I have an Airport Express set up wirelessly to "join an existing (Eero) network," in order to simply use it as an AirPlay node for two outdoor speakers via a Fosi DAC.

When I initially set up - or do a full reset of - the AE, it works just fine: I can select or deselect that 'zone' via AirPlay, the same as an Apple TV or HomePod speaker pair.

However, at some point - typically within about 24 hours - the AE 'zone' becomes no longer connectable, and I get an "AirPlay Unable to Connect to <AirPort Express device name>" error. I'm not sure if it has to do with dynamic IPs or something else in the network set-up, but it's very frustrating to have to do a full reset of the AE any time I want to use that zone.

I've searched and read through multiple threads with the same/similar issues, but haven't found a stable solution yet. Please help if you can!

 

[Bigwaff]

From the Eero admin interface, can you assign the AE a static IP address?

 

[Brian33]

Maybe the issue occurs when the AE has to renew its lease with the DHCP server (typically in the router). My router assigns leases for 24 hours; maybe yours does also.

Find out the AE's IP address both before and after the problem occurs and see if it has changed. You can use Airport Utility: click once on the AE and look at the line that says "LAN IP Address".

If the IP changes and seems correlated to the problem, I'd try what @Bigwaff suggested. I don't know anything about Eero networks, but there should be a way in the their admin interface to assign a static (unchanging) IP address to a specific network device.

Still, by my understanding even changing the AE's IP address shouldn't cause a problem, because AirPlay uses Bonjour (mDNS, multi-cast DNS) to find resources on the network. And I'm pretty sure if the AE got a new IP address that it would be "smart enough" to update the Bonjour info. But you never know...

There's a free (I think) app in the Mac App Store called "Discover" that lets you easily browse Bonjour services advertised on your network. Maybe it would help, if you can recognise something that looks wrong... but there's a lot of hard to understand parameters in there!

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/discovery-dns-sd-browser/id1381004916?mt=12

I used to have an AE set up for the same purpose you are describing. It worked great and I never had a problem, but I haven't used that setup for the last few years. Actually, wait -- I did have problems (dropouts) when it was connected via WiFi even though it seemed a strong reliable signal; all issues went away when I hard-wired it with an Ethernet cable.

Can you temporarily use an Ethernet cable to connect the AE for a day or so, instead of wirelessly joining the existing nework? If the problem doesn't occur that would be a big clue...