Maximum number of Apple TVs in a network ???

[joseph]

Hello everyone.

 

Apart from the obvious problems like bandwidth and having a huge list of Apple TVs in your airplay mirroring, is there a maximum number of apple tvs that could be connected to the same network? We have implemented so far 22 Apple tvs and they all seem to be working fine, but the number that we pretend to reach is about 56 apple tvs in total and I wouldn't like to be forced to split the network in 3 or 4 subnets....

 

Regards,

[dhicks]

Apart from the obvious problems like bandwidth and having a huge list of Apple TVs in your airplay mirroring, is there a maximum number of apple tvs that could be connected to the same network?

 

Some people have had issues with the AirPlay protocol and its associated Bonjour broadcast protocol - you wind up with a lot of devices all doing broadcasts. Fine for a home network, but more noticeable when you have a larger network.

[speckytecky]

We started down the Apple TV route (have 3 sets with HDMI to VGA converters and associated cables) found them expensive and not reliable. Now replaced by AirServer - Most advanced AirPlay receiver for Mac and PC which cost about £50 for a one off site licence and does the job superbly.

[joseph]

the idea of installing apple tvs was to mirror from the the teachers macbook pros with the apple tv...

[naysweb]

I have seen somewhere it is 25 so you might fined out soon.. Good luck

[jayemm]

we have 80 on ours and dont have any issues.

[AshleyBishop]

I've seen many with 50+

[seawolf]

Hello everyone.

 

Apart from the obvious problems like bandwidth and having a huge list of Apple TVs in your airplay mirroring, is there a maximum number of apple tvs that could be connected to the same network? We have implemented so far 22 Apple tvs and they all seem to be working fine, but the number that we pretend to reach is about 56 apple tvs in total and I wouldn't like to be forced to split the network in 3 or 4 subnets....

 

Regards,

 

We have 40 AirPlay devices running on our network (Apple TVs or Macs running AirServer).

[RabbieBurns]

I wouldnt put a single Airplay device on my network.

[seawolf]

I wouldnt put a single Airplay device on my network.

 

And why would you if you don't have iPads or Macs?

[RabbieBurns]

I have about 200 MacOS devices, and a growing number of ipads.

 

I just insist on a standards based network that doesnt require me to make protocol and port exceptions to make specific devices or applications work.

[seawolf]

I have about 200 MacOS devices, and a growing number of ipads.

 

I just insist on a standards based network that doesnt require me to make protocol and port exceptions to make specific devices or applications work.

 

I see. So you're crippling the usefulness of the iPads for the people who use them for the sake of maintaining "standards"? You must be very popular.

 

We haven't needed to make protocol or port exceptions because we don't allow the AirPlay traffic to traverse VLANs, there's no need to. You just put the AirPlay devices and iPads on the same VLAN to control the traffic.or, you could use one of the bonjour routing techniques (http://nicolas.vanwambeke.net/wp/2011/05/08/bonjourzeroconfrendezvousmdns-across-multiple-subnets/) or the bonjour "gateway" solutions from the various WiFi vendors.

 

But hey, if you're able to maintain your employment by just saying no to requests and keeping the status quo, that's great. But I wouldn't expect it to last. I know of more than one school that's dumped all of their IT staff and fully outsourced because all they ever got from them was a big "we can't do that" whenever they wanted to do something like print from iPads or access file server resources from their iPads (or Android or Windows RT tablets). You might just "standards" yourself right into the unemployment line.

[njc235]

We tested the Meru Bonjour Gateway in our demo lab and were able to restrict/allow various Airplay/Airprint devices across the network.

[baha]

Just counted how many I can see on the iPad - 35. Apple TVs sit on their own VLAN, devices which want to use Apple TV sit on the same VLAN/SSID. Works fine. They really need to be on their own subnet, flat network will just get battered

[Stuclark]

If you're going to connect the Apple TVs via a wireless network, then I would recommend no more than 15 - 20 on a single VLAN.

 

If you have more than this, you'll probably find that you get inconsistent lists of discovered Apple TVs when viewed on iPads & iPhones - this is due to the amount of Bonjour traffic being generated overwhelming the iPad / iPhones.

[abillybob]

Make sure your Domain isn't .local as this can cause issues as bonjour on Apple TV's use .local unfortunately. We have 30 here and I run a flat network with no VLAN's never had an issue...

[njc235]

If you're going to connect the Apple TVs via a wireless network, then I would recommend no more than 15 - 20 on a single VLAN.

 

If you have more than this, you'll probably find that you get inconsistent lists of discovered Apple TVs when viewed on iPads & iPhones - this is due to the amount of Bonjour traffic being generated overwhelming the iPad / iPhones.

 

I would definitely look at a solution which offered some sort of segregation such as a Bonjour gateway where multicast traffic is converted to unicast based on a set of policies. This will restrict the number of devices advertising within certain areas.

[shud]

We have 1200 student ipads on a vlan and 110 staff ipads and pc's including 85 air server teachers desks on the native vlan, what we are finding is that the airplay list keeps refreshing when on the staff wifi ssid and on the student wifi ssid the airplay icon disappears at times, ive now removed airplay from all but 10 pc's and so far it has been stable for two days, we use ruckus wifi with their bonjour gateway setup allowing airplay/airprint and apple tv to bridge the vlan, question is im guessing its broadcasts causing the drop, but what is the best way to vlan off the network?

 

is it one vlan for studnet wifi devices/ssid (already setup)

one vlan for the staff wifi devices/ssid

one vlan for the airplay pc's or put these onto one of the exisitng vlans?

native vlan for school pc's in general?

 

any ideas would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[wesleyw]

I'd look at vlanning per deoartment or building means an awful lot of vlans in some cases but it will seriously cut down broadcasting and of course it makes it a small list ;-)

[wesleyw]

Though it will depend on how much the teachers move around.

[AwkwardUnicorn]

We have exactly 56 here at the college, with roughly 30 in use each period, all on the same VLAN and SSID. We've had a few ups and downs but nothing that has not been fixed by the ATV software updates or rebooting the ATV itself or in extreme cases restarting the gateway... With the latest software version you don't even need to be on a network to airplay! This could (depending on how it pans out) really save all of our networks.

[shud]

So im guessing if we do it by department / block they would only see the airplay devices in that vlan in that area of the school / switches, then just general traffic will traverse the infrastructure for internet / shares

[wesleyw]

Pretty much makes them easy to find.

[shud]

thats assuming the teachers ipad picks up the cvorrect access point in that area and does not hold onto one from another block whilst walking across the school ???

[shud]

Im looking into vlaning up the network, but at the moment im having an issue were 2 pc's on one switch both untagged in vlan 10 cant even ping each other never mind broadcast bonjour services, switch in question is an hp2510 24g

 

anyone nay ideas?