Airserver alternatives?

[robjduk]

Morning all,

We have air server installed on our staff laptops here so the few staff with iPads can stream to them. I don't deny they occasionally will drop out, as is the way with wireless in a building of 2000 connected devices but one member of staff is screaming bloody murder, claiming it drops out every 3.2 seconds and can't teach this way.

 

Airserver support has been less than helpful and this guy is getting on my t*ts so am wondering if anyone uses anything else (other than putting an Apple TV in every classroom).

 

I found one called Reflector which seems good but looking for recommendations.

 

Thank you

[bknaggs]

We're quite happy with AirServer here so no recommendations for anything else I'm afraid.

 

If it's just one person would an HDMI adapater direct from the iPad to the screen work? Can't blame the wireless if they're not using it.

[EssentialRug]

Same here...using AirServer for years and never had any issue. You could just put one Apple TV in said guys room to appease him? Hide it behind the board and he'd probably never know it was there (and given preferential treatment) anyway...

[2ilent8cho]

Airplay will drop out if there is not sufficient bandwidth or latency gets too bad, could it be weak wireless signal, congestion or interference in the area they are teaching with the iPad? I don't have any AirServer experiences as we have an Apple TV in every classroom.

[robjduk]

We're quite happy with AirServer here so no recommendations for anything else I'm afraid.

 

If it's just one person would an HDMI adapater direct from the iPad to the screen work? Can't blame the wireless if they're not using it.

 

You'd think this would be a good idea but no........(insert random teacher reasons which make me think its not such a big issue as he claims because its always works when I walk past)......

 

In fairness to Airserver, in our tests, it's more or less rock solid. Our bandwidth and wireless coverage is good to excellent site wide (very recent wireless survey) so other than something causing his laptop to freak out from time to time, I'm at a loss to where the issue is.

I'm looking to push the UWA version out rather than the universal windows msi but their version for large deployments is not working and I gather from what little their support has said to me that a fix is not coming any time soon. I suspect the user is blowing the issue out of proportion but I still need it off my desk.

 

Are you using the msi or UWP version?

[bknaggs]

MSI version or version installed on our new Viewsonic screens here. Where it's installed on a PC I didn't bother with the store version as I couldn't see how you'd add the license key without manually entering it.

[Jamman960]

We used reflector but have recently moved to AirServer. I’ve found AirServer to be more reliable and they don’t charge for upgrades vs reflector coming out with new major versions requiring new licences etc

[DaveTheTech]

You can pass the licence key to AirServer after installing.

Here's what I do in a batch script (I was lazy and didnt run it in PowerShell with bypassing the execution policy)

set /p ROOM="Name: "C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe /i "\\Server\AirServer$\AirServer-5.6.3-x64.msi" /qb"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" activate 4S778221BP6307128"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" activate everyone"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" authenticate everyone using askme"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" disable CheckForUpdates"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" set name %ROOM%"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" restart

 

I set the Name to the room name, rather than the PC - as the PCs are just numbers.

The authenticate, makes a popup - do you really want to share this iPad onto this screen. The restart is there to turn this on, otherwise it asks for a code.

[DaveTheTech]

You can pass the licence key to AirServer after installing.

Here's what I do in a batch script (I was lazy and didnt run it in PowerShell with bypassing the execution policy)

 

set /p ROOM="Name: "
C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe /i "\\Server\AirServer$\AirServer-5.6.3-x64.msi" /qb
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" activate abc123
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" activate everyone
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" authenticate everyone using askme
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" disable CheckForUpdates
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" set name %ROOM%
"C:\Program Files\App Dynamic\AirServer\AirServerConsole.exe" restart

 

I set the Name to the room name, rather than the PC - as the PCs are just numbers.

The authenticate, makes a popup appear- "do you really want to share this iPad onto this screen". The restart is there to turn this on, otherwise it asks for a code.

[chazzy2501]

This is why AirPlay is a head scratcher, devices have to be on the same network (so guest access is all but a no), Bluetooth has to be enabled, the AP must support multicast (and disable client isolation)and of course you need bonjour. That's a lot of prerequisites.

 

Miracast is a peer to peer connection and is also an unreliable beast but has less prerequisites.

 

Wireless video sucks..

Edited April 27, 2023 by chazzy2501

[robjduk]

MSI version or version installed on our new Viewsonic screens here. Where it's installed on a PC I didn't bother with the store version as I couldn't see how you'd add the license key without manually entering it.

 

 

start airserver://activate?key=YOURKEYHERE

 

Does not appear to be ways of changing the default name and other options though.

[supportman]

We just bought IWB boards that have it built in, saves so much hassle!

[BenQ_Chris]

Hi,

 

On the interactive screens we have something called Instashare / Instashare 2 (model dependent), this supports iOS, Android, Windows & Mac casting to and from the screen; depending on the model you can display up to 9 devices on the interactive display.

 

If you'd like to know more or have any questions just let me know.