Airplay through LDS access

I am looking to find others who have successfully used Airplay on LDSAccess wifi in church buildings.

My initial attempt failed. It all works on a typical home wifi device. Before I explore more on LDSAccess I thought I would see what success/experience others have had.

Kevin Reeve
YSA 4th Stake
Logan, UT

Note that attempting to stream via LDSAccess is discouraged. There is no promise that the available bandwidth will be there. In fact some buildings experience extreme slowness during church meetings. There's also no promise that the church server will handle the load during Sunday School class.

It's suggested that all media be downloaded ahead of time so you're not relying on the network for a smooth presentation.

We've used airplay on devices in our meetinghouses. The only time that I've seen it be an issue was back in the olden days when we had multiple user-dhcp scopes provisioned inside the meetinghouse, airplay is not a protocol that can be routed. So, if you happen to NOT have the latest firewall updates that is a potential way that it might not be working.

johnshaw wrote:So, if you happen to NOT have the latest firewall updates that is a potential way that it might not be working.

That's assuming everything is to church standard. In the early days, folks installed consumer WAPs for APs. That could certainly be an issue.

Yes, again, keeping the streak alive! Great point, if you have multiple consumer Wifi/Routers that could also be a potential way it doesn't work.

Thanks for the insight.

Background-> Typical LDS installed CISCO system with 7 CISCO WAPs
As far as I can tell I have the latest firewall updates installed. I have the Facilities, Public, Family History zones and no update link under Tools.

I was testing airplay as I wanted to do mirroring so a presenter could use his ipad for his powerpoint presentation.

I was however not using a Apple TV as the airplay receiver. I was using Reflector (software) on a mac that acts as an airplay receiver.

I brought in my own netgear WAP and plugged it in and airplay worked just fine.

I will take in an apple TV and test it now that I know from johnshaw that it should work.

At work we have over a thousand access points on an aruba network. Airplay, AppleTV, and Reflector work just fine.


- Kevin
Logan UT YSA 4th Stake

johnshaw wrote:We've used airplay on devices in our meetinghouses. The only time that I've seen it be an issue was back in the olden days when we had multiple user-dhcp scopes provisioned inside the meetinghouse, airplay is not a protocol that can be routed. So, if you happen to NOT have the latest firewall updates that is a potential way that it might not be working.

So how does Airplay work in this situation? Is it just client to client, or does it go to the Internet at all? I'm thinking the problem might be name resolution. One client can't find the other on the network via name.

Airplay still uses the wifi. Both devices have to be on the same network.
Bonjour must be allowed for airplay to work I am told. When I get a chance I will test with an Apple TV first. If that works, we know it is something with the reflector (airplay receiver) software on the mac that it does not work exactly as airplay on an apple tv does.

Thanks,

Kevin

It's a broadcast type of communication, basically the ipad/iphone sends out a request for an airplay like device, it goes to all devices on the network, and the airplay responds. It doesn't need name resolution that I'm aware. Again, we've done this in our meetinghouse in the same room and not had an issue.

We use Apple TVs (as well as Chromecast and Miracast) to allow members to wirelessly display on TVs. We stress they need to download first and then pay it (most do a good job at this). Airplay Mirroring works great in every meetinghouse I've tested it in.

Just a heads up, IOS devices with IOS 16 and up no longer support the lightening to AV adapters. Apple silently killed these. So Airplay maybe the only option for those. We are taking a look at adding a couple Apple TVs in our building. You will need a Tech Specialist to add them to the exception in the network so they don't need to click through the popup for updates from the internet. Otherwise they should work regardless especially if they have downloaded the content ahead of time.

As long as the building is using church approved and installed APs, switches and routers of course.

pcardelli wrote: Sun Mar 16, 2025 7:22 pm Just a heads up, IOS devices with IOS 16 and up no longer support the lightening to AV adapters. Apple silently killed these. So Airplay maybe the only option for those.

I just helped set up last Sunday's Relief Society broadcast on a TV. We connected my iPhone (iPhone 13 mini running iOS 18) to the TV with a Lightning-to-HDMI adapter, and it didn't have any issues. We switched to another iPhone before starting the broadcast and that device also worked as expected – also using Lightning to HDMI. This is the adapter we used:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MW2P3AM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter

Newer iPhones use USB-C, so for those, you'll need a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter.

A quick search shows there is indeed some kind of problem with iOS 16 updates and HDMI adapters. No firm information as to what the problem is. There's one claim that it's the content providers limiting what can be done with their content. I doubt if the Church puts any such restriction on their content.

There are other comments that suggest the problem it is app specific. So while members may experience problems with apps like Netflix, that doesn't mean it won't work for showing church content.