Description
Welcome to alfacast! Alfacast allows you to stream and to view video from the screen of device (screen mirror). The application automatically detects all devices inside your network on which the alfacast is installed and running. This instruction is described short actions need to stream and view of your screen.
Steps for screen streaming
• Download alfacast application on your devices • Connect your devices to the same network • Run alfacast application on your devices • Now you are ready to accept incoming connection • Please find more detailed info about supported OS for streaming in the Supported platforms section
Steps for screen viewing
• Download alfacast application on your devices • Connect your devices to the same network • Run alfacast application on your devices • Wait end of the discovery process (approximately 15-30 seconds) • Select the required streamer from the list and wait end of the connection process • Now you will view remote screen
General requirements
• Support IPv4 networks only • The devices should be connected to the same network • Hardware accelerated H.264 video codec
4K Ultra HD resolution and 60 FPS requirements
• Extended version of application on streamer and viewer side • Display with 4K Ultra HD resolution and 60 Hz on streamer side • Hardware accelerated H.264 video codec with 4K Ultra HD support • The final video stream resolution and refresh rate depends from the maximum resolution and refresh rate of streamer's display
Supported platforms
• Apple macOS™ (Streamer and Viewer) • Apple iOS™ (Streamer and Viewer) • Apple tvOS™ (Viewer Only) • Amazon Fire OS™ (Streamer and Viewer) • Google Android™ (Streamer and Viewer) • Google Android TV™ (Streamer and Viewer) • Google Wear OS™ (Viewer Only) • Linux™ (Streamer and Viewer). Not all devices based on this OS support streaming mode • Microsoft Windows™ (Streamer and Viewer). Not all devices based on this OS support streaming mode
The application supports
• Streaming audio & video from your screen • Playback audio & video on the side of the viewer • Screen streamer and viewer in one application • Secure connection with end-to-end encryption • Display current streaming information • Automatic users discovery in the local area network • Connection only over local area network
The application does not support
• Alfacast is not DLNA™, UPnP™ media render or media server • Alfacast is not Apple AirPlay™ receiver or transmitter • Alfacast is not Google Chromecast™ receiver or transmitter • Alfacast is not Miracast™ receiver or transmitter
General streaming troubleshooting
The alfacast application is independent and you need to install at least two copies of the application. For example: for streaming on first device and for viewing on second.
If you have streaming problems you can try to follow through the next steps:
• If you want to stream video from YouTube / Twitch / Vimeo / etc services and you have stable disconnect on viewer side after start of streaming then please decrease video stream resolution in appropriate service on streamer device • If you have disconnect message and it contains the words: "Failed on start encoder" or "Failed on start decoder" then this streaming configuration is not supported by your hardware device codecs • If video streaming quality is poor, try moving your devices closer to your Wi-Fi router
Router and devices troubleshooting
The devices should be connected to the same network directly, without any network switches, repeaters, etc. If your device is connected in two ways to the same router (for example: Wi-Fi and Ethernet), please use one of the connection methods.
The alfacast application uses UDP unicast / broadcast protocol transmission. There are some UDP broadcast problems with different network routers. Please make sure that your router has correct behaviour with the UDP broadcast protocol.
If you have some kind discovery or connectivity problems you can try to follow through the next steps:
• You can try to disable IPv6 protocol on you router and reboot it. The alfacast application uses only IPv4 protocol • If you use Wi-Fi connection between streamer and viewer devices and have Bluetooth turned on, try turning off the Bluetooth on both sides • If you use Microsoft Windows please make sure your network type is Private (or Domain) and turn on all system Discovery services • If you have firewall try to turn off or uninstall it • Disable Client Isolation on the router • Disable WPA, please use pure WPA2 standard on the Wi-Fi router • Decrease your DTIM Interval on the Wi-Fi router down to 1 • Disable 802.11 Power Save mode on the Wi-Fi router and your devices • Upgrade router's firmware to the last version • Try to select more cleaner router's Wi-Fi channel • Switch Transmission Power to the maximum value on the Wi-Fi router • Move your devices closer to the Wi-Fi router • Try to remove all virtual network devices, bridges etc from OS • Try to reboot your network router, streaming and viewer devices • Try to do factory reset on your device or reinstall the OS and install the app on the cleaned OS • Try to use better router with correct UDP broadcast support
All products listed here are the property of their respective companies.
Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook, Apple TV are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions.
Android, Android TV, Wear OS are trademarks of Google LLC.
Fire OS is a trademark of Amazon.com Inc.
Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.