For UDP broadcast gurus: Problems achieving high-bandwidth audio UDP broadcast over WiFi (802.11N and 802.11G)

Question

I\'m attempting to send multichannel audio over WiFi from one server to multiple client computers using UDP broadcast on a private network.

I\'m using software calle

Answer 1

I'm curious - what happens to UDP broadcast packets in the router? If I have a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, then does the router make 254 packets for every packet sent ot the broadcast address?

No the "router" doesn't make 254 individual packets. Furthermore, I suspect the protocol leverages "multicast" addresses rather than using a "broadcast" address.

Since broadcast/multicast traffic can easily be misused, there are many networking equipment that limit/block by default such traffic. Of course, some essential protocols (e.g. ARP, DHCP) rely on broadcast/multicast addresses to function and won't be blocked by default.

Hence, it might be a good thing to check for multicast/broadcast control knobs on your router.