Elgato's Wi-Fi products such as Key Light, Light Strip, and Ring Light use a networking protocol to communicate with the Control Center app on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

The aim is to make pairing accessories to a network easy and seamless. 

• What Network Protocol(s) Do Elgato Wi-Fi Product Use?
• Which Elgato Products Use Bonjour/Multicast
• Computer Configuration
• Router Configuration
• Firewall configuration

What Network Protocol(s) do Elgato Wi-Fi products use?

Bonjour - Bonjour is the discovery protocol created by Apple that is widely used today across many product ranges which makes adding smart devices to a network easy. 

Learn more about Bonjour - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software)

Multicast - The underlying foundation of Bonjour, Control Center, and the accessory find each other during the pairing process. 

Learn more about Multicast - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast

HTTP Requests - Once the Elgato device is paired, Control Center stores the IP address, and communication with the device is done via HTTP requests. 

Learn more about HTTP Requests - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol

Which Elgato Products use Bonjour/HTTP?

These products use either or both of the network protocols: 

• Key Light
• Key Light Air
• Key Light Mini
• Ring Light
• Light Strip
• EpocCam
• Stream Deck Mobile

Computer Configuration

Windows and Mac computers do not need any additional software installed for Bonjour discovery. 

Windows: Bonjour is installed with Control Center.

macOS: Bonjour is natively supported and does not require installation.

Router Configuration

Bonjour uses Multicast packets to find devices such as Elgato's Wi-Fi networks on the network. 

To ensure that devices can find Elgato Wi-Fi products, these services should be enabled on the Wi-Fi router and/or access point. 

Some routers may give this configuration and protocol different names. Below are some common setting names:

• Multicast
• mDNS
• Bonjour
• IGMP Snooping
• Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
• Broadcast 
• Broadcast Filtering (Ensure this is disabled)

Firewall Configuration

Firewall configurations can prevent Control Center from finding and/or controlling lighting accessories. 

Learn more about mDNS strings to allow through your firewall.