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Using Apple TV to mirror iPad in classroom

ozone

ozone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 18, 2004
498
45
Ontario, Canada
I'm sure this has been asked, but I'm having trouble finding threads.

My lecture classroom was just moved to a much larger classroom. I won't be able to interact with my students as easily, but since I lecture using an iPad Pro, I thought it would be a good idea to connect an Apple TV to the AV control unit at the front of the lecture theatre, and then use AirPlay to mirror my iPad wherever I am in the class. This way, I can move around the lecture theatre.

Except, of course, my university has a secure wireless network for users to access and it requires a username and password. Apple Support specifically states sign in or public networks are not supported. I've seen some workarounds on the web, but they seem to be rather clumsy and might require me to follow multiple steps everytime I want to connect.

Any elegant solutions to this? Thanks.
 
ozone said:
I'm sure this has been asked, but I'm having trouble finding threads.

My lecture classroom was just moved to a much larger classroom. I won't be able to interact with my students as easily, but since I lecture using an iPad Pro, I thought it would be a good idea to connect an Apple TV to the AV control unit at the front of the lecture theatre, and then use AirPlay to mirror my iPad wherever I am in the class. This way, I can move around the lecture theatre.

Except, of course, my university has a secure wireless network for users to access and it requires a username and password. Apple Support specifically states sign in or public networks are not supported. I've seen some workarounds on the web, but they seem to be rather clumsy and might require me to follow multiple steps everytime I want to connect.

Any elegant solutions to this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

How about a personal hotspot device?
 
Is the data static on the iPad? (without access to the internet)?
Bring your own WiFi router preconfigured. Connect both devices to same WiFi.
 
Thanks. I just heard back from our AV department and no, Apple TV will not work with our current systems: they tried multiple times over the years. So, it's either a personal hotspot or some other arrangement.

I'm just hoping for a very simple solution that does not require me to set up something unique every time.

I know Chromecast cannot play Apple specific apps iTunes, but can it mirror a web browser or something like Good Notes?
 
ozone said:
I'm sure this has been asked, but I'm having trouble finding threads.

My lecture classroom was just moved to a much larger classroom. I won't be able to interact with my students as easily, but since I lecture using an iPad Pro, I thought it would be a good idea to connect an Apple TV to the AV control unit at the front of the lecture theatre, and then use AirPlay to mirror my iPad wherever I am in the class. This way, I can move around the lecture theatre.

Except, of course, my university has a secure wireless network for users to access and it requires a username and password. Apple Support specifically states sign in or public networks are not supported. I've seen some workarounds on the web, but they seem to be rather clumsy and might require me to follow multiple steps everytime I want to connect.

Any elegant solutions to this? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Perhaps not elegant, but I've used this arrangement multiple times with ease:-

iPad -> iPhone in hotspot mode <- Apple TV---[HDMI]---Projector

HTH?
 
it might be worth a trip to an apple store to ask a genius, or spending some time on hold with customer support.

the newer appleTVs (second version of the aTV3, and all aTV4) has a feature called peer to peer airplay, not quite sure how it works but it's combination of bluetooth and wifi, and you don't have to be on the same network to make it work.
 
In my experience peer-to-peer Airplay will avoid the need to connect to any Wi-Fi network.
 
While internet connection for ATV is required for streaming content, it is also possible to stream local content without an Internet connection. A cheap Wi-Fi device, say an AP Express can generate a Wi-Fi that your iPad and ATV can join, then content can be airplayed to the ATV.

Or. if you have an Ethernet drop in the room, the Express can be setup in bridged mode to create a Wi-Fi hotspot for the classroom with internet connectivity. If you don't share the credentials, perhaps even hide the SSID, then students won't use it, leaving full bandwidth for your lectures.

But, your IT folks might have issues with extra Wi-Fi running on campus, it could interfere with existing networks.
 
We got apple TVs sort of working in our school. Our ICT support had a whitelist of devices that could access WiFi, we just had to add the Apple TV's MAC address to whitelist. This only worked for mirroring iPad's content though, anything that needed to access the internet didn't work. I had best results using my iPhone as a hotspot.
 
I have taped together an Apple TV (older version) to an Airport express (they are the same size) and connected them with a very short ethernet cable (to cut down on wireless data transfer), and the Apple TV to the TV or projector through HDMI. I set up the Airport Express as a private network so that no one else will be on it or interfere. I can carry it anywhere, my computer or iPad connect immediately after selecting the private network and I don't have to worry about connecting to anyone else's network with their privacy settings and passwords. If a ethernet connection is available, I connect it to my Airport Express and I have internet access as well. This has been a simple and reliable solution for me wherever I travel, if to a different classroom or around the world.
 
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Airport express; create an Adhoc network between the iPad and the appleTV, provided you do not need a live internet connection to the iPad during your lectures.
 
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