Many schools and offices have inquired about adding certain devices to the School District’s network to stream or broadcast media.  Many of these devices use a technology known as “Multicast” to broadcast media to many other computers at the same time.  Multicast is great for personal home networks, but can easily overwhelm a large enterprise network, especially where WiFi is used heavily.  In addition, anyone can easily take control of these devices without using passwords, because they are not designed for a secure network.  As a result, in order to ensure reliable and secure Internet access for all users, Multicast is not supported on either the District’s wireless or wired networks.

The following products are not supported and can not be used on the School District’s network:

Apple TV

Google ChromeCast

Google Expeditions **

Roku Media Player

Amazon FireTV

SmartTV

Google Home

Alexa

Netflix

** The Office of Information Technology is currently working on a way to support the Google Expeditions product on the District’s network.  Please watch for further information before purchasing Google Expeditions hardware.

As always, please contact the Technology Help Desk before purchasing or attempting to use any type of media streaming devices on the District’s network – helpdesk@philasd.org or 215-400-5555.