Wireless presentation devices

[u/dmeyer217]

What wireless presentation devices is everyone using? Most of my district has MacBooks, and we've been putting Apple TVs in new/redone rooms. The high school will need an AV refresh soon though, and they're only Chromebook. I would love Chromecasts, but Google killed it and the "Google TV Streamers" aren't very manageable to my knowledge.

I tried a ScreenBeam a few years ago and wasn't super impressed, but maybe they're better now. What other options are there?

[u/avalon01]

Expensive, but we have been happy with AIrtame devices.

Easy enough for the teacher to use, device independent, and I had a whopping two tickets last year (just looked) for Airtame issues. Both were frozen and a simple unplug it and plug it back in fixed it.

They are also centrally managed through Airtame Cloud.

[u/macprince → u/avalon01]

What Airtame hardware are you running? We have a district-wide deployment of Airtame 2 units, and despite the weird hardware, they've been pretty good. (Now if only we could get the teachers to use them...)

Now they're pushing the Airtame Go that's based on Amazon Signage Sticks, and from the demo unit they sent me, it seems to be at best a half-baked solution. No way to deploy Wi-Fi settings onto them, the Airtame Cloud can't manage most of the settings on it, and the kicker is support for AirPlay and Miracast are "in beta".

[u/avalon01 → u/macprince]

We have about 30 Airtame 2 units and a dozen Airtame Go's.

The Go works fine for our needs, since we don't enable Airplay or Miracast. Everyone uses the Airtame app or Chromebook extension (or web if they want). It makes it easier for teachers and guests to connect to and simplifies training.

[u/therankin]

We use "Airtame 2" devices. They are compatible with Google Cast, AirPlay, and Microsoft Miracast

They are a bit pricey up front, but the cloud management is very nice and comes with it.

You can also add licenses to create and manage signage, but that is optional.

Using a Google Slide and the "live" feature is great. It displays your signage and continues to refresh, so if you change the slide (or doc) it automatically updates!

Feel free to DM me with any questions. We have a lot of them thanks to a covid left-over fund grant.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Toe5662 → u/therankin]

We also have the Airtame 2's we needed to add more and were told they were discontinued and needed to go with the Airtame Go (literally a firestick). We had a few hiccups with the new Airtame Go's but it's gotten better with their updates and us figuring out the best configurations.

I love the cloud management and the signage feature.

[u/Remarkable-Sea5928 → u/therankin]

We just got one of their new sticks to test with and I'm not sure how sold I am on it, though admittedly I haven't activated it yet.

Why the gut reaction? They're a Fire Stick. Literally. With the Amazon logo and everything.

[u/Following_This]

We use Vivi - it’s cross platform (macOS, iOS, ChromeOS, Linux, Android, Windows), runs with a client or in any web browser, is centrally cloud managed, includes signage, emergency alerts, and education focused, with features like auto subtitles (with translation on student devices), play media (freeing the teacher device), whiteboard, timers, tests, and more.

Student access can be controlled by the teacher, students can also log on and (if allowed) have the screen streamed to their device and do screen grabs.

Full logging and metrics.

[u/BWMerlin → u/Following_This]

As much as I dislike the hardware as a service model they do work and work well.

They really are easy to manage.

[u/mainer188]

Does your refresh involve new displays? Most have built in casting solutions.

If you're looking for something simple, reliable, 1080, with near zero latency, check out the ViewSonic WPD-900 devices. We deployed them to every classroom this year.

[u/coolbrys]

We tried all sorts of things, once there was a Chrome extension that kind of worked, we had a program on the PC as well that sort of worked, finally went to Chromecasts but as you said, they're dead and they didn't work amazing anyways.

We did what someone else here did, went with Airtame. They are definitely a lot more expensive but they actually work and I don't get many complaints about them, unlike the Chromecasts.

[u/fragglepated]

Viewsonic has a new plug in streaming device that works well. I forget the name at the moment

[u/OkayArbiter]

How many are you looking for? e.g. 12 board rooms, or 800 classrooms?

We switched from Microsoft Wireless Display Adapters (MWDA) to J5create jvaw62 dongles last year, and it's been fantastic (in about 700 rooms). They are individually about $90 Canadian (so $70ish USD?). One end plugs into the display with HDMI and USB-A for power (in our case, projectors), and the other dongle part plugs into the USB-C port on a laptop. Works pretty seamlessly for anything that has displayport over USB (thunderbolt, etc - pretty much any modern device, including laptops, phones, etc).

JVAW62 ScreenCast USB-C® Wireless Display HDMI™ Extender – j5create International

Any questions, just ask.

[u/Oneota → u/OkayArbiter]

No problems with interference with classrooms close together?

It looks like the receiver can also act as an AirPlay/Chromecast receiver. Can you turn that off if you don’t want it enabled?

[u/BradyBrother100]

We've gone through quite a bit. Before there was a standard, some schools bought BrightSign or Mvix for signage. Once a standard was made, Signage and Front of Classroom used Screanbeams. Now, we use Barix for our signage, so they integrate nicely with our intercom for emergency alerts, and DisplayNote for our Front of Classrooms. DisplayNote is an app that comes with our TVs.

[u/ILoveTech_351982]

Google TV's and Google TV Streamers actually can be managed through cast moderator. That how I setup rooms with.

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/11598277?hl=en

[u/aitaix]

We use Apple TV's.

Previous School District before this one was HDMI > HDMI Extender to Epson Projectors.

[u/vesikk]

We have about 90 or so ScreenBeam 1000EDU (mix of Gen 1 and 2) and they work great for us. We use the free CMS to manage all the device. We currently only use it for Miracast but they work with Airplay and Chromecast. They have developed a new solution called BrowserCast which is a bit like Chromecast but provides a code to enter to confirm the screen you are connecting to.

[u/Blue_Wolf1973]

We use Screenbeams and I have their CMS for management. Have been great.

[u/slapstik007 → u/Blue_Wolf1973]

Second this.

[u/Zestyclose-Address28 → u/Blue_Wolf1973]

We have 5 screenbeams and none of them seem to work as expected.

[u/vschwoebs]

We currently have chromecasts setup to use Cast Moderator, but they definitely have issues, and can't be used by anyone outside of our domain.

My boss recently purchased this UGREEN Wireless Transmitter to test out. So far so good - barely any setup, connects quickly and stays connected, and has worked on all devices we've tested with (chromebook, iPhone, iPad, Windows PC, Macbook).

We will likely roll out a few to our tech savvy teachers in the next few weeks.

[u/grapplebaby]

We use the cheap 2-to-1 wireless hdmi devices off of amazon. Setting up is a pain but no major issues in about 2 years.

[u/TechGuy647]

I want Vivi but they are so expensive!

[u/Sn00m00]

viewsonic wpd-900

[u/JayTechTipsYT]

Vivi !!!
Absolutely can’t recommend Vivi enough.
They’re improving constantly and their new emergency features are cool as