Chromecast over Wireless controller

[Bent Eskil Kvisler]

Hi,

I've struggled for some time now getting a Chromecast working over a controller-based wlan. It works perfectly over an autonomous AP, but not over the WLC. I see from several howto's and other posts people have actually gotten this to work, but after trying several different configurations to no avail, it seems I must seek help from the community after all.

The goal is to get this working in a production environment with 5508's, but I've set up a lab now to hopefully crack this once and for all.

This is the howto I followed last (without success):

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/7-6/chromecastDG76/ChromecastDG76.html

Equipment:

1 x 2504 WLC with 7.6.130.0 software

1 x 2602 access point

1 x Chromecast 

1 x iPhone with Chromecast-app (I've tested it with Android-device too, with no better result)

Current configuration:

- 1 ap group with one wlan

- Controller: Enabled Global Multicast Mode

- Controller: Enabled IGMP Snooping

- Controller: Broadcast forwarding: Enabled

- Controller: AP Multicast Mode : Multicast

- Controller: Multicast Group Address: 239.1.2.3

- Wlan: P2P Blocking Action: Disabled

Both iPhone and Chromecast are connected to the same wlan/ap and can ping each other, but discovering the Chromecast fails.

In Monitor>Multicast on Controller I have no entries under "Layer3 MGID(Multicast Group ID) Mapping" now.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get this up and running? 

Best regards

Bent

[Viten Patel]

tried using a flat network to start off with? WLC and AP and Client all on the same vlan. else you will need multicast routing enabled on wired side and have pim on wlc, AP and client vlans.

[mlapushin]

Hey Bent, did you ever solve this?

I've got an entry for 239.255.255.250 in the monitor multicast but still doesn't work.  We have 2 ssid's 1 with 802.1x one with psk. users are connected to 802.1x ssid and chromecast to the psk ssid and it doesn't work. both are mapped to same vlan. 

any clue?

[ajc]

This is the topic that I have been testing for a few months including AppleTV. I will post tomorrow the solution for this, in the meantime, check on advanced settings for each SSID if the peer to peer blocking is DISABLED.

Question, what kind of WLC are you using?. What is the version?

thanks

[mlapushin]

Hey Abraham, here is a summary of my setup: 

Summary:

Parts
Chromecast version 2
WLC Firmware 7.6

AP Model CAP3602I-A-K9

Global Settings:
AP Multicast Mode enabled on controller
Enable Global Multicast Mode
Enable IGMP Snooping
mDNS Global Snooping
_googlecast._tcp.local. added as service.
service is added to default-mdns-profile

SSID: Users   802.1x auth

SSID: Devices  WPA2-PSK
Both SSID on same Interface (same VLAN)
P2P Blocking Action on both SSID: Disabled
Aironet IE on both SSID: Disabled
mDNS Snooping: Enabled
mDNS Profile: default-mdns-profile

Results:
Chromecast appears under _googlecast._tcp.local. mDNS service
239.255.255.250 appears under monitor->multicast
Chromecast unable to be detected when user is on Users SSID and chromecast on Devices SSID
Chromecast is detected when I am on Devices SSID along with the Chromecast

I followed this guide but was unsuccessful: 

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/7-6/chromecastDG76/ChromecastDG76.html

I also did a packet capture with wireshark, see the attached pic. 

First part is when on different SSID, same vlan. (unsuccesful)

Second half is same SSID, same vlan. (successful)

[ajc]

I have 5508 so I do not know what kind of WLC you have in any case. Next the link that is much better than the one you have but requires version 8.0.110.0 which is the one I am running

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-mobility/119017-config-chromecast-mdns-wlc-00.html

One more thing, I am using VRF's to separate the traffic between the SSID's so if you have a FW in the middle you should open port TCP 8009 to allow traffic from the Samsung Tablet into the Chromecast device which was connected to an TV Screen (my case).

You should be ok with the sequence of screenshots I am attaching.

Hoping this helps. Do not forget to rate the answer. thanks

[mlapushin]

Alrighty, I followed your directions but with 2 differences:

Security on SSID-A (in my network it is called User-wifi) is WPA2-AES-TKIP with 802.1x

Security on chromecast-test (i call it chromecast-wifi) is only mac-filtering

It failed to work though. 

see attachments

[ajc]

Take a look on the 1st picture I attached and disable broadcast forwarding. 2nd, connect both devices to the same ssid (using mac filtering which is the easiest authc mechanism) and give a try (remember to disable peer to peer blocking on the SSID Advanced settings). If it works, then check if you have a firewall in the middle (which is my case, allow traffic on port TCP 8009 from the source (Samsung tablet for example) to the Chromecast device.

Important to mention that I am using version 8.0.110 on my WLC 5508. I do not know what kind of device you have so mDNS is not working properly based on the version you are running.

When I did my test, everything was configured properly but it was not working until I realized the FW was blocking the traffic. Once I allowed the port mentioned above everything worked fine.

[mlapushin]

Hmm, well, I disabled broadcast forwarding and it continues not to work. I've got firmware 7.6 but I guess i need to upgrade to 8.0 for it to work perhaps?

[ajc]

I just recalled something else, when I was testing AppleTV, once I upgraded the IPAD and IPhone to version 8 and above, the service did not work anymore so I had to upgrade the WLC to 8.0.110.0 and everything came back to normal. MAYBE that is your case on Chromecast.

[mlapushin]

Sadly we don't have cisco smartnet. Does cisco provide another avenue for us to pursue?

[ajc]

I also connected the Chromecast to the WiFi using Mac Filtering as it was easier and it worked. My Samsung tablet was connected initially to the same SSID for local test purposes. Once it worked I move it into another SSID using WebAuth (not 802.1x) and it also mirrored.

[Bent Eskil Kvisler]

Hello.

Yes. It was solved by setting Controller, general setting AP Multicast Mode to Unicast.

[ajc]

Hi Bent,

Now I am experiencing an issue with the Chromecast operation. I am getting the following error message. Everything started failing when I reset to default factory the 1st Generation Chromecast device which I was planning to use for my simultaneous test for AppleTV and Chromecast on the same SSID.

"This Chromecast was manufactured for a different country and may not be compatible with the Wi-Fi Network"

I do not know if the Chromecast downloaded automatically a piece of software so is now failing OR the required update I had to make on the Google Play Services of my Samsung tab so the Chromecast App could work caused this issue.

Before I could connect the Chromecast to the network using MAC Filtering with no issues, use mDNS and mirror from my Samsung Tab into the Chromecast connected to a Projector but now it does not work.  The problem is even worse because the Chromecast device is not connecting when I use WPA/PSK no matter if I configure the WLC radio policy b/g only, g only, etc. I have a 1st Generation Chromecast device.

Have you experienced this issue?

thanks