NDI Sources Not Appearing

If NDI sources on your network aren’t showing up in pMix’s source picker, work through these steps.

Check the basics

Same network — The iPad and NDI source must be on the same local network and subnet (e.g., both on 192.168.1.x)
NDI source is running — Verify the NDI source is active and outputting. Test with another NDI receiver (like NDI Studio Monitor on a computer) to confirm
Refresh the list — Pull down on the source picker to refresh NDI discovery

Network requirements

NDI uses mDNS (Bonjour) for automatic discovery. Some network configurations block this:

Wi-Fi isolation / client isolation

Many routers have a “client isolation” or “AP isolation” feature that prevents devices on the same Wi-Fi network from communicating with each other. This completely blocks NDI discovery.

Fix: Disable client isolation in your router settings, or use a wired connection for NDI sources.

Guest networks

Guest networks almost always isolate devices. Don’t use a guest network for production.

Fix: Use the main network or a dedicated production network.

VLANs and subnets

If your network uses VLANs or multiple subnets, devices on different VLANs can’t discover each other via mDNS.

Fix: Ensure all production devices are on the same VLAN and subnet.

Managed switches

Some enterprise/managed switches filter multicast traffic by default.

Fix: Enable mDNS/multicast forwarding on your switch, or configure IGMP snooping to allow Bonjour traffic.

VPN

A VPN on either device can route traffic outside the local network, breaking local discovery.

Fix: Disable VPN on all production devices during your session.

Firewall

If the NDI source is a computer, check that its firewall allows NDI traffic:

macOS: System Settings → Network → Firewall — ensure the NDI application is allowed
Windows: Windows Defender Firewall — ensure the NDI application has inbound/outbound rules

NDI|HX vs full NDI

There are two variants of NDI:

Variant	Bandwidth	Discovery
Full NDI	~100–150 Mbps per 1080p60 source	mDNS
**NDI	HX**	~10–20 Mbps (H.264/H.265 compressed)	mDNS

Both are discovered the same way. If you can see the source but it won’t connect, the issue is likely bandwidth — full NDI requires very high throughput. Consider using NDI

HX if on Wi-Fi.

Still not working

Verify both devices can reach each other: from a computer on the same network, try pinging both the iPad’s IP and the NDI source’s IP
Try a wired Ethernet connection (USB-C Ethernet adapter on iPad) to rule out Wi-Fi issues
Restart both the NDI source and pMix
Try a different network — a simple router with no enterprise features can help isolate the issue