Release note for AirServer Connect version 2026.09.29.

What's new

Ready for the Connect Button

• This release gets the Connect ready for the upcoming AirServer Connect Button.

Moderation

• Pending screen mirroring sessions show a live preview on the Moderator page before they are approved.
• With more than one display, sessions can be moved between displays. A takeover now covers only its own display.
• Displays can be switched on and off from the Moderator page, over HDMI-CEC or over DDC/CI for monitors without CEC.
• A moderator can now change the homescreen and session layouts and the multi-display layout (Extend, Merge or Duplicate), and turn live streaming on or off.

Displays and audio

• Multi-display layout (Extend, Merge or Duplicate) can now be changed from the on-screen settings on the Connect, as well as from device management and the Moderator page.
• Audio output selection: play everywhere, on one display, on a USB audio device, or on the onboard headphone/line-out jack on models that have one. Volumes are remembered per device.
• Improved touch screen support, and the Display section offers Force multi-touch for screens that need it.

Enterprise networking

Enterprise network support now goes beyond PEAP with a username and password. The following methods are supported on both Wi-Fi and Ethernet:

• Server validation: the authentication server is checked against the built-in public CA store or an uploaded certificate authority, with its domain name matched.
• Certificates can be uploaded as PEM, DER or PKCS#12, including password-protected private keys.
• Anonymous outer identity keeps the real username inside the encrypted tunnel.
• Per-port wired authentication: each Ethernet port has its own 802.1X settings and status. This includes USB Ethernet adapters and the network port a connected display shares over USB. The default port can also be set up through the provisioning file and the REST API.
• Clear status: device management shows the method in use, the server it verified and, when authentication fails, the reason.
• Custom NTP servers can be set, and the page shows which server is in use.
• The proxy setting now applies to the whole device, including firmware updates and log upload.

Other

• A new Show guest access setting hides the hotspot, guest network and QR code from the screen while the room is in use.
• 6 GHz Wi-Fi is now available in more countries, including Australia (Connect 3).
• USB sticks formatted as NTFS, exFAT or Mac OS Extended now work for updates and provisioning. Before, only FAT worked.

Enhancements

• More simultaneous mirroring (Connect 3): up to 16 videos at 1080p60 (was 12), and up to 4 at 4K60 (was 3).
• Live streaming stays on across restarts, by popular request.
• AirPlay video: adapts up to 4K (it was capped at 1080p), starts about 25% faster, and 4K YouTube no longer stalls.
• HEVC hardware decoding for AirPlay video and Google Cast apps.
• Google Cast: the Connect no longer briefly drops out of sender device lists. Volume sync between sender and receiver is smoother, stop behaves like a real Chromecast, and the Cast certificates are renewed.
• Cooling (Connect 3): a new fan curve keeps the device about 8°C cooler under heavy load, which prevents throttling. The fan stays off at idle.
• Hotspot: the default channel width is now 80 MHz. A hotspot with a fixed passphrase stays up across End Session, and there is a new option to drop inactive or weak connections. On the Connect 3, channels for the Wi-Fi client, hotspot and Miracast are planned together, so they no longer push each other onto the wrong band. On the Connect 2, the hotspot can use DFS channels.
• Wi-Fi client: explains why joining failed (for example a wrong passphrase or a refused association), shows the access point's name, hides networks too weak to use, and backs off after repeated failures.
• Power schedule: set visually by picking days and times, instead of writing a crontab entry. A week with no schedule at all can also be chosen.
• Sign-in shortcuts: /admin and /administrator now go straight to the administrator sign-in, as /moderator does for the moderator.
• Further hardening of AirPlay property-list parsing; Wi-Fi secrets are now stored with restricted access.

Bug fixes

Security

The following issues were reported by the Swiss National Test Institute for Cybersecurity NTC. We thank them for their responsible disclosure.

• Fixed a heap overflow in the Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio decoder that a crafted AirPlay audio stream could trigger.
• Fixed an AirPlay crash caused by a malformed connection request.
• Signing out of device management now invalidates the session token on the device.
• Device management is now served over HTTPS only.
• Device management now uses a certificate unique to each device.
• Device management now uses a new per-device address. The old *.int.airserver.com addresses will stop working soon, so bookmarks should be updated.
• Device management now shows the strength of the administrator password as it is typed.

Other fixes

• Fixed HDMI-CEC filling the logs.
• Fixed a TV switched on from deep standby staying dark until a key was pressed. A TV that switches itself off is no longer switched back on.
• Fixed displays on USB-C hubs and docks showing nothing.
• Fixed Merge layout showing only the top half of a 1080p display placed next to a 4K display.
• Fixed the moderator crashing when a session was approved or declined, and old sessions showing on the Moderator page after a restart.
• Fixed the homescreen sometimes staying on top of a mirroring session.
• Fixed duplicate Miracast tiles after a slow first connection.
• Fixed a rare crash after a display was disconnected, including when touch was used afterwards.
• Fixed a device reboot when the audio service restarted.
• Fixed the Connect showing up under the wrong network name (<name>-2.local) after a reboot.
• Fixed power schedules such as 0 */4 * * 1-5 being misread. Invalid schedules are now refused and the previous one is kept.
• Fixed a hotspot on a DFS channel dropping for 60 seconds on every start.
• Fixed the hotspot hiding a LAN that uses 192.168.137.0/24.
• Fixed Wi-Fi scanning stopping for good after one failed scan.
• Fixed Wi-Fi firmware crashes (Connect 2).