IOS Client Can't Find Server on Same Network

Insight & Feedback
42

I understand, Deco doesn’t currently expose any mDNS/Bonjour controls, and support may not be very helpful on that topic. Unfortunately, that’s also why discovery issues like this are difficult to solve from the ZimaOS side.

Since mDNS is handled at the network layer, the safest practical options remain:
• Use Remote ID
• Or request a manual “connect via IP” option in the Zima Client (as you mentioned)

That feature would bypass mDNS entirely and avoid relying on Deco’s handling of multicast,

Thanks again for sharing your findings, it helps others with similar mesh setups.

43

Good evening,

I created this account specifically to reply to this conversation.
First of all, I’d like to thank everyone working on this project: ZimaOS is really great.:heart:

I’m leaving this message to help anyone who is experiencing issues with server discovery from the iOS app, while still being able to reach the server correctly via browser, especially when using eero mesh routers.

My setup was the following:
• ISP modem
• 3 eero mesh routers
• One server running ZimaOS
• One PC
• One iOS smartphone

I tried pretty much everything to solve this issue and I was almost at the point of enabling Avahi reflection — which I personally consider unsafe even on a local network, as it breaks interface isolation and can potentially make the network more vulnerable.

Fortunately, it occurred to me that eero mesh systems can create different subnets and netmasks automatically, depending on various factors (Wi-Fi vs Ethernet, internal optimizations, routing algorithms, etc.).

In my case, the result was:
• Browser access working correctly
• iOS app unable to detect or properly communicate with the server

Resolution
I solved the problem by:
• Configuring a static network on eero
• Assigning a static IP address to the ZimaOS server
• Forcing a 255.255.255.0 subnet

For a home network, this subnet is more than sufficient and, most importantly, it brought both the server and clients back onto the same logical network. As soon as I did this, the iOS app started working immediately, without needing:
• Avahi reflector
• Bridge mode
• Disabling isolation
• Other invasive workarounds

I hope this message can be useful to anyone in the same situation who might be struggling with mDNS, the iOS app, or seemingly inexplicable network behavior.

Thanks again for the great work on ZimaOS.:heart:

1 Like
44

Hello. Thank you for the information you shared. I believe I already tried similar settings on my TP-Link Deco mesh system, but it didn’t make any difference at the time.

My server is currently being serviced. Once I get it back, I’ll reinstall ZimaOS and try again as you described. Maybe there’s something I missed. I’ll share any updates here:)

45

Hi All. Thanks for all the hard work from the ZimaOS developers. I too am having issues with specifically the iOS Zima Client app and mDNS discovery on LAN. I have a UDM-Pro and 3 VLANs for my core network, IoT and Lab. I know mDNS traffic is being passed through and checked all my settings including removing all my vLANs to see if that made a difference. No dice. I am using a HP Elite Mini 800 G9 and a TB3 AQC113 based 10gbe adaptor but encounter the same issues using the built in 1gbe NIC. I can connect using the Windows and MacOS client apps with no issue. Leads me to believe that my Zima OS install is ok, my network is ok, the desktop Zima Clients are fine but something on the ZimaClient on iOS is problematic? I can use the remote ID to connect to the box on the iOS client but would rather connect directly over my LAN in my home network.