CODEWITHSUNDEEP
htmlbrowserudpbroadcast
MangoCat
MangoCat

Reputation: 89

UDP broadcast search from a webpage

I have some devices which provide small webserver applications for users to access from their phone or laptop using a browser or thin client. All that the thin client does is a UDP broadcast to find devices on the local network and then connect a browser to the device(s) when found - or notify when no devices are found after a timeout.

Would it be possible to implement this thin client as a webpage served from a known host, so that the users' device wouldn't need any software installed beyond a browser and a link to the known host? The webpage would broadcast some UDP packets and wait for (appropriate) responses from any devices on the local network, if/when device responses are received present a list of devices to connect to, so the user can just select from a list, instead of having to determine the device addresses and type them in for themselves or install and use the thin client.

I can see how this sort of thing might be abused, and therefore made difficult or impossible by browsers, but no more than so many other technologies that are currently wide open for use...

Any help getting started with this kind of solution would be appreciated, thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 237

Answers (1)

Brad
Brad

Reputation: 163232

Unfortunately, this can't be done directly. I think it would be really great if there were some sort of "local peer" API to enable simple WebRTC connections without going through servers, but this doesn't exist.

You do have some options:

  • Write a browser extension
    This needs to call some native code to shuffle your data around, but it can work.
  • Deploy a server on the network
    The server can do all the initial connection/negotiation.

Upvotes: 1

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