Local (peer-to-peer) downloads between screens

Most users don't need this page. You don't operate this day to day: peer-to-peer downloads (screens fetching content from each other to save bandwidth) are set up by impressBox per site and then run automatically — there's nothing to switch on per download. This page is background reading on how it works; if a site would benefit from it, ask impressBox to enable it.

When you have several screens at one location, they don't all have to pull the same content from the internet separately. impressPlayer can let screens download content from each other over the local network — saving bandwidth and making rollouts much faster, especially on sites with slow or limited internet.

How it works

  • The gateway gives each screen a list of its neighbours — the other screens at the same location and their local network addresses (this is how a screen "discovers" its peers; the list is provided when the screen connects, not guessed).

  • When a screen needs a track (or a firmware file), it first asks its neighbours: do you already have this file?

  • If a neighbour has it, the screen downloads it from that neighbour over the LAN instead of from the internet.

  • The screen remembers which neighbour answered fastest and checks it first next time.

  • If no neighbour has the file (or none are reachable), the screen automatically falls back to downloading from the source server. Nothing breaks — it's just slower.

  • Neighbours that don't respond are marked offline and skipped for that round.

What you need to enable it

Peer-to-peer downloads rely on the on-device HTTP service with "Serve downloads" turned on (see All settings reference → On-device services). That lets each screen serve its downloaded files to its neighbours on a known port. The screens must be on the same local network and able to reach each other.

When it helps most

  • A store, hospital, or venue with many screens behind one modest internet line.

  • Rolling a large video or a firmware update to a whole site — one screen pulls it from the internet, the rest get it locally.

Good to know

  • It's automatic once enabled — operators don't choose per-download; the player decides.

  • It also works for firmware updates on supported (webOS) devices.

  • If a site's screens can't see each other on the network, P2P simply won't engage and every screen downloads from the source as usual.

  • Set this up with impressBox so the network, the HTTP service, and "serve downloads" are configured correctly across the site.