Optimize Wi-Fi for Elgato Key Light and Stream Deck Mobile

Wi-Fi has been around for years now, and is on its 7th iteration with the Wi-Fi 7 spec becoming more common, and yes Wi-Fi can still be tricky to get right. A strong Wi-Fi connection ensures your Key Light responds instantly when controlled from your phone, computer, or Stream Deck.

Here are some recommended tips and tricks to ensure your Wi-Fi setup is best when using Elgato products that use Wi-Fi including Elgato Key Light, Key Light Mini, Key Light Air, Ring Light and even Stream Deck Mobile.

The number one thing to optimize for is simply Wi-Fi signal. You want to make sure each device connected to your router, no matter your phone, your computer, or your Key Light, has an optimal signal and a lot of different pieces affect signal strength. First, how far away from the router your device is. Then, are there any walls between your router and Key Light, and what materials is it made of? Wi-Fi goes through wood easily, but stone is harder and metal will nearly block a signal entirely.

• Recommendation: Place your router in such a way that the most important devices have the best signal strength
• Position your router in a central, elevated location.
• Avoid placing it near thick walls, metal surfaces, or microwaves.
• Ensure there's a clear line of sight to your Elgato device whenever possible.

💡 Tip: Your Elgato Key Light can tell you its current Wi-Fi signal strength, frequency (2.4Ghz/5Ghz) and network name that it is connected to. If the signal strength is below 70%, we recommend looking at ways to improve the connection. Keep reading!

Lets say your computer is connected to your Wi-Fi router wirelessly, and of course, so are your lights. Now there are two Wi-Fi connections that need to be rock solid and either of those could be a weak link in the chain. To eliminate one of these variables, you can connect your computer to your router directly with a wired ethernet connection to ensure the best performance.

• Recommendation: Connect your computer to your router with an ethernet cable
  

In theory mesh networks sound fantastic. Not getting the speeds you want? Just add a repeater or mesh node and voila, more speed! Sadly, this isnt always how it works out and when using mesh networks, issues can come up like weak signal between mesh nodes or devices like your Key Lights or phone jumping between nodes because the signal to both is relatively the same.

• Recommendation: Don't use a wireless mesh network, or what's known as wireless backhaul. A wired backhaul, where other Wi-Fi access points are connected to your primary router via ethernet cable are ok.

In our experience this setting usually only applies if you use a Wi-Fi router provided by your ISP, or internet service provider. Settings such as network or client isolation are used as privacy tools, where devices shouldnt see each other. These settings are commonly enabled when Wi-Fi is public such as in a cafe or stadium. When network or client isolation is on, no devices on the network can see eachother, and this presents a problem when you want to control your Key Lights on your Wi-Fi network with another device on your network.

• Recommendation: Check your router’s advanced settings and disable network isolation, AP/client isolation, or any guest network settings that prevent inter-device communication.

The Wi-Fi name, or SSID can impact device connectivity. Some devices don't handle Wi-Fi networks well when emojis or other special, non-typical characters are included.

• Recommendation: Use a Wi-Fi name that uses standard characters like alphabet, numbers and common characters like dashes (-) or periods (.).

A typical Wi-Fi setup will have a single network or Wi-Fi name that encompasses 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz signals. Sometimes however, devices have trouble deciding which Wi-Fi band to connect too, or they latch onto one when there is a better choice. A good example of this is when using 5Ghz, which quickly degrades when going through walls. When moving far enough away from your router, your devices should know to automatically switch from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz. Yes your overall speed will be slower but the signal will be stable and you can continue to have a good experience. In some cases, this doesn't work and your device may stay on 5Ghz even though the actual internet packets, you know, the thing with the video you want to watch, aren't making it to your device anymore. To combat this, you can create separate Wi-Fi networks and connect devices to a specific network running only that frequency to guarantee a better overall experience if the automatic frequency switching isnt working well.

What you can try: In your Wi-F router settings, look for options to separate 2.4Hz and 5Ghz networks or creating a new Wi-Fi network.

Elgato products rely on local discovery protocols like mDNS (Multicast DNS) to communicate with your computer, Stream Deck, or phone. If these are blocked or filtered, devices may not show up in Control Center or connect at all. Now, usually these are enabled by default, but if they are not then that could cause your devices to not find each other.

• Recommendation: Make sure mDNS is enabled on your Wi-Fi router.
• mDNS (Multicast DNS): Must be allowed on your network so Elgato devices can be discovered.
• Multicast / IGMP Snooping: Can help optimize multicast traffic, but in some setups, it can interfere with discovery.
  • Try disabling IGMP snooping temporarily if devices aren’t showing up.
  • Enable multicast enhancement or filtering options if available, especially on mesh systems.
• Ensure devices are on the same VLAN/subnet and that no firewall rules block local multicast or broadcast traffic (224.0.0.251 on port 5353 for mDNS).

A reliable Wi-Fi connection is one of the most critical yet overlooked parts of a smooth creative setup—but it makes all the difference. Whether you're lighting your stream with Key Light, running Stream Deck Mobile, or just want your gear to respond instantly, a little bit of Wi-Fi optimization goes a long way.

By following these simple tips—from placing your router in the right spot to enabling mDNS—you’ll reduce connection issues, speed up device response times, and get more out of your Elgato products.

If things still don’t feel quite right, don’t stress. Wi-Fi can be finicky, but small tweaks often solve big problems. For more help, visit the Elgato Support Center or reach out to our team.