AirParrot is a fantastic, affordable tool that allows PC’s to share their screens with Apple TV. Although there are a number of personal uses for this, it wasn’t until I started working at a client site that have deployed Apple TV and AirParrot as their display screen solution of choice that I realised it’s corporate potential. It wasn’t until the team I’m managing started getting mixed results on being able to install the software and make it work properly that I realised there was probably a comms problem. The Laptops could see the Apple TV in each meeting room, and even though the security PIN was displayed on the screen and prompted on the Laptop – correctly entering the PIN resulted in a failed connection.
As with most things comms based, the usual culprit for this issue is the local firewall – in our case the default Windows 8 Firewall. By creating the following rules, I was able to successfully connect to the display screens.
Windows Firewall Rule Summary for AirParrot
Direction: Inbound
Program: %ProgramFiles%\AirParrot\AirParrot.exe
Protocol: TCP
Ports: 5354, 6001
Direction: Inbound
Program: %ProgramFiles%\AirParrot\AirParrot.exe
Protocol: UDP
Ports: 7010, 51965, 6000, 6002
Create the TCP Firewall Rule for AirParrot
The following instructions cover the creation of these rules in Windows 8 Firewall. From Network and Sharing Center, click Windows Firewall then Advanced Settings Right click on Inbound Rules and click New Rule
![airparrottcp1](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrottcp1.png)
![airparrottcp2](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrottcp2.png)
![airparrottcp3](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrottcp3.png)
![airparrottcp4](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrottcp4.png)
![airparrottcp5](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrottcp5.png)
Create the UDP Firewall Rule for AirParrot
The next step is to create the matching UDP rule:
![airparrotudp1](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotudp1.png)
![airparrotudp2](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotudp2.png)
![airparrotudp3](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotudp3.png)
![airparrotudp4](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotudp4.png)
![airparrotudp5](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotudp5.png)
Restrict the Firewall Rules to the AirParrot Program
To secure the rules so they only apply to the AirParrot program, please do the following: From the list of rules, Right click AirParrot TCP and click Properties Click on the Programs and Services tab and browse for the AirParrot executable: So the settings look like this (depending of course where you installed AirParrot):
![airparrotprogramonly1](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotprogramonly1.png)
Ensure that this is done for both the TCP and UDP rules.
![airparrotprogramonly2](http://www.epinionated.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/airparrotprogramonly2.png)
You should now be able to connect to your Apple TV using your Laptop. You can download a 7 day trial or purchase AirParrot from the AirParrot Official Site.
I hope you find this guide useful and as always, I welcome your feedback in the comments below.
Thank you very much. I had problems finding Apple TV’s using a surface with windows 10. Since I created your firewall rules AirParrot is able to find them!
You’re very welcome. Always glad to know when an article helps.