Multi-Host Setup

Cliqer supports multiple simultaneous hosts in a single room. Each host receives presenter commands via independent WebRTC connections, with graceful failover when hosts disconnect.

Key Features

• Independent Connections: Each presenter establishes separate peer-to-peer connections to all hosts
• Primary & Secondary Hosts: One host is elected Primary (it forwards clicks to the room and takes streaming priority); the rest are Secondary backups with automatic failover
• Graceful Failover: When one host disconnects, presenters maintain connections to remaining hosts and a Secondary is promoted to Primary
• Click Synchronisation: All hosts receive presenter clicks and advance their own presentation; visual indicators shared across all participants
• Same Licence Support: Multiple machines can use the same licence key for backup scenarios, each install registers as its own host and takes its own seat, capped by the licence's seat limit
• Screen Share Per Host: Each host can stream independently; presenters see all available streams
• Live Dashboard: The Host Orchestrator shows your hosts, their audiences, and who is clicking, in real time

Primary & Secondary Hosts

When two or more hosts share a room, Cliqer elects a Primary:

• The host app's status line shows N hosts connected (Primary) or (Secondary)
• The Primary forwards presenter clicks to the rest of the room and takes priority for screen streaming
• A host that starts screen sharing is automatically promoted to Primary
• If the Primary disconnects, a Secondary is elected within the same session, presenters notice nothing

Every host, Primary or Secondary, advances its own local presentation on every click, so a backup machine's deck is always on the correct slide when failover happens.

How Multi-Host Works

When multiple hosts join the same room:

1. First host creates room - Generates room code, registered on server
2. Additional hosts join - Enter existing room code to join
3. Server notifies all - Broadcasts host presence to presenters
4. WebRTC mesh forms - Each presenter connects to every host independently
5. Clicks reach all - Commands sent to all connected hosts simultaneously

Connection Architecture

Host Join Flow

Disconnect Handling

Click Distribution

Presenter clicks are sent via WebRTC data channels to ALL connected hosts simultaneously.

Use Case 1: Backup/Redundancy

Run identical presentations on separate machines for mission-critical events. For an automatic Main and Backup pair in the desktop app, see Redundancy.

Setup

1. Main host: Create a room (e.g., code K7Q2MX)
2. Backup host: Enter same room code
3. Both run the same presentation file
4. Each host receives clicks and executes slides independently

Failover Behaviour

Best Practices

• Network separation: Main on venue WiFi, backup on cellular hotspot
• Same presentation: Ensure both hosts have identical slide decks
• Pre-event testing: Disconnect main host, verify backup receives clicks
• Licence sharing: The same licence key can activate on multiple hosts for backup

Use Case 2: Multi-Display Control

Control multiple presentations across different screens from a single presenter interface.

Setup

All hosts receive every click command simultaneously. Each executes on its own presentation.

Use Case 3: Synchronised Multi-Room

Single presenter controls identical presentations across multiple physical locations.

All hosts join the same room code. Presenter's phone connects to all three via separate WebRTC data channels.

Setting Up Multiple Hosts

Step 1: First Host Creates Room

1. Launch Cliqer host app
2. Sign in to your account, or enter your licence key
3. Create a room and note its 6-character room code

Step 2: Additional Hosts Join

1. Launch Cliqer on backup machine
2. Sign in to the same account, or enter the same or a different licence key
3. Enter existing room code

Step 3: Verify Connections

Host App: Check that presenters appear in the connected list on ALL hosts.

Presenter App: Verify connection count matches number of hosts in browser developer tools.

Technical Overview

Command Routing

Presenters send clicks to ALL connected hosts via WebRTC data channels. Each host processes the click independently, triggering slide advance on its local presentation.

Click Visual Sharing

Click indicators can be shared across all participants:

Screen Share Handling

Each host can share screen independently:

Presenters with multiple host streams see a grid view and can select individual streams.

Auto-Resume on Reconnect

Screen sharing automatically resumes when:

• Client reconnects to an existing session
• Host restarts with auto-resume enabled

New subscribers receive the cached keyframe immediately instead of waiting for the next periodic keyframe, enabling instant video display.

Video Quality Per Host

Each host can configure independent video encoding settings:

• Program size: 720p up to 8K, within the plan's limit
• Frame rate: 25 to 60
• Bitrate: automatic, or your own rate from 500 to 20000 kbps

The picture is H.264. See Picture quality.

Host Orchestrator Dashboard

The dashboard's Orchestrator page (/dash/orchestrator) is a live graph of your hosts:

• Nodes are your connected hosts, with their room and connected presenters, updating the instant a host comes online, a presenter joins or leaves, or someone renames
• Click activity: the presenter who clicks lights up on their host's node with the click direction; clicks from the host's own input devices, such as a DSAN unit or the keyboard, flash the node header
• Dashed edges appear automatically between hosts sharing a room, they are natively synchronised, nothing to configure
• Green edges are manual cross-room links: drag from one host's output handle to another host to mirror clicks between different rooms (e.g. main hall + overflow room running separate decks). Unlink from the host's side panel.

Same-room hosts never need a manual link; links are for synchronising hosts in different rooms.

Monitoring & Debugging

Host App Indicators

• Multi-host status line: N hosts connected (Primary/Secondary)
• Connected presenters list (all hosts see same presenters)
• Room code display
• Licence type in header

Presenter App

Open browser developer tools to verify:

• Number of active connections matches host count
• Connection status for each host

Troubleshooting

Second Host Not Receiving Clicks

1. Verify presenter has connection to second host
2. If only 1 connection shows:
   • Try refreshing presenter's page after second host joins
   • Ensure second host successfully joined the room

Second Host Replaces the First Instead of Co-Hosting

Update both machines to the latest version. Each install registers as its own host and takes its own seat, so check the licence has a free seat for the second machine.

Presenters Disconnect When One Host Leaves

Update the presenter app and every host to the latest version. Presenters keep their connections to the hosts that remain.

Clicks Not Showing on All Hosts

• Verify all hosts are connected to the same room
• Check that click visual sharing is enabled
• Each host's button indicator should light up on clicks

Screen Share Not Visible

• Verify presenter has connection to streaming host
• Multiple hosts streaming: presenter sees grid view to select

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