AirPlay. Sonos S2. Chromecast. Spotify Connect. Roku.
And a network that tells you when it’s broken.
Deep Axion is the vendor-neutral AV discovery appliance for serious AV integrators — yacht, luxury residential, hospitality, campus, corporate. One Mac Mini on a single trunk port reflects every multicast service that should cross your VLANs — and surfaces the network problems that no other monitoring sees. Any managed switch with IGMP snooping. Runs on macOS or Linux. No Cisco lock-in.
Ships as a Mac mini or Linux appliance. Perpetual licence. Configured and tested before dispatch.
Bonjour / AirPlay
Cross-VLAN, vendor-neutral. Replaces UniFi's built-in mDNS gateway with a more capable engine — AirPlay, AirPrint, HomeKit, RAOP.
Sonos S2 control
Full app discovery, bidirectional, lossless. SSDP + mDNS in one stack — grouping, volume, and zone control work across every VLAN segment.
Chromecast + Spotify
Industry-first cross-VLAN reflection, verified pcap. Compound mDNS response assembly handles Google Cast and Spotify Connect where other reflectors silently drop both. Plus Roku ECP discovery (SSDP), DLNA media renderers, and any UPnP device.
Network diagnostics
Catches multicast loops, legacy switch hacks, and Sonos mesh issues. Real-time echo counting — zero monitoring blind spots.
From “something feels off” to “fix this specific config” in 47 minutes.
“Without Axion’s echo detection I’d have never known to look at ip helper-address first.”
— installing engineer, 30 years Cisco experience
Yacht retrofit. Sonos and AirPlay deployed across multiple VLANs. After Axion install, the Dashboard echo counter ticked into amber — sustained anti-echo activity the engineer’s lab installs had never shown.
Axion’s structured diagnostic log pointed at SSDP traffic looping. The network engineer cross-referenced the customer’s Cisco config and found a legacy ip helper-address 224.0.0.251 hack — a multicast L3 relay that predated any reflector and was now competing with Axion.
Removed the lines. Echo rate dropped to zero immediately. A days-long debug, identified and resolved in under an hour.
Stop guessing. Start knowing.
"Real health means ‘can I connect right now?’ — not ‘did it broadcast recently?’"
Other reflectors — including ours, until now — mark a device unreachable after 60 seconds of multicast silence. That's passive. Worse, it's wrong: healthy devices stop chirping all the time.
Deep Axion ships a dedicated probe engine that runs an actual TCP connect on each device's advertised port every 60 seconds, tracks state across 3-fail and 10-fail thresholds, and shows you a 20-dot sparkline per device. After 24 hours unreachable, gone devices auto-remove from the dashboard. No Cisco-locked competitor does this.
- Real TCP reachability — not broadcast timing
- One row per physical device, services grouped beneath
- 20-dot sparkline · state machine · auto-cleanup after 24h
- Dedicated
/healthpage with filter pills and "Probe now"
Your reflector should tell you when the network is fighting you.
“Without Axion’s echo detection I’d have never known to look at ip helper-address first.”
Every other reflector silently soldiers on when an upstream switch, AP, or speaker mesh re-injects multicast back across your VLANs. Deep Axion sees these loops in real time — counts them, tells you which interface is the bouncing-back path, and points your engineer at the offending device.
The structured diagnostic log emits one grep-able line per suppressed echo with the offending service, source IP, and origin / receiving interfaces. Pair it with the Dashboard tile and the per-interface band on Device Health for a complete diagnostic path from “something feels off” to “fix this specific config” — typically minutes instead of days.
- Real-time loop counting — Dashboard tile turns amber the moment Axion sees its own reflections bouncing back
- Per-interface breakdown — pinpoints which VLAN is the bouncing path
- Structured grep-able diagnostic logs — every echo emits a tagged line with the offending device + interface pair
- Catches: legacy Cisco
ip helper-addressrelays, AP mDNS bridging, Sonos mesh issues, trunk leaks - No Cisco-locked competitor offers anything like this
See what's reflected where, instantly.
"You can't fix a multicast problem you can't see."
Every physical device discovered on your network appears once, with badges showing the VLAN it was learned on and every VLAN it's reflected to. One click drills into per-service detail. No more grepping pcap to figure out whether a Sonos beam is reaching VLAN-B.
- One row per physical device, grouped across VLANs
- Origin VLAN badge + reflected-to VLAN badges per device
- Filter by VLAN to see a single segment in isolation
- Links to the Services page for per-protocol detail
Six reasons AV integrators specify Axion over Cisco-locked alternatives.
No padding. These are the features that change AV conversations. Everything else in the product — Bluetooth filter, rule trace, auto-recovery — is in the box too, but these are what close deals.
Works on any managed switch with IGMP snooping
Cisco, UniFi, HP Aruba, Ruckus, MikroTik, Juniper, Extreme — any vendor's managed switch, provided it supports IGMP snooping (every enterprise and prosumer-grade managed switch does by default). Axion is tested across a range of vendors including Cisco and UniFi (UniFi's built-in mDNS gateway switched off — Axion replaces it). Vendor lock-in is a choice, not a requirement.
Active TCP device health
Probes every device's advertised port every 60 seconds. 3-fail / 10-fail / 24-h auto-cleanup state machine. 20-dot sparkline per device. Real reachability — not multicast silence guesses. No Cisco-locked competitor offers this.
Chromecast + Spotify Connect across VLANs
Compound mDNS response assembly, SRV hostname normalization for single-label names, and DNS compression pointer handling for Sonos. Industry-first. Verified via pcap comparison against UniFi's built-in mDNS gateway — which drops both.
Sonos S2 full app control across VLANs
Full SSDP + mDNS stack in one appliance. Sonos S2 controller discovery works bidirectionally across segments — not just media playback, but grouping, volume, the lot. M-SEARCH proxy with stateful tracking and echo detection.
Perpetual licence. Hardware included. No call-home.
Buy once. Nothing to renew to keep the engine running. Annual updates + priority support are optional — quoted on request, never required. Compare: competitors that demand £2,500+ annually forever, even for software you've already paid for.
Installed in under 60 minutes on a single trunk port
The Mac Mini M4 appliance ships pre-configured, autostart-ready. Plug into trunk, open https://axion.local:8443, create admin, done. Built-in packet capture and rule trace for the days debugging still finds you at 2am — no shell access needed.
Cisco-locked AV reflectors vs Deep Axion.
The AV networking category has two realistic paths: Cisco-dependent reflectors with £20,000+ first-year contracts and annual renewals, or a vendor-neutral appliance that runs on any managed switch with IGMP snooping — i.e. the gear already on site.
| Capability | Typical Cisco-locked reflector | Deep Axion |
|---|---|---|
| Platform / appliance | Vendor-locked appliance or Cisco hardware | Mac mini (macOS) or rackmount (Ubuntu LTS Linux) |
| Works on any network switch | Cisco-specific hardware required | Any switch with IGMP snooping |
| Cross-VLAN AirPlay & AirPrint | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-VLAN Chromecast | Typically not supported | Industry-first |
| Cross-VLAN Spotify Connect | Typically not supported | Industry-first |
| Sonos S2 full app control across VLANs | Partial (media only, not control) | Full |
| Active TCP device health | Not available | Per-device sparkline, 24h auto-cleanup |
| Built-in packet capture & rule trace | CLI / external tooling | In-dashboard, no shell needed |
| Licence model | Annual renewal required | Perpetual, one-time |
| Typical first-year all-in | £20,000+ | Price on application |
Comparison reflects the general pattern of Cisco-locked AV reflectors sold into the marine AV market. Specific competitor capabilities vary and we'd be glad to walk you through any head-to-head on request.
Request a quote
Tell us about your network — VLAN topology, AV endpoint mix, install timeline. We'll come back with a fixed price within two business days.
No high-pressure pipeline, no boilerplate proposal.
- Fixed-price quote within 2 business days
- Pre-sale scoping — if Axion isn't a fit, we'll tell you first
- Perpetual licence, hardware included, no call-home
- Mac Mini M4 appliance, configured and tested before dispatch
- Annual renewal available — quoted on request, covers updates + priority support
Email us directly with a brief description of your installation — switch make/model, rough VLAN count, AV endpoint mix. We'll get back to you within two business days with a scoped, fixed price.
Or copy the address: [email protected]
Trade programme — for integrators installing more than a handful a year.
If you're a professional AV integrator with a recurring install pipeline, the dealer relationship is a different conversation from a one-off quote.
- Priority technical support — direct engineer access, not a ticket queue
- Volume pricing — tiered rates for multi-unit install programmes
- Co-marketing & lead share — mutual referrals, project support, case-study co-authoring
- Pre-configured drop-ship units — appliances ship direct to your install site, pre-tested
- NDA + early access — see the roadmap and new features before public release
- Dedicated account engineer — one point of contact for all your Axion projects
Apply for the programme
The programme is open to professional AV integrators and MSPs. No minimum commitment required to apply — we'll qualify you on the call and set terms that match your install cadence.
Email us with your company name and a brief description of your typical install profile — network complexity, AV endpoint mix, volume per year.
Email [email protected] →Or copy: [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it run on Linux, or only on macOS?
Both. Deep Axion ships as either a Mac mini appliance (macOS) or a rackmount Ubuntu LTS appliance (Linux). The software, web UI, and feature set are identical across both platforms — your install team picks the form factor that fits the rack. Most yacht and luxury-residential installs go with the silent fanless Mac mini; most hospitality / campus / corporate installs go with the rackmount Linux unit. We configure and test whichever you order before dispatch.
Does it really work without Cisco?
Yes. Axion runs on any managed switch with IGMP snooping — Cisco, UniFi, HP Aruba, Ruckus, MikroTik, Juniper, Extreme, TP-Link managed. IGMP snooping is standard on every enterprise and prosumer-grade managed switch; no special licence or firmware tier required. We test across a range of vendor hardware including Cisco and UniFi — on UniFi you turn off the built-in mDNS gateway because Axion replaces it, with a more capable engine. Cisco-locked competitors exist; Axion deliberately doesn't depend on any particular vendor's gear.
How is it priced?
We quote based on your installation scope — VLAN count, AV endpoint mix, install timeline. Email [email protected] with a brief description and we'll come back with a fixed price within two business days. No surprises, no boilerplate proposal.
Do I need an IT engineer to install it?
No. The appliance is pre-configured before dispatch. Plug the Mac Mini into a trunk port, open https://axion.local:8443, create your admin account, and it's live. Typical install is under 60 minutes including physical rack mounting.
Is there user access management / captive portal?
Axion focuses on the AV discovery layer — getting Bonjour, SSDP and Google Cast traffic across VLANs reliably. Today, Axion is complementary to existing captive portals like Fortinet, ExtremeCloud, or dedicated network-access products.
What happens if I cancel the annual renewal?
The software keeps running forever. The licence is perpetual. You lose access to major version updates and priority support until you renew. The engine, rules, packet capture and device health keep working.
How does device health actually work?
The device-health probe runs a TCP connect every 60 seconds to each device's advertised port. 3 consecutive failures marks it "unreachable". 10 consecutive failures marks it "down". 24 h unreachable triggers auto-cleanup. You see real reachability, not a silence-timeout guess.
What does Axion show me when the network itself has a problem?
Three things. Dashboard tile — "Echoes Suppressed (5m)" turns amber the moment Axion sees its own reflections looping back, indicating an upstream multicast issue. Per-interface band on Device Health — pinpoints which VLAN is the bouncing-back path. Structured diagnostic log — every suppressed echo emits a grep-able line with the offending service, source IP, and origin / receiving interfaces. Together they typically narrow a multicast loop down to the offending switch port or AP feature in minutes — see the field validation case study above.
What if Axion doesn't work on our network?
We pre-scope before we ship. Send us your switch make/model and a brief description of your VLAN layout — if Axion isn’t a fit, we’ll tell you before any money changes hands. Pre-sale vetting is how we keep the post-sale experience clean. We don’t ship to networks where we haven’t confirmed the fundamentals first.
Why does cross-VLAN AirPlay / Sonos / Chromecast not just work out of the box?
mDNS and SSDP are link-local multicast protocols by design — they stop at the VLAN boundary. Cisco-locked AV “solutions” route them at L3 with vendor-specific gateways that demand £20,000+ in switch upgrades. Axion solves the same problem with a single appliance on any IGMP-snooping switch you already own.
Ready to stop guessing why AV is broken?
Tell us about your network. We'll scope it, price it, and deliver a configured appliance ready to plug into your trunk port.
Request a quote → Talk to the team