AirPlay from Mac not working due to IPv6 configuration issue

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Level 1

19 points

AirPlay from Mac not working due to IPv6 configuration issue

This is not so much a question as the answer to something which I took a long time to sort out, and where the answer interested me. I have in my house three Macos machines updated to very latest Tahoe Software. I noticed that one of them, my "main" machine, although it had an Apple HomePod sitting next to it, would not "see" it in Airplay. I reset the Homepod and did/tested all the various things which the internet seemed to recommend. Nothing worked. I got the message that the Mac would not communicate with the Homepod (or with anything else on Airplay). Finally I compared the Network Settings of the "main" Mac with one of the other machines which did Airplay to the 'Pod. The answer, now verified, is that in "Settings - Network - WIFI - (my network) - Details - TCP/IP" the setting "Configure IPv6" had been switched off. Setting it to "Link-Local Only" meant that the machine communicated over Airplay. I did not switch off IPv6 by the way!!

Has anyone else seen this?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Airplay from Mac

Posted on Oct 3, 2025 4:32 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Thoomas65

Level 1

14 points

Nov 28, 2025 7:12 AM in response to Fortinbras

This behaviour makes sense when you look at how AirPlay discovers devices on the local network.

AirPlay relies on Bonjour/mDNS, which uses multicast and link-local communication so nearby devices can announce themselves. When IPv6 is disabled on the Wi-Fi interface, you keep full internet access, but part of the local discovery mechanism disappears, which is why AirPlay devices like HomePod stop appearing even though they’re on the same Wi-Fi.

Setting IPv6 back to “Link-Local Only” restores that discovery layer, so the Mac is able to see neighbour devices again.

If you're curious about how devices detect each other on the same network at a basic level (before AirPlay, mDNS or any service works), this short explanation helps clarify the underlying concept:

https://pingmynetwork.com/network/ccna-200-301/how-does-address-resolution-protocol-work

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Answer 2

Nov 22, 2025 7:04 AM in response to Fortinbras

I had this issue too, connecting to a Yamaha Wi-Fi receiver/amplifier with AirPlay and also a Maim Muso which I don't use much anymore since I got the Yamaha receiver which I use with klipsh Cornwall speakers. Configuring IvP6 to link local only did solve the problem, except that whenever I turn on my VPN or whatever it was turned on and I switched servers in it, it would turn off IvP6, and I'd have to turn it back on manually to link local only. However in the last week or so it's been staying on even when I switched servers. I've been in Tahoe 26.1 since it was available a few weeks ago or a month ago, and when I checked IvP6 the other day, it was turned off but I was still able to connect through AirPlay--it didn't seem to need it anymore, just using IvP4. It may be Apple sent a background correction to Tahoe.

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Answer 3

Brainboy

Level 1

26 points

Oct 30, 2025 7:13 AM in response to Fortinbras

Yes, I had an identical issue. The solution to set TCP/IP to Link-Local Only was helpfully provided by the technical support team at WiiM (which makes the product I could not connect to via Airplay).

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Answer 4

Nov 29, 2025 6:17 AM in response to Thoomas65

As I mentioned in my comment from November 22, it would be about two weeks now that switching servers in my VPN still turns off IvP6 in Wi-Fi settings, but AirPlay is now able to still connect to my wireless receiver/amplifier or wireless speaker with IvP6 set to off in the Wi-Fi settings. I don't know if Apple made some changes in the background or what.

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