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I want to connect and transfer data between a PC and an Android device both of which are on the same local WiFi network.

I cannot use the local IP as such in the code to actually get the connection going because it does not remain constant every time. I know I can set the local IP to be constant but I am looking for a more general solution to the problem.

Having a central server is also not what I'm looking for, because I want to transfer data offline.

I am not an expert on networks as you might have already guessed, so if I am missing something out, let me know. Also is there some API in android that could do this?

1 Answer 1

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You should look at broadcasting. This is technique of sending your packets to all devices (IP's) in a subnet. It would look something like that:

  • Android 192.168.0.101: Send message packet to broadcast address 192.168.0.254
  • PC 192.168.0.110: Reply to 192.168.0.101's broadcast message
  • Android now knows PC's IP address and can communicate directly

It's really simple. You can find JAVA sample in this SO question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12999425/simple-udp-broadcast-client-and-server-on-different-machines

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  • +1 but is this the most efficient way to go about this?
    – shyam
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 9:18
  • 2
    it is the ONLY way to go about it.
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 15:33
  • @Mawg I'm gonna take your word for it then.
    – shyam
    Commented Dec 6, 2014 at 4:40
  • Think about it. If you want to sent a letter (how quaint) to that nice grrrl who smiled at you in the pub lat night, your going to have to walk around town pushing a note throw every letter box asking her to get in touch
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 6, 2014 at 9:24
  • Well, its more similar to asking a postman of giving letters to all the girls in town. One more alternative is phonebook, or in your case - some kind of external site/api (tracker in bitorrent terms).
    – Dissimilis
    Commented Dec 6, 2014 at 19:37

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