Moonlight Game Streaming: Can It Wake Sleeping Computers?

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software. It allows users to stream games and other apps from their gaming PC on their local network. While Moonlight does not have a feature to wake a computer from sleep, it does offer a Wake-on-LAN feature to wake your PC for streaming. However, it is important to note that if your Moonlight session is ongoing when your computer goes to sleep, you may encounter issues reconnecting to Moonlight after waking your computer.

Moonlight is a third-party client for NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for the NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software that comes included with GeForce Experience. GeForce Experience uses the NVENC hardware on NVIDIA GPUs and custom-tuned software to provide low-latency, high-quality PC streaming. Moonlight was created by students at Case Western Reserve University as a project at the MHacks hackathon in 2013 and was further developed at MHacks and HackCWRU in 2014.

Moonlight is the perfect solution for gaming on the go without sacrificing graphics quality or game selection. With Moonlight, you can stream your collection of PC games from your gaming PC to any supported device and play them remotely. It is an open-source implementation of NVIDIA's GameStream protocol, which allows you to stream your games at up to 120 FPS using the Moonlight PC client with the option to disable V-Sync for the lowest possible latency.

Moonlight supports a wide range of devices, including Android, iOS, Apple TV, PC, Mac, Chromebook, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, and Raspberry Pi. It also supports popular non-Android controllers, such as the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4 controllers, although some controllers may have latency or disconnection issues.

While Moonlight offers many benefits, it is important to note that it may not always be able to wake your PC if you are streaming from outside your home network. Certain routers may support this, but many do not. Therefore, it is recommended to leave your computer awake if you plan to stream from outside your local network. Additionally, there have been reports of issues with Moonlight not working after the computer wakes up from sleep, requiring a restart of the host computer.

Moonlight can be used to stream games from a gaming PC to an iOS device

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for the NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software that comes included with GeForce Experience. It allows users to stream games from a gaming PC to an iOS device. While Moonlight does not have a pure web-based client, there is a ChromeOS app that runs on Chromebooks.

To use Moonlight for game streaming, users must be connected to the same network as the host PC. Additionally, the host PC must be configured with "Wake-on-LAN" in the BIOS to allow the PC to wake up from sleep mode. This can be triggered by opening the Moonlight app on a mobile device. However, it is important to remember to exit the Moonlight app after a gaming session, as the PC will not return to sleep mode until the app is closed.

It is worth noting that there have been some issues reported with Moonlight and NVIDIA's software. Some users have experienced softlocks or difficulties with GameStream not resuming after the PC wakes up from sleep mode. These issues may require restarting the host computer or closing the session from within the host before it goes to sleep.

To summarise, Moonlight can be used for game streaming from a gaming PC to an iOS device, but it requires proper configuration and users should be aware of potential issues and workarounds.

Moonlight does not support a pure web-based client

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for the NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software that comes included with GeForce Experience. It is used for streaming games from a PC to another device.

While Moonlight does offer a ChromeOS app that runs on Chromebooks, there is not currently a pure web-based client. This is because the GameStream protocol requires the use of raw TCP and UDP sockets, which are not supported in web browsers. Moonlight developers have stated that they would like to offer a web-based client, but they believe that native apps currently provide the most feature-rich and performant clients.

There are, however, some workarounds that can be used to stream games from a PC to a web browser. One option is to use the Moonlight Internet Hosting Tool, which can be installed on a PC. This tool allows for streaming over IPv4 or IPv6, depending on the client's connectivity. Another option is to use the Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 app, which can provide IPv6 connectivity on networks that don't natively support it.

Additionally, there is a proposed Direct Sockets web standard in development that could make it possible to implement a web-based Moonlight client in the future.

Moonlight can be used to wake a PC from sleep with Wake-on-LAN

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for the NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software that comes included with GeForce Experience. It allows users to stream games and other apps from their gaming PC on their local network to their iOS devices.

While streaming from outside your home network, it is generally not possible to wake your PC. However, Moonlight can be used to wake a PC from sleep with Wake-on-LAN if you are on your local network. This can be configured in your BIOS.

It is important to note that certain routers may support streaming from outside your home network, but many do not. If you are having issues with stream reliability from GeForce Experience, it is recommended to switch to Sunshine, which is fully open-source, supports more platforms and GPUs, and has more features.

Additionally, there are some known issues with Moonlight. For example, if a session was ongoing when the computer went to sleep, users have reported being unable to connect Moonlight after re-awakening the computer. In this case, users have had to SSH into the Windows computer and force a restart.

Moonlight may not work if the host PC goes to sleep during a session

Moonlight is an unofficial third-party open-source client for the NVIDIA SHIELD streaming software that comes included with GeForce Experience. It is used for streaming games from a PC to other devices. Moonlight does not work if the host PC goes to sleep during a session. This is because the Moonlight session is not terminated when the game is closed, so the user cannot connect Moonlight back after re-awakening the computer.

To resolve this issue, you can log back into the computer via the "Desktop" app in Moonlight and start another stream. Alternatively, you can log into the computer physically and use the following script commands in a PowerShell terminal while in an RDP session:

$session = (query session | Select-String $env:USERNAME) -split " " | Where-Object { $_ } | Select-Object -Index 2 & tscon $session /dest:console

This will terminate your RDP session but leave it unlocked, allowing you to stream again.

Another workaround is to ensure that your gaming PC is running the Moonlight Internet Hosting Tool to automatically manage your port forwarding rules. You should also enable UPnP in your router settings and delete any older Moonlight port forwarding entries. If you use a VPN for Internet access on your gaming PC, disable it to ensure your local network is accessible.

If you are streaming from outside your home network, it is not always possible to wake your PC. Certain routers may support it, but many don't. In this case, it is recommended to leave your computer awake if you want to stream outside your home.

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