ListenWifi Monitor

Auto-discovers ListenWifi (Exxothermic) audio servers on your LAN via mDNS, relays each channel as an HTTP MP3 stream, and provides a live web dashboard.

Port	What it serves
7000	Web dashboard
7001	Server 1 (lowest IP) — Channel 1
7002	Server 1 — Channel 2
7003	Server 2 (2nd lowest IP) — Channel 1
…	…
7012	Server 6 (highest IP) — Channel 2

Stream ports are assigned by ascending server IP then ascending channel number and recomputed automatically if the server list changes.

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Requirements

• Windows 11 (64-bit)
• Administrator access (for service installation)
• Same LAN / VLAN as the ListenWifi servers
• Internet access during installation only

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Installation

Open Windows Terminal or PowerShell as Administrator for every step below.

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Step 1 — Install Python 3.11

winget install Python.Python.3.11

Close and reopen your terminal, then confirm:

python --version

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Step 2 — Install ffmpeg

winget install Gyan.FFmpeg

Close and reopen your terminal, then confirm:

ffmpeg -version

If winget can't find it, download the full build from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ and add the bin\ folder to your system PATH.

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Step 3 — Get the project

cd C:\
git clone <your-repo-url> ListenWifi2Streams
cd C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor

Or download and extract the ZIP, then cd into listenifi_monitor\.

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Step 4 — Create a virtual environment and install Python packages

cd C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor

python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\activate

pip install -r requirements.txt

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Step 5 — Install the Opus audio codec (opus.dll)

opuslib is a Python wrapper — it needs the native opus.dll placed in the same folder as app.py. The app will find it there automatically.

Download a pre-built DLL:

1. Go to https://github.com/ShiftMediaProject/opus/releases
2. Download the latest opus_YYYY-MM-DD_msvc17.zip
3. Inside the ZIP, find bin\x64\opus.dll
4. Copy it to C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor\

Confirm Python can find it:

.\venv\Scripts\python -c "import opuslib; print('Opus OK')"

Note: The app explicitly pre-loads the DLL from the script directory, so you do not need to add it to PATH or System32.

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Step 6 — Open Windows Firewall ports

Run as Administrator:

# Dashboard and MP3 stream ports (allow other machines to connect via VLC)
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule `
  name="ListenWifi Monitor - HTTP" `
  dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=7000-7012

# RTP inbound — lets the ListenWifi servers send audio back to this machine
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule `
  name="ListenWifi Monitor - RTP" `
  dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=49152-65535

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Step 7 — Configure the app (optional)

Open app.py in any text editor and adjust the settings near the top:

# ── Ports ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
WEB_PORT    = 7000   # dashboard
STREAM_BASE = 7001   # first channel stream port

# ── Static / hard-coded servers ────────────────────────────────────────────
# If mDNS doesn't find your servers automatically, list their IPs here.
# Format: "host" (port defaults to 80) or "host:port"
STATIC_SERVERS: list[str] = [
    "192.168.1.50",
    "192.168.1.51",
    "192.168.1.52",
]

# ── Remote syslog ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# Forward all log messages to a syslog server (Graylog, NAS, Papertrail, etc.)
# Leave SYSLOG_HOST = "" to disable.
SYSLOG_HOST: str = "192.168.1.10"   # your syslog server IP or hostname
SYSLOG_PORT: int = 514
SYSLOG_TCP:  bool = False            # True = TCP, False = UDP

STATIC_SERVERS and mDNS discovery work side-by-side — add your IPs there if the servers don't show up automatically within a minute or two.

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Step 8 — Test manually (recommended before installing the service)

cd C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor
.\venv\Scripts\activate
python app.py

Open http://localhost:7000 — the dashboard should load and begin scanning. Press Ctrl+C to stop when satisfied.

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Step 9 — Install NSSM (service manager)

NSSM wraps any executable as a Windows service with automatic restart on failure.

1. Download nssm-<version>.zip from https://nssm.cc/download
2. Extract and copy win64\nssm.exe to C:\Windows\System32\
3. Confirm: nssm --version

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Step 10 — Create the Windows service

Run PowerShell as Administrator. Adjust the path if you cloned somewhere else.

$appDir = "C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor"
$python  = "$appDir\venv\Scripts\python.exe"

# Create the service
nssm install ListenWifiMonitor $python app.py

# Working directory (required — app.py imports local modules)
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppDirectory   $appDir

# Description shown in services.msc
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor Description    "ListenWifi audio stream monitor and relay"

# Start automatically at boot, without any user logged in
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor Start          SERVICE_AUTO_START

# Log stdout + stderr to a file (rotated at 5 MB)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$appDir\logs" | Out-Null
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppStdout      "$appDir\logs\service.log"
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppStderr      "$appDir\logs\service.log"
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppRotateFiles  1
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppRotateBytes  5242880

# Auto-restart: wait 5 s after a crash, back off if crashing repeatedly
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppRestartDelay 5000
nssm set ListenWifiMonitor AppThrottle     30000

# Start it now
nssm start ListenWifiMonitor

Confirm it is running:

nssm status ListenWifiMonitor   # Expected: SERVICE_RUNNING

Open http://localhost:7000 — the dashboard should be live with no user session required.

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Managing the service

All commands require an Administrator prompt.

Action	Command
Start	nssm start ListenWifiMonitor
Stop	nssm stop ListenWifiMonitor
Restart	nssm restart ListenWifiMonitor
Remove	nssm remove ListenWifiMonitor confirm
Edit settings (GUI)	nssm edit ListenWifiMonitor
View logs	notepad C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor\logs\service.log

The service starts at boot and restarts within 5 seconds after any crash.

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Listening to a stream

Once the dashboard shows a channel as Receiving RTP:

1. Open VLC → Media → Open Network Stream
2. Enter the URL shown on the channel card, e.g. http://192.168.1.100:7001/
3. VLC's "Now Playing" displays the channel title automatically

Multiple VLC instances can connect to the same port simultaneously.

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Troubleshooting

Dashboard loads but no servers appear

• If mDNS isn't working, add the server IPs to STATIC_SERVERS in app.py (see Step 7) and restart — they'll be probed directly over HTTP.
• mDNS (UDP 5353) must not be blocked between devices. Try temporarily disabling Windows Firewall: netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off (re-enable: netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state on)

Channel stays "Requesting…" and never turns green

• The firewall rule for UDP 49152–65535 inbound (Step 6) may be missing.
• Check the log for errors: notepad ...\logs\service.log

ffmpeg not found error in logs

• Run ffmpeg -version in a new terminal. If missing, reinstall via winget.
• The service runs as SYSTEM and may have a different PATH. Hardcode the path in stream_server.py: change shutil.which("ffmpeg") to return the full path, e.g. C:\Program Files\ffmpeg-full_build\bin\ffmpeg.exe.

opuslib ImportError or OSError

• Confirm opus.dll is in C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor\.
• Confirm it is the x64 build (matches 64-bit Python).
• Run the test: .\venv\Scripts\python -c "import opuslib; print('OK')"

Service fails to start / exits immediately

• Check: notepad C:\ListenWifi2Streams\listenifi_monitor\logs\service.log
• Ensure the SYSTEM account has Read & Execute on the project folder: icacls C:\ListenWifi2Streams /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)RX" /T

Port 7000 already in use

• Find the process: netstat -ano | findstr :7000
• Kill it or change WEB_PORT in app.py and recreate the service.