Are my devices on the same network?

Your Wi-Fi router creates a small private network inside your home or office. Devices on it can talk to each other directly, which is how PocketCtrl streams your Mac's screen to your phone without any server in between. Two devices are on the same network when they are both connected to the same router, on the same Wi-Fi name, and the router lets them see each other.

A phone on cellular data is on your carrier's network, not yours. A phone on the coffee shop Wi-Fi is on the coffee shop's network. Being physically near the Mac does not matter; being on the same router does.

1. On the iPhone or iPad: open Settings → Wi-Fi. The network with a checkmark is the one you are on. Make sure it is not the cellular icon and not a network ending in “Guest”.
2. On the Mac: click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar. The network with a checkmark should have the same name. If the Mac uses Ethernet, it is fine as long as that cable goes to the same router the Wi-Fi comes from.
3. In PocketCtrl on the Mac: open the Host panel and expand Network. The Local Wi-Fi row shows an address such as 192.168.1.23 or 10.0.0.5. If it says Not detected, the Mac is not on any local network right now.
4. Compare the first numbers. On the iPhone, tap the ⓘ next to your Wi-Fi name to see its IP Address. If the phone reads 192.168.1.something and the Mac reads 192.168.1.something else, you are almost certainly on the same network. If the prefixes differ (192.168.1 versus 192.168.0, or 10.0.0 versus 172.20.10), you are not.

• Guest networks. Most routers offer a “Guest” Wi-Fi that deliberately isolates devices from each other and from the main network. A phone on Guest cannot see a Mac on the main network, and often cannot see other Guest devices either.
• Hotel, dorm, airport, and office Wi-Fi. These almost always use client isolation(sometimes called AP isolation), which blocks device-to-device traffic on purpose. Use Tailscale there.
• Two routers in one home. A Wi-Fi extender, a second router, or an ISP modem plus your own router can create two separate networks with different names or different address ranges. Join both devices to the same one.
• 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. These are normally the same network with the same name and work fine together. Only if your router gives them different names and separates them (rare) will it matter.
• A VPN on either device. Corporate or privacy VPNs often route everything through a remote server and hide the local network. Turn the VPN off while pairing, or use Tailscale, which is designed to coexist.
• iCloud Private Relay does not affect local connections. Cellular data with Wi-Fi turned off does: the phone is simply not on your Wi-Fi.
• Wi-Fi Assist / auto-join. iPhones sometimes silently hop to a stronger neighbouring network or fall back to cellular. Glance at Settings → Wi-Fi before assuming.

Option A: join the same Wi-Fi

Simplest when you are at home. Put the phone on the same Wi-Fi as the Mac, wait a few seconds for the phone to finish joining, then try again in PocketCtrl. No Tailscale needed.

Option B: turn on Tailscale on both devices

Tailscale gives your devices a private network that follows them anywhere: home, cellular, a hotel. Install it on the Mac and the phone, sign in to the same account on both, and PocketCtrl will use it automatically whenever the local route is unavailable. It is free for personal use. Set up Tailscale takes about five minutes; Tailscale troubleshooting covers what to do if it does not connect.

On the same network, the phone finds the Mac by name using Bonjour, so you never type an address. The Mac controls this with the Nearby Wi-Fi discovery switch in its Network section. It is on by default. Turning it off makes the Mac invisible to nearby scans; existing trusted devices and Tailscale connections still work, and the Computer Code still works because the phone can also reach the Mac by the address inside the code.

Discovery only advertises that a PocketCtrl host exists and how to reach it. It never carries a credential, and finding a Mac does not grant access to it.