Multicast vs. Unicast: Why It’s Time to Rethink Your Internal Video Strategy
- MDI Staff
- Mar 27
- 3 min read
If your organization relies on video, whether for all-hands meetings, live training, or broadcasting updates across a campus, chances are you're using unicast. It’s the default way we’ve come to expect video to work: you send a stream, your team clicks a link, and everyone watches from their own device. But if you've ever had the network slow to a crawl during a major internal broadcast, or heard complaints about buffering, you’re not alone. There’s another way: multicast. And while it’s been around for years, many people are surprised to learn that it’s not only still relevant, it’s becoming essential again.
Let’s break down why.
Unicast vs. Multicast: What's the Difference?
Here’s the simplest way to think about it:
Unicast = One video stream for every viewer. If 500 people are watching, that's 500 identical streams traveling across your network.
Multicast = One video stream shared by all viewers. It travels just once across the network, and everyone “tunes in.”
That difference matters when you're streaming to large internal audiences. With unicast, bandwidth usage grows with each viewer. With multicast, it stays the same, no matter how many people watch.
Why Unicast Became the Norm
Unicast is easy. Tools like Zoom, Teams, and Webex made it the standard for remote work and virtual meetings. You don’t have to touch your network settings. There’s no need for IT to get involved. It just works.
But when unicast is used for company-wide video events, things can get tricky. Video traffic balloons. The network strains. And the experience suffers.
The Hidden Costs of Unicast
Unicast can quietly become a drain on your infrastructure.
High bandwidth consumption during internal events
Reduced network performance for everyone else using the system
Potential interruptions for viewers depending on network quality
And ironically, you might end up paying extra for external CDN services to support internal use cases—something multicast was designed to avoid.
Why Multicast Is Worth a Second Look
Multicast is built for efficiency. It’s designed to deliver live video to many viewers without overloading your network. It used to be the go-to method for schools, enterprises, and broadcast environments. So what changed?
Mostly, the tools got simpler, and the network requirements, clearer. Today, it’s entirely possible to bring multicast back into your workflow without a massive investment or IT overhaul.
Let’s Be Honest: Multicast Setup Isn’t Instant
This part is important to acknowledge. Setting up multicast takes some planning:
Your network needs to support IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol)
You may need to configure VLANs
Some gear may need updated firmware or certification
Yes, this setup requires IT expertise. But here’s the good news: once it's done, the rest is easy.
After Setup, It’s Plug-and-Play
With your network multicast-ready, deploying video is surprisingly smooth:
Install a lightweight Multicast Agent on a PC or appliance
Launch streams using popular media servers
Display the video in a web browser, no special software needed
Monitor viewership and performance with simple yet powerful tools like Google Analytics
No command-line tools. No complex configurations. Just a few clicks and you’re live.
How We Help at MDI
At MDI, we designed our Multicast Agent and management tools to make this process accessible, even if you’re new to multicast. What we do at MDI:
Offer flexible deployment plans: from "do it yourself" to "fully managed" options
Help IT teams assess and configure network readiness
Offer an agent that translates streams into browser-friendly formats
Guide you how to put this all together
The goal? Make multicast deployment as easy as possible, so you can focus on the content, not the delivery.
When Multicast Makes Sense
You don’t need to use multicast for every meeting or event. But it’s a smart move when:
You’re streaming to 100+ people on the same network
You want to avoid spikes in bandwidth and performance issues
You’re running training, all-hands, or live announcements at scale
If your organization controls its network environment (like a corporate campus, school district, or hospital), multicast can save time, bandwidth, and headaches.
Looking Ahead
The world of video has changed. But network strategies haven’t always kept up. As video becomes more central to how we communicate internally, efficiency and reliability matter more than ever.
Multicast isn’t just a legacy option, it’s a powerful solution for today’s internal video challenges. And with the right tools in place, it’s no longer out of reach.
Want to Explore Multicast for Your Organization?
We’d be happy to walk you through how multicast might work in your environment—and what it would take to get there.
Let’s make video delivery smarter, together.
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