Cable or IP. Both, from one box.
Castmux takes HLS, SRT, RTMP and MPEG-TS and delivers it two ways: real DVB-C multiplexes on the coaxial cable already running to every bedroom, and MPEG-TS over UDP multicast to IPTV set-top boxes and smart televisions on the LAN. One appliance drives both at the same time, so the wiring a room already has decides how it is fed. The line-up changes from a browser at reception, not from a trolley in the corridor.
The problem
Hotel television is expensive in all the wrong places.
- Cable and IP are usually two separate headends, bought and maintained separately.
- Guests arrive from a dozen countries and want the audio in their own language.
- The channel list went out of date two years ago, and changing it means entering every room.
- A set-top box per room is a purchase, a power supply, a remote control and a fault to attend.
- Nobody on the night shift can fix television, so the call waits until morning.
What Castmux does about it
One appliance between your sources and the wall socket.
Two outputs, running together. Coax where the cable is already there, IP where the network is.
Cable — DVB-C on the coax
Castmux modulates real DVB-C multiplexes onto the cable that is already in the walls. Every television sold in Europe has a DVB-C tuner. There is nothing to put in the room.
IPTV — UDP multicast
MPEG-TS over UDP multicast to IPTV set-top boxes and smart televisions on the LAN, on the same appliance and at the same time as the DVB-C carriers. Newer wings and refurbished floors go over the network; the rest stays on coax. Channels start on real IGMP membership and stop when the last viewer leaves, so only what somebody is watching consumes the box.
Guest languages
On the pass-through engine every audio PID reaches the set, with its ISO-639 language tag intact. The guest picks the language with the audio button on their own remote.
Your own channel
roadmap An in-house information channel for breakfast times, spa hours and function rooms, generated on the appliance. Today the same slot can carry an external feed you already produce.
Change the line-up centrally
Assign channels to multiplexes or multicast groups by dragging them. Swap the source behind a channel without dropping the carrier, so sets stay tuned and nobody rescans.
Fits your existing middleware
An HTTP API drives every operation. Castmux is the headend beneath your guest TV system, not a replacement for it. Your middleware keeps the guest-facing screen.
A typical installation
Which box, for which property.
| Property size | Channels | Recommended hardware | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 40 rooms | Up to 15 | IPTV / HDMI Box — €150 | UDP multicast to set-top boxes or smart TVs. Dual 2.5G LAN. |
| 40–200 rooms on existing coax | Up to 100 | Cable TV / IPTV Pro Box — €1,899 | DVB-C on the coax across up to 16 frequencies, plus UDP multicast on the LAN. |
| 200+ rooms, or several buildings | More than 100 | Multiple appliances | Speak to us. Fleet management across sites is roadmap. |
What you get
The parts you find out you needed at two in the morning.
- Per-channel wire bitrate — measured by packet capture, not reported by the encoder
- Live viewer counts — and the client list behind each number
- Browser preview — watch any channel from the front desk
- Per-channel logs — what failed, when, and how often
- Dead-route and duplicate-sender detection — it says when the network is at fault instead of restarting forever
- Resolution profiles — ask for SD and get SD, so the uplink is not spent on 1080p nobody sees
Our sister project tvheadend.io carries over 3,000 television and radio services over HLS and SRT — the two source types Castmux ingests natively. Take a channel package and the Castmux licence costs nothing. See what is available or read the pricing.
Honest limits
What Castmux does not do for a hotel.
Better read here than discovered at commissioning.
- It is not a guest TV system. No guest user interface, no welcome screen with the guest's name, no room-level middleware, no casting from a phone.
- No PMS integration. No check-in or check-out events, no express checkout, no folio, no billing, no wake-up alarms.
- No video on demand. Castmux carries live services only.
- No transcoding. The output carries whatever the source carries. Resolution profiles pick a rung of an HLS ladder; they do not re-encode.
- No conditional access and no CI/CAM descrambling. Encrypted feeds have to be in the clear before they reach the appliance.
- No DVB-T. The RF output is DVB-C, on cable.
Castmux sits beneath a guest TV system and feeds it. If you already run one, that is the intended shape: your middleware keeps the guest screen and drives Castmux over the HTTP API.
Other solutions
Same appliance, different building.
See it running on your own feeds.
Twenty minutes, screen-shared. Bring one stream URL and we will put it on a multicast group while you watch. If it is not right for you, we will say so on the call.
Or write to [email protected]