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Using SMART Sync (formerly SynchronEyes) Classroom Management Software on a Wireless LAN

Overview

This document provides guidelines for using SMART Sync classroom management software on a wireless local area network (WLAN).

Details

Recommended Hardware and Software

Use commercial-grade access points. Don’t use consumer-grade access points because they aren’t designed to handle the large number of clients typically used with SMART Sync.

Use a commercial-grade wireless network card, such as those from Cisco or 3Com. Although your choice of access point is more important than your choice of wireless network card, a commercial-grade wireless network card is more reliable than a consumer-grade product.

Don’t Wirelessly Connect More than 30 Students with 802.11b or 802.11g

SMART Sync supports up to 30 student connections per access point on an 802.11b wireless network. Connecting more than 30 students to an access point can negatively affect performance.

An 802.11g wireless network provides more bandwidth but is more susceptible to interference.

Position Access Points in the Same Room as Student Computers

Although radio signals can pass through walls and other solid objects, these barriers can degrade signal quality and decrease the availability of network bandwidth. For best performance, ensure that student computers have a line-of-sight to the access point.

Ensure that wireless connection quality is excellent for all student computers and that a wireless network connection of at least 10 Mbps is available.

SMART Sync sends screen and file broadcasts to all hosts over a subnetwork. If several teachers are broadcasting at the same Time, interference may cause poor performance, particularly on wireless networks. If possible, avoid including too many SMART Sync classrooms on the same wireless network’s subnetwork.

Segmenting your network into separate subnetworks isolates SMART Sync’s broadcast network traffic to a particular segment of your local area network. Your network will run more efficiently when configured this way, and SMART Sync activity won’t slow down the network.

Use a Wired Teacher Station

Use a wired network connection for the teacher’s computer to significantly reduce the amount of traffic that SMART Sync places on the wireless network. A wired network connection also makes SMART Sync less susceptible to radio interference and less competitive for bandwidth with other network applications.

Minimise Interference Between Adjacent Access Points

If you use more than one access point in the same area, set them to different channels to minimise interference. Although You can use channels 1 to 11, adjacent channels overlap. Use channels as far apart as possible. For example, if you use two access points, set them to channels 1 and 11.

Disable Power Saving Mode for All Wireless Client Adapters

Power Saving mode significantly impacts the performance of your wireless network, particularly when broadcasting.

For best results, disable Power Saving mode on all of the devices connected to the access point. Even if one client has Power Saving mode enabled, the wireless access point reduces performance for this single client.

To disable Power Saving mode

1. Select Start > Control Panel.

   The Control Panel appears.

2. Double-click Network Connections.

   The Network Connections window appears.

3. Right-click your wireless network connection, and then select Properties.

   The Properties dialogue box appears.

4. Click Configure.

   A list of advanced settings appears.

5. Disable the Power Management or Power Saving mode option, or select the maximum performance option.

Don’t Mix 802.11b and 802.11g Wireless Protocols

For best performance, use only 802.11b or 802.11g as your wireless protocol because other protocols interfere with each other. Avoid mixing wireless protocols as much as possible.

Disable IGMP or Multicast Snooping on Your Wireless Access Point

For more information on how to check these settings for Cisco access points, see document 92560.

For more information on how to check these settings for other access points, see the information you received with the access point.

Configure SMART Sync’s Advanced Preferences

You can configure SMART Sync Teacher’s advanced preferences—including the thumbnail frame rate, multicast, unicast and screen capture settings—to improve performance over a wireless network.

To set the thumbnail frame rate

1. Select Options > Preferences.

   The Preferences dialogue box appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. Increase the Thumbnail frame rate from the default value of 5,000 milliseconds per frame to a value such as 7,500 milliseconds per frame.

   Note 

   Increasing this value improves performance, but results in a slower thumbnail frame rate.

To set multicasting preferences

1. Select Options > Preferences.

   The Preferences dialogue box appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. If you want to, edit the Multicast TTL value for IP multicasting.

   By default, SMART Sync sends multicast packets with a TTL value of 1, which prevents them from being forwarded beyond a single subnetwork. Multicast datagrams with a TTL of greater than 1 can deliver to more than one subnetwork (if there are one or more multicast routers attached to the first-hop subnetwork).

   Typical TTL thresholds are:

   TTL Threshold	Scope
   1	Restricted to the same subnetwork
   15	Restricted to the same site
   63	Restricted to the same region
   127	Worldwide
   191	Worldwide; limited bandwidth
   255	Unrestricted scope

4. Select the Enable for screen broadcast check box to use multicast UDP to broadcast screen images.

   OR

   Clear the Enable for screen broadcast check box to use TCP/IP to broadcast screen images.

5. Set the Multicast transfer rate slider to the appropriate value for the speed and quality of your network.

   Tips 

1. Setting the slider to a lower value can improve the reliability of broadcasting. Setting the slider to a higher value can improve performance, but at the cost of reliability.

2. An appropriate value for most wireless networks is 1 to 2 Mbps.

To set unicasting preferences

1. Select Options > Preferences.

   The Preferences dialogue box appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. Type the millisecond per chunk for TCP traffic in the TCP delay box.

4. Type the size of chunks in kilobytes for TCP traffic in the TCP chunk size box.

   Important 

   Increasing the chunk size while reducing the milliseconds per chunk increases the rate that SMART Sync attempts to send TCP traffic. If you are having trouble with Collaboration file transfer or the Observe function, consider increasing the milliseconds per chunk to improve reliability (at the cost of performance). The default values in the TCP delay and TCP chunk size boxes are sufficient for most network conditions and you should only change them with the guidance of SMART Support.

To set screen capture preferences

1. Select Options > Preferences.

   The Preferences dialogue box appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. Select the Use Redraw Hooks DLL and Use Mirror Driver tickboxes to improve SMART Sync’s screen capture performance.

   Important 

   If you experience capture problems, clear the Use Mirror Driver check box, as it is not suitable to all systems. If you continue to experience capture problems, clear the Use Redraw Hooks DLL check box, as this option does not work well with some special applications. Disabling these options increases the time required to capture screen images but does not affect any other aspect of SMART Sync.

4. Select the Hide desktop background check box to not display the background when you observe, control or broadcast a student’s desktop.

5. Select the Hide window content while dragging and resizing check box to not display a window’s content when moving or resizing it.

6. Click OK.

Survey the Site

Survey the site to determine how much radio interference is in the area. Minimise or eliminate additional radio interference sources, including other wireless networks, microwave ovens, cordless phones and Bluetooth technology.

Use a spectrum analyser to detect radio interference. You can contract a consultant to perform a thorough site survey for you. You can, however, eliminate most sources of radio interference yourself:

• Use a tool like NetStumbler (www.netstumbler.com) to detect other wireless access points in the area. Set your access point to different channels.

• Avoid using 2.4 GHz cordless phones in the vicinity of your wireless network. If you must use a cordless phone, use a 900 MHz model or a 5.8 GHz model.

  Note 

  Some cordless phones advertised as 5.8 GHz actually transmit from the base to the phone on 5.8 GHz but transmit from the phone to the base on 2.4 GHz or 900 MHz to conserve battery life inside the phone. This type of phone can still cause radio interference.

• Avoid using Bluetooth technology in the same room as your wireless network. Devices that use Bluetooth technology include cell phones with file transfer or remote headphone capabilities, laptop computers equipped with Bluetooth technology and wireless devices such as keyboards or mouse devices (including the wireless USB storage device for SMART Board interactive whiteboards). Bandwidth-intensive applications such as FTP or HTTP file downloads can also disrupt the operation of SMART Sync. Furthermore, SMART Sync may also disrupt video or radio streaming operations.

• Avoid positioning microwave ovens near your wireless network; microwave ovens can generate a great deal of radio interference, even when placed in a different room. To minimise interference, determine the channel where interference is the greatest and then set your access point channel as far from it as possible.

To determine the channel where interference is the greatest

1. Place a water-filled microwave-safe container in a microwave oven for five minutes at high power.

2. Set the access point to channel 1 while the microwave is running, and then transfer a large file from a local host (FTP, HTTP or Windows file transfer) to your computer.

3. Record the file transfer time or the transfer speed (in Kbps).

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with channels 2 to 11. The channel with the slowest file transfer rate has the greatest interference.

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