Remotely deploying WiFi networks to your VR devices is one of the benefits of managing your device with ManageXR. Simultaneously, network issues can also be the most significant sources of friction. Even minor network disruptions can have a major impact on the user experience.
This guide will walk you through actionable steps to optimize your network for an ideal network scenario to support your VR deployment. This guide will be most applicable to scenarios where you're deploying networks in places like a school, which typically have more complex requirements and the support of an IT team.
What is the Ideal Network Scenario?
An ideal network for your VR deployments is an independent Wi-Fi network exclusively dedicated to VR devices. Aside from only being accessible to VR devices, this network should also have the maximum bandwidth and speed available. This is especially important because VR content tends to be large in size, and multiplayer experiences require a lot of bandwidth.
Below is an outline of these criteria and their benefits.
Independent Wi-Fi network |
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Max bandwidth and speed |
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Clear requirements |
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Preparation
Collaborating with your network administrators is one of the most crucial factors in efficiently configuring a network for your VR devices. Before receiving your VR devices, you should contact your IT department with the following questions.
Is it possible to set up a network specifically for our VR devices? If not, what networks are available for use?
What are the expected download speeds?
How many active devices before the network becomes bogged down?
Will that support our use case?
What kind of authentication do we use to get devices on this network?
Can you provide me with this information now so I can enter it in our MDM?
Will our passwords change, and can we be informed before that happens?
Do we have a firewall that we need to add new endpoints to? Can these endpoints be added to the allowlist?
Once you've answered the above questions and gathered the authentication credentials for the network you intend to use, it's time to validate it. Validating your deployed network may require a few rounds of back-and-forth to get everything working as expected, so we highly recommend testing it as early as possible.
Validate
Blocked endpoints are one of the major pain points regarding network issues. Before you even receive your VR devices, here's a handy tip for validating whether or not ManageXR endpoints are blocked on your network.
Visit https://mighty-platform-prod.appspot.com/. If you don’t get “Hello World,” ManageXR endpoints are blocked. The list of endpoints that need to be allowed can be found in the Network Requirements article.
Provisioning Devices
Now that you’ve spoken with your network admins and gathered the relevant authentication details, it’s time to install ManageXR on your devices and connect them to the network.
Assign your deployment network to a configuration.
Install ManageXR on your device using the Device Setup Tool.
Be sure to set the Provisioning Mode to ManageXR + Configuration Content to directly load your deployment network credentials during the installation process.
Ensure your devices sync with the deployed configuration.
You can do this by checking that your devices’ sync status in ManageXR is “Up To Date.”
Provisioning Network
Complex network profiles need to be deployed through ManageXR and might not be able to be loaded with the Device Setup Tool. The conundrum is that a device needs to already be connected to a network to download a network profile. How can you solve this? With a temporary provisioning network!
A temporary provisioning network is any simple network (even a hotspot will do) you can connect to as a temporary step. Oftentimes, there's an open network at your school or business that can be used for this purpose. Once you manually connect to the provisioning network, your device will sync with ManageXR and download the more complex Wi-Fi network profile.
Here are two methods for using a provisioning network to connect to your more secure deployment network:
Adding the Provisioning Network via the Device Setup Tool
Assign your deployment network to a configuration.
Install ManageXR on your device using the Device Setup Tool.
Connect the device to your provisioning network.
This can be done by selecting the Add WiFi Network option from the Advanced Action menu in the Device Setup Tool
Ensure your devices sync with the deployed configuration.
You can do this by checking that your devices’ sync status in ManageXR is “Up To Date.”
Use the “Remove WiFi Network” device command to remove the provisioning network.
Adding the Provisioning Network via the ManageXR Console
Create another WiFi network profile for your provisioning network.
Assign the deployment and provisioning networks to the same configuration.
Install ManageXR on your device using the Device Setup Tool.
Ensure your devices sync with the deployed configuration.
You can do this by checking that your devices’ sync status in ManageXR is “Up To Date.”
Remove the provisioning network from the configuration.
Troubleshooting
Device alerts are especially useful in identifying network issues that occur within your fleet of devices. As a note, device alerts can be found on the dashboard and the device detail page.
Dashboard
Device Detail page
Below are some troubleshooting steps for common issues you may encounter while deploying a network.
Blocked Endpoints
Symptoms:
Network Error alert on ManageXR Dashboard
In-headset alerts in the admin settings
Troubleshooting:
Send our Network Requirements article to your IT department. Ask your IT admins to confirm once they have allowed all required endpoints on your network.
Missing Certificate or Certificate Deployment Issue
Symptoms:
Devices connect to a network but have no internet connection.
Troubleshooting:
Work with your IT team to understand if you have a content filtering system or reverse proxy. Then, work with ManageXR support to deploy your certificate!
Unreliable Network for Large Downloads
Symptoms:
Devices repeatedly fail to complete downloads
Average download speeds are extremely slow when downloading content
Devices regularly have Network Issue alerts for Unstable Network Connection
Troubleshooting:
Consider switching to a stronger network or creating a dedicated network for devices
If all else fails, consider offline options:
Need more help?
Talk to a member of our team using the chat bubble in the bottom right of your screen or reach out to support@managexr.com.