Optimising network communication for PC remote control

[ITWombat]

Are there particular settings you use on switches and computers to optimise the speed of remote control programs, especially if your controlling a whole room of computers.

[rdhawkins]

ITWombat,

Issues with remote control programs usually fall into 2 camps; connecting in the first place and then performance once connected. I'll talk about NetSupport School as thats my field

1. Connecting

In order to make this as smooth as possible you should check that all the routers/firewalls/computers are unblocking the required port. Each product should have its own TCP/IP port that it communicates on (for NetSupport School this is 5405 for example). Another problem that can prevent initial connection is locating the remote computer, typically r/c programs browse the network by sending out a UDP packet asking for remote PC's to respond. Some switches/routers block forwarding on these UDP packets so the teachers machine can't find them.

2. Performance

Once connected performance should be acceptable for most applications even when broadcasting to a class full of computers. If however you plan to do this in a wireless environment you need to make a few changes, we have found that the best performance on wireless is achieved by throttling the data sent to the access point. It is too easy to overload the wireless network at which point the access point will throw packets away causing lots of retires. If you have wireless students (laptops or tablet PC's for example) you get a much better throughput if the teacher PC is wired.

Hope that helps

Rob
NetSupport Ltd