Air Server

[alwaysneedinghelp]

We have recently implemented air server into our network at our school on the teachers stations, we have the PC's setup to broadcast themselves, we have found the problem with this is that students can see the PC's and can request a code to connect to them which displays the code on the screen and will disrupt lessons and if they are in the room they would be able to see the code enter it in and display their idevice. This will cause a lot of problems and i was wondering if there is a way to authenticate which users can request codes, or maybe change it so it isnt an open broadcast and it can be contained or even if only specific devices can be connected and we have to program in their mac address??

[mdench]

Do you have VLANS on your network?

 

We have seperate wireless VLANS setup for staff and student wireless and have used the firewall on our core switch to only allow the various ports needed for AirServer to work through to the Staff Wireless network.

[seawolf]

It would seem that you have a flat network here - yes? That is what you really need to solve here.

 

If you don't, then somehow you have bonjour traffic routing across VLANs, which is usually the opposite problem people have.

 

I assume you have passwords set on AirServer that the teachers have to enter to connect to AirServer? If not, then turn that on. Or, just discipline the heck our of any student who does disrupt a lesson (can you say goodbye iPad).

[alwaysneedinghelp]

unfortunately we have only one vlan for both staff and students

[alwaysneedinghelp]

this is exactly right, i think the only way we can do it is extreme discipline, or even if we added another ssid for Airserver access only, as much as its an inconvenience it would solve the problem

[pantscat]

Another SSID wouldn't help - the clients would still be on the same VLAN and so would be able to communicate.

[seawolf]

Another SSID wouldn't help - the clients would still be on the same VLAN and so would be able to communicate.

 

Another WLAN would help IF client isolation was turned the WLAN used by the students and the computers running AirServer were on the then her WLAN.

 

Otherwise, no it wouldn't help at all.

[Dos_Box]

Moving to Wireless Networks forum.

[enjay]

Another SSID wouldn't help - the clients would still be on the same VLAN and so would be able to communicate.

 

Don't think that's true. AirPlay uses multicast, which you may be able to enable/disable on the individual SSIDs - certainly, that's what we've done on our Meru. Staff SSID has it enabled so staff devices can connect to the Airserver/AppleTV, student SSID doesn't. Your challenge then becomes keeping the staff SSID key secret......

[Jasbo]

Just change the options on the software to a different password option?

 

you can specify it via command line.

 

We set the app to run on startup, staff know the password - a word with the room number on the end. So kids don't even see it flash up on an iwb.

 

Not had a single issue with students accessing anything.