Network/wifi setup

Purpose

Connection to the internet and the Strivr cloud is required to conduct the following activities:

Devices connect to the Strivr cloud to report online/offline status along with specific health metrics. Connectivity status from the device is sent to the Strivr Portal every 15 minutes. Device health metrics include asset tags, assigned location, system storage status, content deployed, and various technical details. This information is critical for troubleshooting devices and understanding their state.

Software upgrades include over-the-air updates to Strivr Player once the devices are deployed to the field. These updates typically occur once within a 3 - 6 month period but can occur more frequently. Connection to the Strivr cloud is required for deploying software upgrades and installing them on the headset via the MDM.

Connection to the Strivr cloud is required for deploying content and in-headset configuration to devices from Strivr. While the experiences are locally cached on the headsets, once deployed, connection to the Strivr cloud is needed to deploy any updates to existing modules or deploying new courses to headsets. This activity is conducted on an as-needed basis according to the content rollout program for customers.

Devices collect telemetry in the form of encrypted files that contain usage, performance, and behavioral data. These telemetry files are attached to the self-identification ID and are uploaded back to the Strivr cloud when a functioning network is available. Thus telemetry uploads can happen asynchronously to training.

Network Type & Bandwidth

Strivr devices currently support the following network types:

WiFi Security Type Configurable via MDM? Description/Comments
Open ✔ Supported but may not be ideal from a security perspective
WEP ✔ Supported but may not be ideal from a security perspective
Captive Portal based WiFi ✗ Not ideal for scale deployments with multiple devices because it requires manual intervention
WiFi Protected Access with Pre-Shared Key (WPA2-PSK) ✔ Typically used for IoT devices and other non-corporate networks that sit outside of customer firewalls
WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x) ✔ Typically used for scale
Certificate based WiFi ✔ Typically used for most corporate networks

Network access should be provided through customer infrastructure and managed by the customer’s IT/Network representatives.Strivr recommends a stable and robust customer network with the following speeds. The speeds are defined on a per-headset basis.

  Minimum Ideal Excellent Network Type
Download speeds 7.5 Mbps 20 Mbps 30+ Mbps 5G / 2.4 G
Upload speeds 2.5 Mbps 10 Mbps 15+ Mbps 5G / 2.4 G

Comparing Connectivity Options

Feature Good Connectivity Moderate Connectivity* No Connectivity
End User Ready Yes Yes Yes
Content Updates Yes Unlikely No
Software Updates Yes Unlikely No
Telemetry Yes Yes No
Supportability Yes Yes No

* Network connectivity limited due to available bandwidth, reliability, firewall, or other restrictions

Network Security, Usage, and Frequency

Strivr Creator and Strivr Portal only operate when online and require access to the Strivr service layer via HTTPS over the internet.

Strivr VR headsets can support training in an offline state. When internet connectivity becomes available, the device establishes a secure connection with the Strivr Service Platform over HTTPS.

While connected to the Internet, the headset establishes these connections with Strivr cloud:

Data Type Up/Down Typical Data Usage Strivr Cloud Check Frequency Frequency for Availability Control
Device Connectivity Status Both 1-4MB/day 15 minutes 15 minutes Automatic
Device Health Information Both 1-4MB/day 30 minutes 30 minutes Automatic
Telemetry Upload 20MB/training session* When telemetry files are available When training sessions are completed Automatic
Strivr Player updates Download 100MB/month N/A As needed (~1/month) MDM or Strivr
Content Updates Download 300MB-4GB** 15 minutes As needed (~1/quarter) Strivr Portal
Firmware Download Varies N/A Infrequent MDM

* Size depends on the length of the training; this is a rough average
** Size varies significantly according to content. Subsequent updates will be 5-10% of original size.

Strivr Cloud URL Allow Listing

If the MDM limits which domains/URLs a device can connect to, ensure that the URLs required for Strivr cloud to communicate with the headsets are allowed on an enrollment level. The list of these URLs can be found in the System Architecture Overview document. Strivr recommends the customer work with the respective account team to obtain relevant documentation to test URL allow listing.

Network Reliability

These are the best practices that a customer needs to follow to maintain a strong and reliable network for keeping devices connected to Strivr.

  • Network should be low latency and reliable with low packet loss and few intermittent dropouts

  • Devices should not be stored in metal boxes other than the recommended Strivr storage solutions, nor should they be stacked on top of each other.

  • There should not be multiple walls between the devices and the access point.

  • Customers should be aware of any blackout periods/change in bandwidth availability during the day that may significantly affect device connectivity and content distribution.

  • For further best practices, refer to Wireless Network Best Practices

Network Rotation & Failover Network

Strivr recommends customers have a failover network for their existing device fleet. This is especially true for the following cases:

  • If an organization uses a cert-based network for connecting WiFi devices, there is typically a rotation that occurs wherein a new certificate is pushed and the old certificate is deemed invalid after the push. This is typically a security exercise.

  • If an organization uses a WPA 2 Personal or Enterprise/PSK-based network for connecting WiFi devices, there may be a network policy to periodically change WiFi passwords which may deem the devices disconnected to WiFi.

Strivr strongly recommends for customers to consider VR devices as part of their key network rotation plan and adequately plan to ensure that

  • All Strivr devices have received the new network certificate or network credentials during the rotation phase.

  • Set up a reliable failover network that overlaps with cert/password rotation periods to ensure that devices can switch over to the failover.

Not doing so may result in unnecessary RMAs, especially in scenarios where cert-based wifi is the only option. In either case, devices are typically managed by an MDM solution which is used to push WiFi certificates or credentials to the headsets during enrollment. If a device at a business location isn’t brought online during the WiFi certificate/credentials upgrade window and the old certificate expires, there isn’t a way to remotely update the certificate or the credentials, thus deeming the device as disconnected

Proxy Settings

Specific Android versions installed on Strivr provisioned headsets may only support pass-through proxies, however specific pass-through proxies such as Man in the middle or TLS termination proxies aren’t supported by the headsets. As a part of pushing policies after the MDM enrollment process, Strivr recommends customers do not push a proxy that may block access to the URLs in the Strivr allow list when the devices are operated at the customer site. Strivr recommends the customer investigate such proxy settings and allow the Strivr-specific URLs to ensure that headsets can communicate with Strivr cloud while on customer premises.

To ensure that these types of proxy settings are not configured and pushed onto the devices, Strivr recommends the customer point of contact work with the respective networking team.

Recommendations / Best Practices

By default Android headsets may use dynamically generated MAC addresses. In some environments it may be necessary or desirable to disable dynamic MAC address generation on Strivr headsets.

Scenarios in which device MAC addresses may be required may include but are not limited to:

  • IP address assignment based on MAC address

  • MAC address filtering is in use

  • PPSK is leveraged for per device authentication keys

To disable MAC address randomization:

  1. On the headset, browse to Wifi & Network Settings (for a headset already provisioned with Strivr Player, hold the controller thumbstick up and then pull the trigger).

  2. On the WLAN selection menu browse to the bottom of the list and select Advanced Options.

  3. From the wifi network menu, select the desired WLAN.

  4. Expand the Advanced Options section.

  5. Under the Privacy subheading select Use device MAC.

IP Address Range / Assignment

Strivr Cloud

Strivr does not currently publish specific dynamic IP ranges for individual backend services. Because Strivr develops cloud services on the Google Cloud Platform, Strivr uses the available IPs defined and published by Google. More information on the dynamic backend IP ranges can be found here.

Head Mounted Devices

Strivr recommends using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) for dynamic IP address allocation for the headsets within a customer’s IT network.