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MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mgr

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:57 am
by CleggGP
Meetinghouse wireless access may now be disabled/enabled using Technology Manager (TM) (see TM announcement below). Leaders may do so without physical access to the firewall.

This feature should only be used under the direction and instructions of the meetinghouse Stake/District President. Church units who use the feature must carefully coordinate and communicate its use and timing.

The “Enable All Access Points” and “Disable All Access Points” buttons are available under the TM “Access Points” tab for the Stake Technology Specialist and Stake/District/Ward/Branch presidency members.

Once disabled, wireless access points no longer broadcast the LDSAccess SSID. Afterwards wireless access may be re-enabled through Technology Manager from a device either connected to the building's wired network or connected to a different Internet service.

This feature is useful for preserving Internet bandwidth during important meetings or broadcasts. Once wireless access is disabled, the building’s network is still available through the wired network. IMPORTANT: Leaders must remember to re-enable wireless access following the meeting or event.

The Stake Technology Specialist is generally responsible for supporting this feature. Issues associated with the enable/disable wireless feature should be directed to the Global Service Center (+1 855‐537‐4357).

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TECHNOLOGY MANAGER ANNOUNCEMENT:
Meetinghouse wireless access enable/disable feature available through Technology Manager

"Wireless access may now be disabled/enabled through Technology Manager. For meetinghouses the Stake Technology Specialist or Stake/District/Ward/Branch presidencies may do so under the direction of the meetinghouse Stake/District President. The disable feature prevents devices from using LDSAccess. Once disabled, wireless access may be re-enabled through Technology Manager from a device either connected to the building's wired network or connected to a different Internet service. A history log records the date, time, and person's name for wireless network changes."

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:29 pm
by danpass
:D !!!
When I read this post, I was hoping the "popular request" would be this feature. Our next stake conference is in 5 weeks and I'm thrilled!

A big thanks to all involved in making this happen!

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:54 am
by pete.arnett
Outstanding

It works great and has a History log

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 1:15 pm
by CleggGP
When testing the disable wireless TM feature, do so in the meetinghouse to verify that the LDSAccess SSID disappears. Both the dedicated Cisco APs as well as the internal wireless of the Cisco 881W firewall should be disabled. Also test at a time that will not impact Church units in the building.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 5:09 pm
by lajackson
CleggGP wrote:Both the dedicated Cisco APs as well as the internal wireless of the Cisco 881W firewall should be disabled.
If the internal wireless of the Cisco 881W was not working, will turning it off and then back on cause it to work, or do we still need to call the GSC for a special internal wireless restart?

Our internal wireless goes out every few months in each building, and GSC has had to turn it back on in the past.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:37 pm
by CleggGP
lajackson wrote:If the internal wireless of the Cisco 881W was not working, will turning it off and then back on cause it to work...?
If internal wireless has an issue (e.g. stuck in ROM mode) then doing disable/enable will not fix it.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:03 pm
by CleggGP
pete.arnett wrote:It works great and has a History log
So far the new enable/disable wireless feature is working well.

As an STS, if you are testing the feature, please do so at a time that will not impact people in the building. Within the building the LDSAccess SSID should disappear; then after connecting to Technology Manager and selecting “Enable All" (through either the building’s wired network, or through a different Internet service), all of the building access points should be visible. (Note: you may need to select the Refresh button). Following this you should see your name and disable/enable time in the "History" log.

As a reminder: The disable/enable TM feature should be used under the direction of the meetinghouse Stake/District President.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:07 pm
by tlhackett
lajackson wrote: If the internal wireless of the Cisco 881W was not working, will turning it off and then back on cause it to work, or do we still need to call the GSC for a special internal wireless restart?

Our internal wireless goes out every few months in each building, and GSC has had to turn it back on in the past.
Most of the time the internal wireless on the firewalls "turn off" because they run into an error so serious it cannot continue. Usually it is a memory issue and needs to be formatted and re-imaged.

If you do not see an access point show up in TM, it cannot be disabled/enabled. In these circumstances you'd have to call the GSC to get it fixed.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:55 am
by aclawson
Helpful tip: sometimes a presenter relies on an internet connection for their presentation. They shouldn't but sometimes they do. If you are going to be shutting off the wifi during these sessions, bring along a spare consumer grade router and plug it in near the presentation location to create a temporary presentation SSID and give out the password only to those who absolutely need it for that meeting.

Eventually I'm hoping that temporary SSIDs can be created through TM - the WAPs already support them, and with just a line or two of scripting the LDSAccess SSID can be disabled and a one-time SSID be activated with a customized password to be used for that event only.

Re: MH wireless enable/disable feature available in Tech. Mg

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:49 am
by drepouille
yarrgh wrote:If you do not see an access point show up in TM, it cannot be disabled/enabled. In these circumstances you'd have to call the GSC to get it fixed.
When I could not see an access point in TM, the GSC suggested that I perform a factory reset on it. Then I realized that someone had dislodged the power plug from the power injector. When I pushed it back in, all was well.