If you run a business with 25+ employees and your computers are over 4 years old, you are loosing productivity! and you know it when you hear things like this every day:

​I had to reboot my system again

• My system is down
• Is the internet down again?
• It takes 20 minutes for my computer to get ready
• Can I bring my own computer?

Your first thoughts circle around laziness, but deeply inside you know you are the one at fault; you need good computers for your employees and a 5+ year old pc is just not going to work; so, what can you do to improve your employees work environment without braking the bank?  

As you know, replacing the entire computer fleet appears to be the only choice, specially when the market now offers high quality business workstations from the low $400's (like ieple's business computers) but if this option is still over budget, that question asked by your employee "Can I bring my own computer" may not be a bad idea at all.

Introducing iEple's BYOD equipment:  

BYOD, according to Wikipedia, refers to the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace, and to use those devices to access privileged company information and applications.

But what about security of my data?  you may ask.

Part of the success of this program, besides the immediate relief of minimizing costs, is the implementation of security; creating isolated, yet accessible virtual work spaces for employees to access their work tools and files through any device but keeping them from being able to copy company data back and forward to their own gadgets.  Just like the image below but way less uncomfortable!

How do I get Started?

BYOD will work for any company that has or is willing to implement:

• Centralized file storage
• Network Sharing protocol with security policy, such as Windows SMB or DFS
• User management system,  such as Microsoft Active Directory
• A security Appliance or Firewall. (most companies already have it)
• Existing network infrastructure, Wired or WiFi.

Hardware/Software alternatives and average costs:

• A Microsoft Remote Desktop Services server  (average upfront cost $650,00 per user, perpetual license)
• A Citrix or Vmware distribuited desktop infrastructure (average upfront cost $500.00 per user, yearly recurring fees)
• iEple's BYOD Server (from the low $200's per user, perpetual license)

In simple terms, A central computer will have a fully functional operating system that more than one user can access concurrently; all the processing power is provided by the central server so the employee devices become just an instrument to get into the system.

Once inside the system, all work is done within, No data leaks, no data exchange between the device and the office system.  Even if the employee computer was infected, the enclosed work environment cannot suffer the effects of the threats.

What to do with the old computers?

You can order a recycling services provider to pick them up or they can be converted into thin-stations, a small safe piece of software gets installed on them so they can be used to access the powerful remote desktop server.

Which things won't work on BYOD

• Special equipment that requires connectivity to a physical computer, i.e. USB card reader.
• Special high end graphic card processing requirements, such as video editing

As you can see, BYOD is a great solution for your small and medium business; iEple can assist with your successful implementation, not only providing savings but actually increasing your profitability by regaining productivity and keeping your employees happier.

Visit our Store for pre-configured BYOD Servers at http://ieple.com/store

After turning on your USG Pro 4 for the first time, you navigate into it's default LAN ip address https://192.168.1.1, and under "Setup my Unifi Gateway" you clicked on "set inform URL" then added the address http://[your server]:8080/inform and then clicked OK. 

​You looked into your controller server and your new USG Pro 4 is not showing up on your devices to be adpoted so you go back and refresh your USG Pro configuration site https://192.168.1.1 to realize your settings didn't take.​

This is a bug that as of today, even the most updated version 4.3.9.4843895 of USG Pro has not fixed yet.

Solution is quite simple, DO NOT waste your time trying to upgrade/downgrade java or your controller.  You will find plenty of forums advising that.  Here is the real solution:

• Ensure your computer is in the same network as the LAN network of your USG
• Ensure your USG has access to the internet

1. Install Putty (get it quickly from https://ninite.com/putty
2. Open Putty and establish an SSH connection to your USG at https://192.168.1.1  (default user/password is ubnt/ubnt)

3. At the command line, type:   set-inform http://[your server]:8080/inform   and then hit enter
4. Go to your Controller and Adopt the device, then wait until the adoption process is finished.  You will see the device does not come back online after adoption because the bug makes it loose the inform url again even after the adoption process, therefore, continue the guide as follows:
5. Verify the device is back up by navigating to https://192.168.1.1
6. Go back to your Putty Session and run the same command again:  set-inform http://[your server]:8080/inform
7. Check on your controller to see if the device comes back online.

Please leave your comments, let us know how this guide is working for you but most importantly call us if you need assistance or support with other networking needs.