Enterprise networking for Chrome devices
When deploying Chrome devices in a business or school, you can set up a wireless network much the same way you would set up an office or classroom full of laptops or tablets. You want to make sure that you have the following:
- Good wireless coverage
- Sufficient Internet bandwidth
- Wireless access points that can handle the number of devices you want to connect.
Recommended networking configuration
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | 802.11n 5 GHz. Use non-DFS channels when possible. See 5 GHz channels for a table of non-DFS channels in your country. In the USA, those are channels 36-48 and 149-165. |
| Bandwidth | At least .2-.5 Mbps per user in a typical deployment. Latency should be less than 100ms when pinging Google's public DNS server at 8.8.8.8. For HD video streaming and HD Hangouts, at least 1 Mbps, preferably 2-5 Mbps or greater per user. |
| Access points | 30 devices per access point. Enterprise-grade access points can handle more. Please refer to the product’s documentation. |
| Policy Refresh Rate | You can specify between 30 to 1440 minutes as the interval for the Chrome device(s) to sync new policies from the Admin console. |
See below for more information about the items in the table.
Access point(s)
The access point should support Wi-Fi 802.11a/g/n. Google recommends 5 GHz 802.11n connections with WPA2-PSK encryption.
- For small deployments of under 30 devices, consumer-grade networking equipment is sufficient.
- For deployments greater than 30 devices or involving multiple rooms, enterprise-grade, centrally managed networking equipment is recommended.
Because of the high density of laptops in a classroom or workplace, network design is important. If you use multiple Wi-Fi access points in a small space, avoid using overlapping Wi-Fi channels to prevent interference. You can test your Wi-Fi strength and coverage using the Wi-Fi Analyzer Android app.
Bandwidth considerations
The amount of network bandwidth you need depends on how the Chrome devices will be used. For general web browsing and editing Google Drive documents, 0.2-0.5 Mbps per concurrent session at a minimum should provide satisfactory performance.
If your employees or students will be streaming video or using Google+ Hangouts, at least 1 Mbps per concurrent user session is needed and >4 Mbps is required for HD video streaming.
Latency may be a greater indicator of user perception of performance than bandwidth for interactive web-based applications. Generally, <100 ms ping is needed for a good experience.
Note: See Set up TLS (or SSL) inspection on Chrome devices for information on how to set up networks with TLS and SSL content filters.
What are the maximum number of HTTP connections I can make with a Chrome device or browser?
- The maximum number of connections per proxy is 32 connections. For more details, see the Chromium site.
- Maximum per Host: 6 connections
- Total HTTP pooled connections per browser: 256 connections
- You can also verify what the limits are by going to chrome://net-internals/#sockets. You'll see a column titled Max Per Group which indicates the connection per host limit.
