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Dedicated Network Setup

For permanent installations, live events, and video walls where reliability is non-negotiable, the single most effective thing you can do is put your FloSync computers on their own private network — completely isolated from the internet.

This guide walks you through building that network from scratch, then locking down each computer so nothing interferes with playback.

Why Isolate the Network?

When your FloSync computers share a network with other devices and internet traffic, they're competing for bandwidth and dealing with unpredictable latency. On a typical office or venue network:

  • Windows Update can saturate your connection without warning
  • Cloud storage services (OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud) sync files in the background
  • Other devices generate broadcast traffic that your switch must handle
  • Router firmware updates can restart your gateway mid-show
  • DHCP lease renewals can briefly interrupt connectivity

On a dedicated network, none of this exists. Your FloSync computers talk only to each other, over a direct connection with sub-millisecond latency and zero contention. It's the same approach used by professional broadcast playout systems, commercial digital signage networks, and live event AV rigs.

What You Need

The hardware requirements are minimal:

Computers Hardware Cost
2 One Ethernet cable ~$5
3+ One unmanaged gigabit switch + one cable per computer ~$20–30

That's it. No router, no modem, no internet connection. Just a switch (or a single cable for two machines) and standard Ethernet cables.

Hub vs. switch: A hub technically works, but a switch is better in every way — each port gets dedicated bandwidth instead of sharing, and they cost about the same. Any cheap unmanaged gigabit switch is fine.

Step 1: Connect the Hardware

Two computers

Connect a standard Ethernet cable directly between the two computers. Modern network adapters auto-detect crossover, so any Ethernet cable works — you don't need a special crossover cable.

Three or more computers

Plug each computer into the same unmanaged switch using standard Ethernet cables.

┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│   PC 1   │     │   PC 2   │     │   PC 3   │
│  Server  │     │  Client  │     │  Client  │
└────┬─────┘     └────┬─────┘     └────┬─────┘
     │                │                │
     └────────────────┼────────────────┘
                      │
               ┌──────┴──────┐
               │   Switch    │
               └─────────────┘

Step 2: Assign Static IP Addresses

Without a router, there's no DHCP server to hand out IP addresses automatically. You'll assign them manually.

Windows

  1. Open Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet
  2. Click on the Ethernet adapter (it may show as "Unidentified network" — that's normal)
  3. Click Edit next to IP assignment
  4. Change from Automatic (DHCP) to Manual
  5. Enable IPv4 and enter:
Computer IP Address Subnet Mask Gateway DNS
PC 1 (Server) 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 Leave blank Leave blank
PC 2 (Client) 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 Leave blank Leave blank
PC 3 (Client) 192.168.1.3 255.255.255.0 Leave blank Leave blank

Continue the pattern for additional computers: 192.168.1.4, 192.168.1.5, etc.

  1. Click Save

macOS

  1. Open System Settings > Network > Ethernet
  2. Click Details on the Ethernet connection
  3. Select TCP/IP from the sidebar
  4. Change Configure IPv4 to Manually
  5. Enter the IP address and subnet mask from the table above
  6. Leave Router and DNS blank
  7. Click OK

Step 3: Set the Network Profile to Private (Windows)

Windows treats unidentified networks as Public by default, which blocks most local traffic including FloSync's sync packets. You need to change this.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# Check the current profile
Get-NetConnectionProfile

# Set it to Private (replace "Ethernet" with the name shown above if different)
Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet" -NetworkCategory Private

Why this matters: Windows Firewall applies different rules to Public vs. Private networks. On Public, it blocks incoming connections — including FloSync's UDP sync traffic. Setting the profile to Private tells Windows these are trusted machines on your own network.

Step 4: Allow FloSync Through the Firewall

FloSync uses UDP port 9201 for sync communication. Even on a Private network, you need to make sure the firewall allows it.

Windows

  1. Open Windows Defender Firewall > Allow an app through firewall
  2. Find FloSync in the list and enable it for Private networks
  3. If FloSync isn't listed, click Allow another app and browse to the FloSync executable

macOS

macOS will prompt you to allow incoming connections when FloSync first starts in server mode. Click Allow. If you missed this prompt:

  1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Firewall > Options
  2. Add FloSync and set it to Allow incoming connections

Step 5: Verify Connectivity

Before launching FloSync, confirm the computers can talk to each other.

Open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS) on any machine and ping the others:

ping 192.168.1.2

You should see replies with times under 1ms. If you get "Request timed out":

  1. Double-check the IP addresses on both machines
  2. Verify the Ethernet cable is plugged in and the link light is on
  3. On Windows, confirm the network profile is set to Private (Step 3)
  4. Temporarily disable the firewall to isolate the issue

For a clean, dedicated setup, disable Wi-Fi on each FloSync computer so all traffic goes exclusively over the wired connection.

Windows: Click the Wi-Fi icon in the taskbar and toggle it off.

macOS: Click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar and select Turn Wi-Fi Off.

Keeping Internet Access on a Second Connection

If you need internet access on the same machine (for remote management, monitoring, etc.), you can leave Wi-Fi enabled. The two networks operate independently:

  • Ethernet (192.168.1.x): Dedicated FloSync sync traffic
  • Wi-Fi (your regular network): Internet access

This works because the two networks are on different subnets. FloSync's broadcast traffic on the Ethernet subnet won't cross over to Wi-Fi, and internet traffic won't interfere with sync.

Locking Down the Operating System

An isolated network eliminates external interference, but the operating system itself can still cause problems. For permanent installations and events, lock down these settings on every FloSync computer.

Disable Automatic Updates

The most common source of unexpected disruptions in any long-running installation.

Windows:

  1. Open Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options
  2. Pause updates for the maximum duration available
  3. For permanent installations, consider disabling the Windows Update service entirely:
    • Open Services (services.msc)
    • Find Windows Update
    • Set Startup type to Disabled
    • Click Stop if it's running

Remember to re-enable updates when the installation is over or during scheduled maintenance windows.

macOS:

  1. Open System Settings > General > Software Update
  2. Click the info (i) button next to Automatic Updates
  3. Disable all automatic update options

Disable Cloud Storage Sync

Cloud sync services consume bandwidth, CPU, and disk I/O unpredictably.

Windows:

  • OneDrive: Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray > Settings > uncheck Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows. Then right-click again and select Quit OneDrive.
  • Dropbox / Google Drive: Similar — disable auto-start and quit the application.

macOS:

  • iCloud Drive: System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > turn off iCloud Drive
  • Dropbox / Google Drive: Quit and disable auto-start in the app's preferences

Disable Background Apps and Telemetry (Windows)

Windows runs many background tasks that can spike CPU and disk usage.

  1. Settings > Apps > Startup: Disable everything except FloSync (if using Launch at Login)
  2. Settings > Privacy & Security > General: Turn off all advertising and tracking options
  3. Settings > System > Notifications: Turn off notifications entirely, or at minimum disable notification banners and sounds

Disable Spotlight / Search Indexing

File indexing services can cause sustained disk I/O, especially after new content is copied to the machine.

Windows:

  1. Open Services (services.msc)
  2. Find Windows Search
  3. Set Startup type to Disabled and click Stop

macOS:

  1. Open System Settings > Siri & Spotlight
  2. Under Spotlight Privacy, add your video storage drive to prevent indexing

Disable Screen Saver and Lock Screen

Prevent the system from covering your content or requiring a login.

Windows:

  • Settings > System > Power > Screen and sleep: Set all options to Never
  • Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options: Set "Require sign-in" to Never
  • Search for Screen saver and set it to None

macOS:

  • System Settings > Lock Screen: Set all timers to Never
  • System Settings > Displays > Advanced: Enable Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off

Set Power Plan to High Performance (Windows)

Prevent the CPU and GPU from throttling during playback.

  1. Open Control Panel > Power Options
  2. Select High Performance (you may need to click "Show additional plans")
  3. Click Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings:
    • USB selective suspend: Disabled
    • PCI Express > Link State Power Management: Off
    • Processor power management > Minimum processor state: 100%

The Complete Checklist

Hardware and Network

  • [ ] All FloSync computers connected via Ethernet to the same switch (or directly for 2 PCs)
  • [ ] Static IP addresses assigned to each computer
  • [ ] No router or internet connection on the dedicated network
  • [ ] Network profile set to Private (Windows)
  • [ ] Firewall allows FloSync / UDP port 9201
  • [ ] ping test confirms sub-1ms connectivity between all machines
  • [ ] Wi-Fi disabled (or on a separate subnet if internet access is needed)

Operating System Lockdown

  • [ ] Automatic OS updates disabled
  • [ ] Cloud storage sync (OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox) disabled
  • [ ] Unnecessary startup apps disabled
  • [ ] Search indexing disabled
  • [ ] Notifications disabled
  • [ ] Screen saver and lock screen disabled
  • [ ] Power plan set to High Performance (Windows)
  • [ ] Sleep and display timeout set to Never

FloSync Configuration