Solstice Conference Checklist

Solstice Conference provides flexible, wireless video conferencing in any room that’s equipped with a Solstice Pod. With the Conference upgrade, Solstice becomes a BYOM video conferencing system that delivers rich content sharing to remote participants and supports touchless, agnostic conferencing for any meeting wirelessly, usually at a much lower cost than single-purpose dedicated hardware.

Before realizing these benefits, however, it’s important that the minimum technical requirements be met to ensure a high-quality video conference experience. This list outlines the specifications and requirements of the various system components—Solstice system, local area network, AV peripherals, and host laptop—which are generally consistent with current best practice IT methodologies.

Requirements and Recommendations

Solstice System

  • Gen3 Solstice Pod is connected to the network by Ethernet. It is strongly recommended that the Pod be running Solstice 5.5.1 or greater. A current Solstice Subscription or Active Learning Subscription is also recommended.
  • Solstice Conferencing is enabled on the Pod in the Solstice Cloud Room Intelligence settings (or Solstice Dashboard > Appearance and Usage).
  • Solstice Discovery Service (SDS) is installed and configured in the Mersive Solstice app (required for location-based connection options).
  • Room calendar is configured on the Solstice Pod (recommended for best user experience).

Network

  • Solstice Pod is hardwired to the enterprise network via Ethernet. Solstice Conference is not supported if the Pod is connected wirelessly.
  • Connections between host laptop and Solstice Pod have end-to-end latency of 50 ms or less.
  • Network has a minimum bandwidth of 50 Mbps per active Solstice video conferencing session/room.

    • Solstice Conference does not require any additional internet bandwidth beyond what is needed for the video conferencing service.

  • Ensure required network ports are open. To connect Solstice to a video conference, open the default base ports +17. (For example, if 53100–53102 are the configured base ports, open TCP/UDP ports 53100–53119.) Other network ports are required for other Solstice functionality. For more information on network port requirements for Solstice, see Network Requirements.

Audio/Video Peripherals

  • Use certified partner peripherals from the Solstice Peripherals List.
  • Audio and video devices must be connected to the Solstice Pod via USB.
  • Use external power supplies provided with peripheral devices, even if optional. A powered USB hub may be used as an alternative. Peripherals should not be powered via the USB connection to the Pod.

Meeting Host Laptops

  • Conference hosts (users who will host the video conference from their laptop) have a laptop that meets the recommended Windows or macOS specs below.

    Video conferences with Solstice on Windows

    Spec

    Recommended

    Required

    Operating System

    Windows 10/11

    Windows 10 version 1903 or later

    Hardware

    Intel i7 quad core processor (8th generation or later) @ 2.4 GHz

    16GB memory

    Intel i5 quad core processor (6th generation or later) @ 1.6GHz

    8GB memory

    Support Note

    CPU priority management in version 5.5.2 and higher of the Mersive Solstice app for Windows may support Solstice Conference on some devices with less than a quad-core processor and 8 GB of memory. See more details.

    To check your Windows laptop specs, open Command Prompt and enter the dxdiag command.

    Video conferences with Solstice on macOS

    Spec

    Recommended

    Required

    Operating System

    macOS Monterey 12.X

    macOS Big Sur 11.0 or later

    Hardware

    Quad-Core i7 (8th generation or later) @ 2.4 GHz

    Intel i5 quad core processor (8th generation or later) @ 1.2 GHz

    8GB memory

    Support Notes

    - Due to a compatibility issue with virtual cameras on Mac laptops with Intel processors, macOS Ventura 13.X is not currently supported for video conferences with Solstice.

    - Macbook Air 2021 laptops and newer can be used for video conferences with Solstice; older Macbook Air laptops are not supported.
  • Latest versions of Mersive Solstice app and Solstice Conference drivers installed on the meeting host's laptop.

    Elevated permissions are required to install Solstice Conference drivers. If users do not have elevated permissions, administrators may centrally deploy the Mersive Solstice app with MSI or SCCM.

    Write access to the settings directory C:\ProgramData\Mersive\ALLUSERS\Solstice\Client\ is needed to store user settings.

    Mersive recommends the version of the Mersive Solstice app always match the software version of the Solstice Pod. Some versions of the Mersive Solstice app may require the versions to match exactly to connect Solstice resources to a video conference. Starting in version 5.5.1, users will be warned about mismatching versions but will still be able to share the Solstice display and access room cameras and mics connected to the Solstice Pod.

    In Solstice 5.5 and later, Solstice Conference drivers are perpetually licensed, making content shared to Solstice and connected peripherals available to video conferencing apps after a Pod's Solstice Subscription has lapsed.

  • Screen resolution of 4K laptops scaled down to 1080p when connecting Solstice to a video conference.
  • No additional monitors attached to the host laptop during Solstice connections to video conferences.
  • Installed conferencing applications (Zoom, Teams, etc.) updated to the latest versions.

  • Windows deployments using a tool that limits program access, like an anti-virus program, device management service, or a local firewall such as Windows Defender Firewall, may need to whitelist or allow the following program files used by the Mersive Solstice app and Solstice Conference drivers on Windows:

    • rsusbipclient.exe
    • SolsticeClient.exe
    • SolsticeConference.exe
    • SolsticeVirtualDisplay.exe

    If the programs are not listed, add the programs manually using the installation path of the Mersive Solstice app. Example installation paths are as follows:

    • MSI & SCCM (from mersive.com/download-admin/) app v5.3+ installers location: 
      C:\Program Files\Mersive Technologies, Inc\Solstice\Client
    • MSI Solstice Conference drivers (from mersive.com/download-admin/) installer location:
      C:\Program Files\Mersive Technologies, Inc\Solstice\Solstice Conference
    • Quick Connect app (.EXE downloaded from Solstice Pod or from mersive.com/download/) v5.3+ location:
      C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Mersive\SolsticeClient

Limitations

  • The amount of local area network bandwidth required is largely dictated by a combination of the video conferencing application and video camera used.

    Resolution: Use lower resolution cameras if local area network bandwidth is limited.

  • Audio crackling, degradation of streaming quality, and other performance issues may occur when the Pod is under high resource utilization.

    Resolution: Reduce number of shares, video content shared, and/or use lower resolution cameras if system performance issues occur.

  • 4K conference host laptops may be limited to a single desktop share; sharing additional content may strain the laptop’s resources.

    Resolution: Mersive recommends scaling your screen resolution down to 1080p when connecting Solstice to a video conference.

  • The Mersive Solstice app currently supports integration with Microsoft 365 calendars only.

    Resolution: Support for integrating other calendars may be added in the future. Contact your Mersive representative with specific requests.

Related Topic

Solstice Conference Setup