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How do I know if Monitor is monitoring devices?

Updated

The Devices page tracks all monitored devices and their current monitoring statuses. You can identify the devices that Monitor may not be protecting, including those that:

Before you begin

Find inactive devices

Monitor flags a device as inactive when it has not connected to Monitor in more than five days or sent data for more than seven days.

  1. Go to Monitor > Devices and select your Organizations. 

      Note

    This option is available if you have multiple schools. If you don’t select any organization, Monitor shows all devices across your district or trust.

  2. Sort the Devices page by selecting the Status column.
  3. Review the results and choose the appropriate troubleshooting steps.

Troubleshoot inactive devices

Devices typically fail to connect to or send data back to Monitor when students stop using them or when they run outdated versions of the Monitor client.

Follow the troubleshooting steps below for inactive devices or out-of-date clients.

Devices did not send any captures in over seven days

Check if students no longer use the devices

  • Check if the device is still in inventory by looking up the Device name or serial number in your school’s asset register.
  • Remove Monitor from these devices if they have been lost or removed from the school’s inventory.

  Note

If you are permanently removing a device from the school's inventory, you must also ensure that the Monitor client is uninstalled directly from the device.

Check if device users were inactive or offline

  • Check the device names or serial numbers to see if the inactive devices belong to a specific year group or class. Cross-check the information with your timetables.

Check if a technical issue occurred

  • If your school uses a firewall, allow the device to communicate with Monitor and your school systems.
  • Check that the correct OrgID and SerialID are being distributed to the device.
  • Check that Monitor Service-Smoothwall Safeguarding is running.

Devices did not send any captures in over two days

One or two days of inactivity is normal in most cases, especially if students have not used the device over a weekend.

  • If too few of your devices are connecting to Monitor, use your school’s administrative console or network logs to find the most recent activity.
  • If too many devices are listed after a recent name change, wait seven days, sort for the old names, and delete them.
  • Note the inactivity and check Monitor for the devices in five days.

Troubleshoot network configuration changes

Network configuration changes are the most common cause why multiple devices fail to connect to Monitor. You can take the following steps to troubleshoot these devices.

  1. Ensure your firewall doesn’t block Monitor traffic.
  2. Check for outdated versions of Monitor to ensure affected devices have the latest version, then reconnect them to your network. Open a web page, like google.com, and select a link on the page. You can also search for ‘Smoothwall Test Suicide’. See: Test if Monitor is working.
  3. In Monitor, open or refresh the Devices page.
  4. Search for the Apple or Windows device’s name or Chromebook’s serial number.

The device should appear in the list if you are connecting the device to the internet. If the device is not in the list, perform the following checks in order:

  1. Check the client: Ensure the Monitor client is actively running on the device.
  2. Check the IDs: Verify that the correct Organization ID and UNCL Serial ID are assigned.
  3. Check connectivity: Confirm the device has an active internet connection and that local firewall settings aren't blocking traffic.
  4. Reinstall: If you have tried all other troubleshooting options without success, reinstall the Monitor client.

Check for outdated versions of Monitor

Monitor requires devices to run the latest version of Monitor to ensure it gathers accurate information. In most cases, devices that run older versions of the Monitor client stop sending back data.