By Dec. 22 all campus Wi-Fi connections will go through eduroam. IU residence halls will make the switch from IU Secure to eduroam by May 26.
Eduroam is currently available and ready to use for all students and staff on campus.
Eduroam is different from IU Secure in that once you connect to one network you can connect to any other eduroam network in the world. There are currently over 2200 locations in the US where eduroam is available, 22 of which are in Indiana.
“IU Secure and eduroam use the same Wi-Fi infrastructure, the only real difference is the way you authenticate,” Mark Spencer, manager of network engineering at UITS, said.
Authentication is the way that a user connects to the Wi-Fi network. With IU Secure, users sign in with their IU username. With eduroam, the whole email address is used.
Spencer said eduroam and IU Secure work in the same way. The reason IU Secure is being retired is to ensure that connection speeds are fast as possible by only using one network.
Other Big Ten schools have already implemented eduroam on their campuses. Minnesota, Iowa and Purdue all use eduroam as their main Wi-Fi network according to the eduroam website. IU Health hospitals have also begun to implement the new system, Spencer said.
UITS encourages all students and staff to make the switch to eduroam before the start of the fall 2021 semester.
“The best way to get onto eduroam is to go to https://wifi.iu.edu and use the install eduroam button from your laptop or mobile device,” Spencer said.
If students or staff have any issues or questions on how to connect to the new network, they can contact UITS 24/7. They are available by phone at 812-855-6789, by email at ithelp@iu.edu and by online chat at https://ithelplive.iu.edu/.
