Introduction to eduroam for end users
Getting an eduroam account
Compatible computing devices
eduroam is based on IT industry standards and there are too many devices which support eduroam for them to be exhaustively listed here. As a general rule, you can verify whether your device can do eduroam by looking into your device's manual. Check for the following points
- Does the device support wireless encryption with WPA2/AES?
- Does the device support "Enterprise" authentication (this is sometimes also called "IEEE 802.1X support")?
If both are a "Yes", then your device is good to go in principle. There is one further question which is depending on your institution's eduroam setup though: Enterprise authentication happens via so-called "EAP Methods". Your institution has selected one or more of these EAP methods for eduroam; and their list must match your device's capabilities. Your institution will be able to tell you which EAP methods they support. To give you an idea what to look for, here is a list of popular EAP methods:
- EAP TTLS-PAP
- PEAP
- EAP TLS
- EAP FAST
Further to these generic instructions, we have an ongoing community effort to document known-working devices on the following page: Compatible Devices.
Configuring your compatible device for eduroam
As a golden rule, you need to configure your device only exactly once, as instructed to by your home institution. From then on, you can use all eduroam hotspots world-wide without reconfiguring anything.
Exactly how to configure your laptop or other handheld device for eduroam will depend on
- which device(s) you are using and
- your institution's local identity management configuration
If you know that your school / university / college does provide eduroam, please ask the IT staff for support with setting it up on your laptop or other devices. Important: the configuration instructions are specific for your institution. It is not helpful to follow configuration instructions of other institutions; the settings are different from institution to institution and you will very likely misconfigure your device if trying third-party configurations.
If you are not sure whether or not your institution provides eduroam, the National Roaming Operator for your country may be able to help with your enquiry. To find out more, follow the linked maps from http://www.eduroam.org/
eduroam hotspots world-wide
eduroam is a world-wide effort. Currently, eduroam Points of Presence are located on three continents. eduroam Operations is preparing a world-wide map with all positions on all continents. Until that service is online, please consult the four region-specific maps: