Configuration details for eduroam SP support for PassPoint / Hotspot 2.0 (preliminary)

Industry support for Passpoint is developing at varying speeds across vendors, both on the end-user device side and Wi-Fi networking gear side. This page contains both generic information and configuration hints for various eduroam SP gear. WARNING: these things may change over time. Be sure to check back regularly to see if your setup is still up-to-date and conforms to the then-current recommendations.

Generic Information

eduroam SPs (in Wi-Fi Alliance lingo: "hotspots") need to set up a number of configuration parameters so that well-configured end-user devices recognise the hotspot as a) Passpoint compliant and b) as a hotspot that supports connecting to with eduroam credentials. This requires some information elements to be sent out by the eduroam SP equipment. The following list enumerates the current recommendations.

Element NameRecommended ValueRemarks
Consortium OI

00-1B-C5-04-60

The organisation ID 00-1B-C5-04-6 is assigned to GEANT (former TERENA); GEANT has assigned the suffix 0 for eduroam. Further assignments for other consortia such as govroam are possible.
NAI Realm Listeduroam.orgIn one reading of the specification, every realm that a consortium supports should be listed. This is however not only unpractical for eduroam with its thousands of realms, it is also not required by typical end-user devices: the name seen in the Wi-Fi beacon does not have to match the realm of the client-side credential - it rather matches a configured NAIRealm item in the device. We recommend end-user devices be configured with the same static "eduroam.org" value so that the comparison between client device and beacon is a match.
Access Network Type1 (private network with guest access)This value is from an enumeration and is the closest match to a typical eduroam SP.
Domain
  • domain name of the SP
  • if the same organisation is also eduroam IdP, its own realm suffix
According to the specification, end-user devices can detect if they are "home" or "roaming", and to display this in UI to the user. This appears to be detected by matching this "Domain" parameter with the realm of the client-side credential. There is no UI evidence that the distinction is really made and displayed on any end user device we know of though.
Venue NameContact information of the eduroam SP (multiple languages possible, at least English is recommended)

This is free-text information. Support phone numbers or mail addresses, or directions to an offline help desk booth appear reasonable choices. eduroam SPs should keep in mind that this info is also displayed to roaming users (language barrier, ability to diagnose roaming user problems, ...)

IP address type availability

two classifiers (IPv4/IPv6) from IEEE 802.11-2012, tables 8-186 and 8-187

according to deployed reality. Examples:

  • IPv4 = 5 ("port-restricted and single NATed IPv4 address available); IPv6 = 0 ("address type not available")
  • IPv4 = 2 ("port-restricted IPv4 address available); IPv6 = 1 ("address type available")
  • IPv4 = 1 ("public IPv4 address available"); IPv6 = 2 ("availability not known")
Venue Informationclassifier from IEEE 802.11-2012 Table 8-52 and 8-53 (also see Location data in eduroam DB v2.0.1)

according to the actual type of eduroam SP organisation. Typical values are:

  • 3.2 Educational -> School, Secondary
  • 3.3 Educational -> University or College
  • 1.3 Assembly -> Passenger Terminal (for eduroam SPs in airports, train stations, ...)
  • 1.8 Assembly -> Library
  • 1.12 Assembly -> Bar
  • 2.7 Business -> Professional Office (NRO Offices...)
  • 2.8 Business -> Research and Development Facility
  • 7.3 Residential -> Dormitory
  • 10.3 Vehicular -> Bus
  • 10.6 Vehicular -> Train
  • 11.0 Outdoor -> Unspecified Outdoor (city-wide coverages)
Operator Nameset to 1 suffixed with the primary realm of the SP (as per RFC5580) e.g. 1camford.ac.ukWhilst the intended use of Operator Name in Hotspot 2.0 is a friendly operator name e.g. (Camford University) it appears that the value entered is then added into RADIUS request using the Operator-Name RADIUS attribute. Therefore for eduroam purposes this should follow the RFC5580 standard.

Configuration of some Wi-Fi Controllers

LANCOM Systems (WLC)

The configuration is rather complex and involves a hierarchy of elements. The following picture illustrates which configuration items need to be in place to arrive at a Wi-Fi config which has all the required bits in it.

Most of these items are available on a single page, the WLAN Controller -> 802.11u page:

It is strongly suggested to start with the buttons on the right end of the schema above; they are the "leaf nodes" of the configuration. Once all necessary leaves are configured, the higher-order profiles and functions are edited, referencing the now-configured leaves. Example screenshots of the three relevant leaves below (eduroam configuration does not need the "Cellular Networks" and "Network Authentication Types" leaves:

(the consequence of the "EAP method" bit is yet unclear; it does not seem to have any effect, even when logging in to the network with a different EAP type)

After configuring the leaves, work your way up to the second level, which is "Hotspot 2.0 Profile", "ANQP Profile" and "Venue Profile":

Now, reference the two first ones in the 11u profile settings:

Then, enable 11u in the logical network profile for an SSID of your choice:

And finally, in the WLAN profiles, bind the logical network and the venue information together:


Cisco Wireless Lan Controller (8.3)

First, create a standard WLAN with 802.1X authentication.  Then from the 'WLANs' configuration page click on the drop-down arrow and click on '802.11u'

On the '802.11u Parameters' page tick the box to enable '802.11u Status' and then click 'Apply' in the top right corner.  (Note: you must enable 802.11u first before making other parameter changes)


Set the '802.11u General Parameters' accordingly for you WLAN:  

  • 'Internet Access' box should be ticked. 
  • 'Network Type' should be set to 'Private Network with Guest Access'
  • 'Network Auth Type' should be 'Not Configured'
  • 'HESSID' should be '00:00:00:00:00'
  • 'IPv4 Type' should be set accordingly for your local network configuration
  • 'IPv6 Type' should be set accordingly for your local network configuration

Add the eduroam Roaming Consortium OI to the OUI list.  Enter '001BC50460' in the OUI field, ensure 'Is Beacon' is checked then click the 'Add' button.

If you are an Idp (as well as an SP) add the realms you authenticate to the domain list.  Enter each realm in the 'Domain Name' field and click the 'Add' button.

Add 'eduroam.org' to the NAI Realm list.  Enter 'eduroam.org' in the NAI Realm field and click 'Add'.

Click 'Apply' in the top right corner and then click 'WLANs' in the left menu to return the wlan selection screen.

From the 'WLANs' configuration page click on the drop-down arrow for the eduroam wlan and click on 'Hotspot 2.0'

On the 'WLAN > Hotspot 2.0' configuration page tick the box to enable 'HotSpot2' then click 'Apply' in the top right corner.

In the 'Operator Name List' add your operator name (1realm) with the 3 letter Language Code and click 'Add'

Click 'Apply' in the top right corner.


Finally, connect to the wireless controller via ssh or telnet and run the following command:

'config advanced hotspot anqp-4way enable'


Venue Information can be added at a per Access Point level or by editing an AP Group (802.11u Tab). (Make sure the correct operating classes are set for your network configuration) 


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