UO joins service that gives WiFi access at institutions around the world

University of Oregon Information Services has added a roaming WiFi service that will give faculty, staff and students Internet access – without the need for a guest account – while visiting more than 6,200 participating institutions around the world.

Members of the UO campus community will be able to log onto eduroam's secure WiFi network by using their Duck ID. And visitors to the UO from other participating eduroam institutions will be able to log onto the network with their own credentials.

The UO is the first OUS university to join eduroam. The service is currently available at about 100 institutions in the United States and over 5,500 in western Europe, eastern Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

Service in the U.S. is expected to expand considerably. Internet2 – a not-for-profit U.S. networking consortium made up primarily of higher education institutions, along with other members in industry and government – announced last month that it will cover the cost of eduroam adoption for its 221 member universities. Those costs will be covered by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Demand for the eduroam service has grown with the acceptance and use of smartphones and tablet computers in higher education, the vice president for information technology at the University of Maryland's Baltimore County campus told the Chronicle of Higher Education in a story published last month. Jack Suess, who also serves as chief information officer at the Baltimore campus, said academics often collaborate remotely, but still have frequent needs to travel and meet in person.

“Somebody from another country visits campus and immediately gets a smile because their laptop automatically connects to the network,” said Suess, who has been involved in the eduroam project through Internet2. “And you don’t have to worry about finding someone to provision them an account.”

Members of the UO community who wish to use eduroam will need to first set up their smartphones, tablets or laptops in a process that is similar to setting up for a UO Secure connection. Step-by-step directions for connecting to the eduroam network are available on the Information Services website.

More about eduroam at UO is also available.

- from UO Information Services