The sky’s the limit: extending connectivity for learning across the campus and beyond

Moving around between locations means that students lose connection and have to search again for free wifi and re-authenticate. It’s a long way from the ideal of ‘zero touch’ connectivity. 

In addition, from an IT team’s point of view, learners using their own devices on campus throws up all sorts of problems. With research teams and students becoming ever more mobile, the need to provide secure access to wifi can cause real administrative headaches.  

Education anywhere 

To ensure that students and staff have a consistently positive experience when it comes to connectivity, it makes sense to use eduroam. Specifically developed for the research and education community, this widely adopted roaming service provides uninterrupted internet connectivity across the campus and beyond.

eduroam widens the scope of places learners can connect: some 560 organisations across the UK offer the service from more than 2,000 eduroam hotspots. A single wifi profile gives users seamless access across their own institution and to any eduroam-enabled site, simply by opening their laptop. 

Reducing IT department workload and costs 

eduroam accommodates all the mobile connectivity requirements of an institution: it supports local users connecting to the local network, visitors connecting to the local network, and local users connecting to other participating networks. 

And it does all this without placing any burdens upon an institution’s IT resources. Instead, eduroam sits separately from the network so has no impact on it, which reduces IT department workload. 

It also improves the security of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) wireless infrastructures. The ability to effectively protect, monitor and audit traffic on the network is essential for safeguarding, and eduroam gives institutions “identifiable oversight” when anyone connects using their own device. 

And any organisation connected to the Janet Network is eligible to use Jisc’s eduroam service as part of their Jisc membership. 

Addressing the digital equity gap 

Making eduroam available in student accommodation and transport networks and in places like libraries, community centres and other public buildings, would massively extend access to zero touch internet connectivity for students and education sector staff who, for whatever reason, are not on campus. 

For example, councils across the country which are already using Jisc’s govroam public sector roaming service can extend access to zero touch internet connectivity by making eduroam available in thousands of public spaces.  

We’ve already enabled govroam at more than 500 public sector sites in Kent and Medway, which is delivering effortless eduroam connectivity to council offices, community centres, fire stations, hospitals and more. It’s also increasing the number of places learners at local colleges can connect, as eduroam is now also available at libraries across Kent.