eduroam — education roaming
What is eduroam?
eduroam (education roaming) is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. eduroam allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions by simply opening their laptop.
For more information about eduroam worldwide, please see http://www.eduroam.org/.
eduroam in South Africa
Information about eduroam services in South Africa are available on the eduroam South Africa web site.
Rhodes staff are actively involved in the working group that's responsible for eduroam South Africa and have been since its inception in September 2010. On 12 December 2012, TENET's board ratified an eduroam National Policy for South Africa. This marked the end of the South African pilot phase.
eduroam at Rhodes
eduroam services at Rhodes are currently available by connecting to the eduroam wireless network. The type of service one gets when connecting to this network depends on whether one is a Rhodes student, staff member, or a visitor.
eduroam for visitors to Rhodes
If you're visiting Rhodes and your home institution participates in eduroam, you should be able to get free Internet access at Rhodes by simply connecting to the eduroam wireless network at any of our on-campus hotspots. You will need to authenticate with your home institution's credentials (and you may need to make arrangements with them for this to work).
The eduroam wireless network for visitors offers limited Internet access, and is not considered part of Rhodes' network. You can expect normal web browsing, email, VPNs (IPSec, L2TP, OpenVPN, PPTP & SSTP) and SSH to work; most other things are currently restricted. Internet bandwidth is very limited, largely as a reflection of the limited Internet bandwidth available to Rhodes. Use of this network is subject to a specific acceptable use policy, which differs from Rhodes' standard AUP.
If you have difficulty connecting to this network, your first port of call should be your home institution's IT service desk. Limited support for basic problems is available from Rhodes' IT help desk.
eduroam for Rhodes staff & students
Rhodes staff & students can make use of eduroam in two ways: at Rhodes, and when visiting another institution.
When on Rhodes' campus, Rhodes staff and students can connect to the eduroam wireless network as an alternative to the normal Rhodes wireless networks. The services you receive when connected to the eduroam-test network will be identical to the corresponding Rhodes wireless network (i.e. Rhodes staff will need to register computers; students will need to sign up for the Student Networking service). In the long term, we'll likely merge the three existing wireless networks into a single eduroam network (this will likely happen for students at the start of 2013).
When visiting another campus that participates in eduroam, Rhodes staff and those students who've signed up for Student Networking can connect to the remote institution's eduroam wireless network (normally called eduroam) by logging in with their Rhodes username and password. Connecting to an eduroam service provider will give you access to the Internet while away from Rhodes. The exact nature of the service will vary from institution to institution, but at the very least you can expect to be able to browse the web. Use of eduroam at other institutions is always free (just as we provide free access to eduroam vistors at Rhodes).
You should be aware that use of eduroam at other institutions or in other countries may be subject to different policies or legislation. In addition, when using eduroam away from Rhodes, you have certain responsibilities to help ensure the smooth running of the network. Information about this may be found on the eduroam South Africa web site.
To connect to an eduroam network, you will need to append a realm to the end of your Rhodes username so that the remote institution knows where you are from. If you're a staff member, simply add @ru.ac.za to the end (e.g. s1200000@ru.ac.za — note username, not email address); if you're a student, add @campus.ru.ac.za (making your eduroam username the same as your email address).
There are instructions for connecting Windows 7 to eduroam available; Windows XP users who’ve connected to Rhodes’ normal wireless networks should already have the software they need (RUSecureW2) installed. Instructions for other operating systems are available at eduroam USA and eduroam Asia Pacific. Further assistance can be obtained from our Help Desk.
