Requirements: Mobile Devices
While you are welcome to use a mobile device (tablets, smart phones, etc) on our network, please be aware that the are generally not supported. This means you cannot expect support for all but the most trivial of problems, and any support that is given will be on a best-effort basis.
You should also be aware that you can register, at most, one wireless device and one wired device on the Student Network at any one time. If you register your mobile device, it counts as your wireless device. This means that it is not currently possible to register both a laptop and a mobile device on the wireless network. However, it is possible to register a laptop in your room (wired) and a mobile device (wireless).
What follows below is information on specific types of mobile devices.
iOS (iPhone, iPad)
For the most part, iOS-based devices (iPhone, iPad) are known to work properly on Rhodes' network. You connect them the same way you connect Apple Macs - there are instructions on the Configs pages.
Android
Android-based devices are known not to work properly on Rhodes' network.
The reason for this is that Google have not implemented proper proxy support on current Android-based devices, whereas use of a proxy server on the Student Network is manditory. This is a well known and widely discussed problem. It is also one that has been reported to Google (however, feel free to add your support).
It is possible to get an Android-based device to connect to the Student Network wireless network, and to then access any internal resources (email, ruconnected, etc) from it. Internal resources do not require the use of a proxy server, and so will work.
Applications that do not make use of the web (even if they require Internet access) will probably work. This is because use of proxy servers is only manditory for web access; non-web Internet access does not require the use of proxy servers. In addition, secure web sites don't require the use of proxy servers (this can lead to confusing behaviour - for instance, Google Play will work because it uses secure connections but you will not be able to download things because the downloads are not secure).
Some applications provide their own proxy support to work around this problem. A notable one is Firefox Mobile, which can be used as a web browser on the Student Network. Instructions for configuring it to make use of our proxies are available on the configs page.
In the same way, some vendors have provided proxy support in their overlays. This means that devices from one vendor might work whereas devices from another may not. The stock Android install, however, does not work.
Finally, it is possible to work around this problem and get full Internet access by rooting your device and then installing one of the many applications that provide full proxy support on rooted devices. However this is something that might invalidate your warranty and is consequently something we neither recommend nor support.
Windows Mobile
We've had very little feedback from users of Windows Mobile.
BlackBerry
Users of BlackBerry devices have reported significant problems in making use of the Student Network. Access to Rhodes email is known to be problematic, largely because of BlackBerry's model of using an overseas proxy service (BlackBerry Internet Service). In addition, several older models of BlackBerry are know to have flawed implementations of the wireless protocols we use, and are thus unlikely to be able to connect to our wireless network.
