About Eduroam
eduroam (education roaming) is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community.
It 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.
To use eduroam wifi you will need to setup your laptop or smartphone. As end-user you will only be able to use eduroam if your institution provides electronic identity (e.g. account for network access).
In that case you will need to contact your administrator and ask for an account. You (or your network administrator) will have to configure your computer to enable eduroam access.
In Zambia, the eduroam national roaming operator is the Zambia Research and Education Network (ZAMREN)
Frequently Asked Questions
-
How does eduroam work?
The idea of eduroam is to leave the administration of user accounts to the entity that a user comes from. All the sites participating in eduroam all over the world are linked by a hierarchy of RADIUS servers.
If one of your users visits a participating eduroam institution site, then that site will ask your RADIUS server to authenticate the visiting user. If your RADIUS server is configured to be OK with the visiting user, then the remote site will also allow your visiting user to use the remote site's Internet connection — no VPNs are configured.
If your campus gets a visitor from another participating eduroam site, e.g. from the CSIR, then your RADIUS server will ask the CSIR's RADIUS server to authenticate the visitor. If the CSIR's RADIUS server is OK with that user, then you will allow that user to use your Internet connection (usually just outside your firewall). This process is summarised for a student at the hypothetical MyUni university in the animation below: -
What technology does eduroam use?
In eduroam, communication between the access point and the user's home institution is based on IEEE 802.1x standard; 802.1x encompasses the use of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), which allows for different authentication methods.
The two most popular EAP methods being used by eduroam is EAP-TTLS and EAP-PEAP. A secure tunnel will be established from the user’s computer to his home institution through which the actual authentication information (username/password etc.) will be carried. -
Is eduroam safe to use?
eduroam is based on the most secure encryption and authentication standards in existence today. Its security by far exceeds typical commercial hotspots. Be aware though that when your users are using the general Internet at an eduroam hotspot, the local site security measures at that hotspot will apply to them as well. For example, the firewall settings at the visited place may be different from those they are used to at home, and as a guest of the visiting institution, they may have access to fewer services on the Internet than they are used to having at home.
-
Does eduroam work on different platforms?
eduroam uses open standards to enable cross-platform uniform access. This means that eduroam works on Windows, Linux, BSD, MAC OS, Android, and even Windows CE.
-
How can we have eduroam installed in our organization?
In order to have eduroam installed into your organization, kindly contact the Zambia Research and Education Network (ZAMREN)
Contact Us
Location:
University of Zambia, School of Education Building,
First Floor, West Wing P O Box 32379 Lusaka