Introduction to geteduroam

geteduroam is a proposed extension of the NREN T&I services, aimed at increasing the update and use of eduroam by students and faculty members. The idea is to do away with the need for separate eduroam user accounts, and instead use national federated Id (through eduGAIN such as SURFconext, Swamid, FEIDE, HAKA, etc) to automatically generate eduroam login credentials in form of client certificates as needed. In addition, geteduroam will deliver apps for user devices that will automatically install and configure eduroam.

eduroam is seen as one of the most successful NREN services. eduroam service deployment is extensive, with nearly every campus in Europe having an eduroam Wi-Fi network. However, in terms of users who have eduroam installed correctly on their devices, the uptake is much less. This is believed to be the results of 1) users need a separate eduroam account, 2) users need to install and configure this account on their device, 3) the need to do so become apparent to users only when they are away from their home institution.

At the time eduroam was developed, there was no simple way around this. Today, with the widespread adoption of federated Id and the global collaboration of such Id’s under eduGAIN, it is possible to develop what is essentially a more modern way on managing and deploying eduroam for users. This is the objective of the geteduroam project.