On Friday, June 20, OIT Communication Technologies will launch a pilot of eduroam (education roaming), an encrypted wireless service for the international research and education community.

It is essentially a new wireless SSID (service set identifier) that allows NC State students, employees and guests who have “home” certificate-based credentials to have secure Internet connectivity both on the NC State campus and while visiting participating institutions. They will seamlessly connect to the eduroam network when visiting those institutions, without needing guest credentials. The technology of eduroam is based on the 802.1X standard and a hierarchy of RADIUS proxy servers, which allows user authentication to take place between eduroam participating and home institutions.

OIT’s long-term goal is to make eduroam the primary SSID on campus. The current “ncsu” SSID will still be available for those who can’t use the new service, and the “ncsu-guest” SSID will remain available for campus visitors. More information about the eduroam service and how to register for it will be available soon on Wireless Network Access. See also eduroam.