MIT Adopts Network Access Service
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
has launched the Eduroam Wi-Fi network
service, which allows members of the MIT community to connect to Eduroam
networks at other institutions, and allows visitors from other participating
Eduroam institutions to connect anywhere that MIT and MIT Secure Wi-Fi networks
are available.
Eduroam, which is short for "education roaming," is a secure network access
service for the international research and education community. The service is
available at 5,500 locations in 54 countries around the world, and 184
educational institutions in the United States currently use Eduroam.
MIT's launch of Eduroam, which took place in August, means that MIT faculty,
students and staff can now gain per-user, per-session, encrypted network access
at any participating Eduroam institution, without the need for guest logon
credentials, and visitors to MIT from participating institutions can have the
same ease of access through MIT and MIT Secure Wi-Fi networks.
According to Eduroam, connectivity is instantaneous and does not require
network administrators to provision visitors. Access between networks is
negotiated once during the federation process and for all members of
participating institutions The service consists of a worldwide federation of
RADIUS servers using 802.1x. Many educational institutions already have these
technologies in place, facilitating the adoption of the Eduroam service.
Eduroam is an
Internet2 NET+ service. Further information about the Eduroam network
service can be found on the Eduroam-US site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].