IT Services

Wi-Fi

How to connect your devices to the Eduroam Wi-Fi

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Eduroam

Eduroam is an international Wi-Fi network used around academic and research institutions, this means as a user you can visit other universities and still have an internet connection, without having to change your log in details. If you change your password, remember you'll have to update your eduroam settings too.

Eduroam

The easiest way to connect to the eduroam network is by using the eduroam CAT tool for your device.

Use the following link to access the website, Click the blue download button and then pick "University of South Wales" or user the search, select the appropriate installer for your device and follow the instructions in the installer:

eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool

If you are already set up for eduroam on your device, please remove the current eduroam network from your device by selecting 'forget the network'. For more information on how to do this please expand the "Forgetting eduroam Network" section below

The Username is your [email protected] NOT your email address, and the password is your university account password. Then click install.

To Manually connect your Windows device to eduroam please follow the below instructions:

  1. Click on / tap the network connections tray icon.
  2. Ensure Wi-Fi is set to On.
  3. Select eduroam from the list of networks.
  4. Enter your University username with @southwales.ac.uk added on the end ([email protected]) and not @students.southwales.ac.uk
  5. Carefully enter your University password.
  6. Check and accept the "Continue Connecting" message by clicking connect, making sure the server name shown is auth.southwales.ac.uk if you click "Show Certificate Details"
  7. Your device should now connect to eduroam.

Troubleshooting

If you cannot connect, check that:

  • You are at a location with good signal strength.
  • You have remembered to add @southwales.ac.uk and not students.southwales.ac.uk to the end of your username.
  • You are typing your University password correctly.

On your Android device, install the eduroam CAT app.

Before opening the app "forget" any existing eduroam network profile (See below for instructions on how to remove network).

Open the app and after the list of “Nearby Configs" loads select University of South Wales or use manual search.

If prompted allow eduroamCAT to access.

Authentication Server:  auth.southwales.ac.uk

CA Certificate CN: QuoVadis Root CA 2

Install

The Username is your [email protected] NOT your email address, and the password is your university account password. Then click install.

To manually connect to the network use the below instructions:

  1. Open Settings then Wi-Fi. On older devices, you may have to choose Wireless & Networks first, then Wi-Fi Settings.

  2. Ensure Wi-Fi is enabled and a list of networks is shown.

  3. Press and hold eduroam. From the pop-up menu, choose Modify / Edit network settings, or Connect to network if the edit or modify options are not available.

  4. From the settings dialog, ensure the following items are set:
  • Set EAP Type or EAP Method to PEAP.

  • Set Phase 2 Authentication or Subtype to MSCHAPv2.

  • Some variants of Android will also ask for a CA Certificate setting. If it gives you the option to Use system certificates, select this and enter the domain as auth.southwales.ac.uk, otherwise choose Do not check.

  • Set Identity or Username to your University username followed by @southwales.ac.uk (e.g. [email protected]).

  • Stop and check the previous entry, ensure there are no spaces and all the letters are in lower case. Android will sometimes insert a space or automatically change "uk" to upper case; either of which will stop your connection working.

  • Set Password to your University password.

  1. Press Connect

You should now be connected to eduroam.

If you cannot connect, check that:

  • You are at a location with good signal strength.
  • You have remembered to add @southwales.ac.uk and not students.southwales.ac.uk to the end of your username.
  • You are typing your University password correctly.

Click here for a video of this process

For more detailed instructions, or if you do not see a config for University of South Wales, download this guide

On your iOS device, visit the eduroam CAT website.

Either find or search for University of South Wales and select it. Then click Apple iOS mobile devices.
Allow to download the configuration profile. A message should state that the Profile has been downloaded, and it can now be reviewed and installed in Settings.

Open your iPhones Settings App and go to General, Profile and select the eduroam® downloaded profile.

Confirm and check the Profile details are verified and then tap Install. You may be asked to enter your iPhone passcode in order to install the Profile.

The Username is your [email protected] NOT your email address, and the password is your university account password.

You should now be connected to eduroam.

If you cannot connect, check that:

You are at a location with good signal strength.

You have remembered to add @southwales.ac.uk and not students.southwales.ac.uk to the end of your username.

You are typing your University password correctly.

Click to watch a video of the process.

For more detailed instructions, download this guide

Mac OS (Apple):

  1. Click the WiFi symbol at the top of your screen, and select Open Network Preferences.
  2. In the lower-right corner, choose Advanced.
  3. Under Preferred Networks select eduroam.
  4. Click the minus (-) button to forget.
  5. Click OK.

iOS (iPhone):

  1. From the home screen, choose Settings.
  2. In the settings menu, choose Wi-Fi.
  3. Locate eduroam and click the blue symbol next to the name.

If the option to forget the network is available, tap Forget this Network and attempt to reconnect to eduroam.

If you do not see the option to forget the network:

  1. From the home screen, choose Settings.
  2. In the settings menu, choose General.
  3. Locate Profile and tap on it.
  4. Select the profile for eduroam.
  5. Tap on delete profile.

 

Windows 10 & 11:

  1. Click the Network icon on the lower right corner of your screen.
  2. Choose Network settings.
  3. Click on Manage Wi-Fi settings.
  4. Under Manage known networks, select eduroam.
  5. Then click Forget.

Android:

  1. From the home screen, choose Settings.
  2. In the settings menu, choose Wi-Fi.
  3. Locate eduroam and tap or press and hold it.
  4. Choose Forget.

Most problems conecting to eduroam are often the result of device settings or user error. The number one cause of tickets "unable to connect to eduroam" is incorrect email format entered, Please see below some helpful tips for connecting:

 

Verify your username/email address and password

Your username for eduroam is in the format [email protected] (not @students.southwales.ac.uk, for staff the login will be [email protected] not your full email address).

 

Make sure that you're trying to connect to eduroam

Check that you are trying to connect to "eduroam", and not one of the other Wi-Fi networks available on campus such as any of the networks starting with USW (USW and USW-CE are for University of South Wales devices only and will not allow personal devices to connect, USW-Guest and USW-Openday are used for short term connection and is not recommended for students to connect to).

 

Try removing eduroam and re-adding it on your device

If you already have eduroam but it won't connect, forget (or delete) it and reconnect following our instructions provided by the University of South Wales IT Services (see above).

 

Restart your device

A restart can often resolve many connectivity issues. If your device is stuck on the connecting screen for eduroam, turning it off and then back on can reset the connection, allowing you to connect successfully once your device is back up.

 

Turn your Wi-Fi setting off and back on

Try turn your Wi-Fi off and then on again, this will refresh the connection and try connect again.

 

Make sure your device is updated

Check your device for updates to your OS (outdated devices will not be allowed to connect to eduroam for security)

 

Problems at a location

If your eduroam connection works fine everywhere else but you can't connect in a particular spot, report the coverage issue to the USW IT Service Desk. We'll need to know where you were, what time, and what website you were trying to access.

Possible eduroam outage

It is always possible there's an issue with eduroam. Check the University of South Wales IT Service Status page for outage reports here.

Some devices are unable to connect to the Eduroam Wi-Fi network, including:

  • Devices that do not support 802.1x Wi-Fi authentication
  • Devices that do not support TLS 1.2 for 802.1x Wi-Fi authentication
  • Some example devices that cannot connect to Eduroam; Amazon Alexa, Nintendo Switch, IoT Devices

 

Devices without manufacturer support are no longer supported on eduroam. This includes:

  • Windows versions prior to Windows 10 21H2 (e.g. XP, 7, 8.0, 8.1, 10.1507 up to 10.21H1)
  • Apple OSX versions prior to 11.7 (Big Sur)
  • Windows Phone (all versions)
  • Apple iPhone/iPad versions prior to iOS 15.7.9 (excluding iOS 12.5.7, which is supported)
  • Android versions prior to 11.0

USW Guest Wi-Fi

The USW Guest Wi-Fi service is available for staff to give Wi-Fi access to visitors to the University.

To sponsor a guests access for the service, please make sure you're connected to USW Wi-Fi on campus or connect to the Cisco AnyConnect VPN before accessing the Guest Wi-Fi Portal.

Please visit the following link and follow the on screen prompts to create an account.

USW guest website

Connecting a USW Device to Your Home Wifi

Using Apple Computers

Using Microsoft Computers