Excellent message Philippe.  Thanks.

Always many factors to consider when selecting or changing a primary ssid. If 
you are considering eduroam as your primary ssid, you may want to consider if 
you have any campus borders that might currently or in the future hear eduroam 
from nearby rf neighbors.  Certainly more of an issue in urban environments.

In Philadelphia, Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania share an 
urban campus border where we hear each others radios.  Both institutions also 
lease space in a University City Science Center complex (kind of like a colo 
facility for science and innovation)  and we have identified spaces where 
building occupants can bounce between eduroam networks from each institution.

Lets just say joint management of such issues is easier and perhaps a less 
urgent priority when your primary campus ssid isn't impacted by the overlap. :-)

Maybe Philippe has some good stories for us about multi-campus eduroam 
collaborations!


On Jul 22, 2015 (Wed), at 9:29 AM, Philippe Hanset wrote:

I always make a point to interview students and faculty about eduroam during my 
travels or in my town if the opportunity arises

These interviewees are from eduroam enabled Universities and Colleges from 
around the world and are rarely aware of the service.
My last interview was with a Canadian student from McGill who spent one month 
traveling European Cities
…she was bummed to learn on her way back home in line at the airport that she 
missed on that great opportunity considering that free Wi-FI
hotspots are not always easy to find. Now she knows !

IT departments turn eduroam on and the communication to the University 
community is highly variable depending on the school.
I know that Clemson University uses eduroam as their primary secure SSID and 
did a massive information campaign. As a result we saw a lot of Clemson
authentications in our logs showing that the Clemson Community used the service 
when traveling.

What is the right approach to inform the community about eduroam? (here are 
potential suggestions)

-Include a paragraph in the “orientation” material (my son did his school 
orientation last month and was puzzled that the Wireless section had nothing on 
eduroam and its roaming benefit)
-Let the study abroad office know about eduroam and advertise for the service 
in that office
-Do a mass email (not always popular and will have to be repeated until eduroam 
becomes part of the knowhow)
-Include it in the University media (also needs to be repeated until it becomes 
part of the knowhow)

What else?

The most successful approach that we have seen is using eduroam as primary SSID 
but not every school is willing or ready to do so, and even in that case the 
communication
about the roaming aspect has to be done properly!

Once you enable eduroam for your campus, definitely ask your communication 
department if they can help you spread the word.
(there is some customizable material for your school at 
www.eduroam.org<http://www.eduroam.org/>…click on Media & Logo (left hand side)

 Best,

Philippe

Philippe Hanset
www.eduroam.us<http://www.eduroam.us/>



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