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Wireless Networking

The OxCIN locations provide the Eduroam and OWL (Oxford Wireless LAN) networks.

For all University of Oxford users and any academic visitors We would recommend the use of Eduroam - this ​provides a secured WiFi connection onto a segregated portion of the Oxford University backbone network and internet access. Details on connecting to Eduroam can be found on the University of Oxford IT Services pages. We would recommend you use the CAT installer if possible the first time you set your device up.

Note

Eduroam usernames should be in the format user@DOMAIN (with the domain all in capital letters). For example, the username for University of Oxford members will be in the format sso@OX.AC.UK.

Most users find that an Eduroam connection is sufficient to carry out most of their work without needing to use the FMRIB VPN service, which is necessary to access FMRIB-only network resources, e.g. printer access, restricted web sites etc.

If you have a visitor who already has an Eduroam account from their home institution then they should be able to connect without help from IT staff, but if they have issues please contact us for advice. Visitors should endeavour to confirm that their Eduroam connection is working prior to arrival.

Note

Eduroam usernames should be in the format user@DOMAIN (with the domain all in capital letters). For example, the username for University of Oxford members will be in the format sso@OX.AC.UK.

The WiFi service also provides a second wireless Oxford Wireless Lan/OWL. This network only provides internet access on providing temporary user account credentials. OxCIN IT can create these accounts, which can have a maximum lifetime of two weeks. We would recommend requesting them in advance if you know that someone will be visiting.

Before requesting/setting up visitor access please we aware that this service is only to be used where the visitor meets one or more of the following conditions:

  • ​Workshop and open day visitors
  • Conference and seminar attendance
  • Commercial partner companies
  • Committee members
  • Non-paying course member
  • Guest lecturers and speakers
  • Payroll workers
  • External researchers
  • Non-edu technology partners​

The following categories are explicitly not allowed to use the visitor network services:

  • Alumni
  • Anyone who is walking into/around the campus or public facilities, e.g. Museums, gardens, open access areas of the colleges and Libraries and public exhibitions.
  • Commercial hosting (e.g. paying course members)

To create credentials, OxCIN IT will need to know the following details:

  1. User's full name
  2. A sponsor (contact who could provide contact details for the user should there be a query about any usage of the account)
  3. A start date/time
  4. The duration of the account

It is possible to bulk create accounts, should you need several for an event you are organising.

Warning

The OWL-Visitor service should not be used by University of Oxford staff/students (who should use Eduroam).