You can always be plugged in. Photo courtesy eduroam

ET, log in at home

Say that you’re an American researcher working in Wagga Wagga, Australia, far from home, and you want to log in to use the resources of the nearest research institution. Or, you’re in Vietnam and want to securely access the Internet from your host institution at the University of Hanoi.

How do you do it with the fewest hassles about getting permissions, registering your laptop—or learning multiple sets of new usernames and passwords?

Never fear, eduroam is here.

Short for EDUcation ROAMing, this system allows users—such as researchers, teachers, students or staff—from participating institutions to access the ‘net from any participating institution, with user authentication done by your home institution, wherever you may be physically located.

So, you log in to your same old account, using your same old user i.d and password. When it is received by the wireless network of a participating overseas institution, your authentication request is automatically sent to your home institution for processing, via a hierarchical system of RADIUS servers. Your home institution then verifies that you are who you say you are, and Voilà!

Or, as they say in Australia, “No worries, mate. She’ll be right.”

—Dan Drollette, iSGTW