Eduroam change
This page is to highlight a change to eduroam on Monday 23 May 2011, that might affect connection by WiFi devices.
What is happening?
To ensure a secure wireless connection when using eduroam, from Monday the 23rd May, we will be limiting eduroam connections to only use the default data encryption choice for eduroam@bath (WPA2/AES). This could affect all wireless devices , including laptops and phones. The legacy eduroam encryption (WPA/TKIP) will be completely removed from use for eduroam@bath and will be disallowed on all certified Wi-Fi devices by 2012.
What do I need to do?
Most users will not need to do anything. If you have a device that was WiFi certified after 2006 you are probably already using the default option and will not need to make any changes. However, if your device stops connecting to eduroam@bath on 23rd May 2011 you will probably have to remove/forget the 'eduroam' profile on your device and re-setup eduroam. See the eduroam pages for setup instructions.
If you are using the legacy encryption (WPA/TKIP) which will be removed on May 23, 2011, and rejoining eduroam@bath does not fix the issue. You can manually configure it to use WPA2/AES or visit the IT Service Desk for advice.
Please note: If you are using WPA/TKIP after 23rd May 2011 then your connection will stop working!
Why is this being done?
Wi-Fi Protected Access using the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (WPA/TKIP) is a combination of security standards designed to ensure that the connection between your computer and our wireless services is secure, encrypted, and cannot be eavsedropped on by anyone else. It was introduced in 2003, replacing the relatively insecure WEP standard, but has been shown over time to contain some vulnerabilities which could
allow someone to collect and view your online traffic. It has remained in use as it works on older wireless equipment but is now being removed from the Wi-Fi certified standards. The newer WPA2/AES standard is much more secure and is the recommended standard by Computing services (BUCS), the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Eduroam Federation.