eduroam
eduroam (education roaming) is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community.
eduroam allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions by simply opening their laptop.
eduroam in South Africa
Information about eduroam services in South Africa are available on the eduroam South Africa web site.
CSIR staff are actively involved in the working group that's responsible for eduroam South Africa and have been since its inception in September 2010. On 12 December 2012, TENET's board ratified an eduroam National Policy for South Africa. This marked the end of the South African pilot phase.
eduroam at CSIR
eduroam services at CSIR are currently available by connecting to the eduroam wireless network. The type of service one gets when connecting to this network depends on whether one is a CSIR staff member, or a visitor.
eduroam for CSIR staff
CSIR staff can make use of eduroam in two ways: at CSIR, and when visiting another institution.
When on the CSIR campus, CSIR staff can connect to the eduroam wireless network to gain access to the internal network. The services you receive when connected to the eduroam network will be identical to the corresponding CSIR wired network.
When visiting another campus that participates in eduroam, CSIR staff can connect to the remote institution's eduroam wireless network (normally called eduroam) by logging in with their CSIR username and password. Connecting to an eduroam service provider will give you access to the Internet while away from CSIR. The exact nature of the service will vary from institution to institution, but at the very least you can expect to be able to browse the web. Use of eduroam at other institutions is always free (just as we provide free access to eduroam vistors at CSIR).
To connect to an eduroam network, you will need to append a realm to the end of your CSIR username so that the remote institution knows where you are from. Simply add @csir.co.za to the end of your CSIR username (e.g. ). You need to do this even on CSIR campus.
Please be aware that you should not be asked to enter your CSIR credentials into a web page to access eduroam; whether you are on CSIR campus or at another university, authentication should always happen in the same way. Please see Do not use web logins for eduroam for further information.
Use of eduroam at other institutions or in other countries may be subject to different policies or legislation, and you should check these before you go. In addition, when using eduroam away from CSIR, you have certain responsibilities to help ensure the smooth running of the network. Information about this may be found on the eduroam South Africa web site.
eduroam CAT provides installers for various platforms, and this is the easiest way to connect to eduroam. You can download a CSIR-specific installer for eduroam at https://cat.eduroam.org/.
eduroam for visitors at CSIR
If you're visiting CSIR and your home institution participates in eduroam, you should be able to get free Internet access at CSIR by simply connecting to the eduroam wireless network. You will need to authenticate with your home institution's credentials (and you may need to make arrangements with them for this to work). If your institution makes use of eduroam CAT, you can use that to configure your device.
The eduroam wireless network for visitors offers limited Internet access, and is not considered part of CSIR' network. You can expect normal web browsing, email and SSH to work; most other things are currently restricted. Use of this network is subject to an acceptable use policy.
If you have difficulty connecting to this network, your first port of call should be your home institution's IT service desk.