Services
National coordination of eduroam
Secure and automatic WiFi connection at universities and research institutions worldwide
Challenges
As part of their job or their university course, employees and students at research and education institutions need to travel on a regular basis. Whether for scientific conferences or visits, or as part of student, teacher or researcher exchange programmes such as Erasmus (EuRopean Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), a growing increase in students and researchers moving between institutions and countries has been noted.
When arriving at their host establishments, the visitors need to connect to WiFi and they are individually provided with temporary accounts by the institution. There are so many essential and potentially inconvenient and time-consuming steps, both for visitors and for administrative services.
Connexion and identification
The Restena Foundation connects the access points and identifies the eduroam service access providers in the territory of Luxembourg. This role of coordinator in Luxembourg is incorporated within a European initiative managed by the national research and education networks (NREN) of the participating countries.
With eduroam, there is no longer any need for any of the steps taken by researchers, teachers and students when travelling to other research and education institutions, nor is there any further need for the associated administrative steps for these same establishments. WiFi connection takes place automatically at the premises of any scientific institution worldwide, by using only the access profile of the institution to which they belong and without unnecessarily disclosing personal data.
Secure WiFi access
The Restena Foundation offers its connected establishments – from the research, education, culture and health sectors in Luxembourg – the opportunity to offer their employees and students an internet connection that is not only secure and reliable, but also automatic and free of charge at all eduroam connection points worldwide. More generally, by connecting to the eduroam service, the Luxembourg establishments, in turn, become a global access point for all users of the eduroam service. Hence, they can provide the benefits of eduroam connection for the partners of other institutions connected to eduroam, who will thus have secure WiFi access upon their arrival at their establishment.
In Luxembourg, as well as the establishments connected to the service, access to the eduroam network is also available via the HotCity WiFi network installed in the towns of Luxembourg and Esch-sur-Alzette, as well as at Luxembourg Airport.
Benefits
For research and education institutions
- High-performance WiFi solution providing significant added value for low implementation and maintenance costs
- Administrative tasks necessary for the creation of temporary WiFi accounts are no longer required
- Supplementary service for research and education staff in transit that is compatible with thousands of participating institutions
For teachers, students and researchers
- Free-of-charge, secure and easy-to-use WiFi access
- Automatic connection to more than 10,000 eduroam connection points worldwide
How to benefit?
I am an employee or student at a research or education institution
Make sure that your institution offers the eduroam service. For this, consult the website eduroam.lu or your IT department.
Note: If your institution does not offer eduroam but is eligible for the services offered by the Restena Foundation, your institution must indicate its interest in advance and then connect to the eduroam network.
I represent an institution
- Make sure that your institution is eligible for the services offered by the Restena Foundation by consulting the list of connected establishments. Then contact the Restena Foundation to indicate your interest
- Define and then put in place one of the following two solutions to connect your institution to the eduroam network:
- Radius server: Make sure that you have installed a RADIUS server that connects with a database of identifiers in order to authenticate user establishments - a database of the SQL type with user information, LDAP directory, "ActiveDirectory" or text files. If you have not, then do so.
- Dedicated web interface: if you are a small institution, use the eduroam service Managed IdP.
- Accept and sign the eduroam Policy.
More details on the service
Who can benefit?
Hotspot operators, identity providers, higher education establishments, research institutes, cultural institutions, health establishments, municipal administrations, primary and secondary schools
Some useful information
- eduroam is a European initiative that has developed beyond the old continent over the years and is now accessible worldwide (www.eduroam.org): more than 100 countries and thousands of connected education and research institutions, as well as millions of users
- The Restena Foundation actively participates in the regular technical development of the eduroam network
Assistance and support
GÉANT (GN5-1)
Ensuring effective, relevant, high-value, and competitive research and innovation activity throughout Europe.
Have a question?
- Faq
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So am I anonymous when I am connected to eduroam?
If you do not respect the code of conduct at a connection point and there are legal proceedings that require the disclosure of your identity, the Restena Foundation, like the other eduroam identity providers, is able to do this. At the Restena Foundation, we intend to comply with the law and will act accordingly.
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Even though my eduroam connection is working, certain applications are not responding (and yet I do not experience any problems at home). What is not working?
When you connect to a connection point, the operator in charge of this point is able to choose which applications a visitor is authorised to use. Hence, they can block certain ports.
If the connection point refuses the use of certain applications or ports, you can use the virtual private network (VPN) provided by the Restena Foundation or, as the case may be, by your institution of origin. Activating the VPN will allow you to access the RESTENA network or that of your institution directly.
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Can a connection point outside the borders of Luxembourg gain access to my password?
Not under any circumstances. Your password is encrypted all along its route to the authentication servers of your identity provider (the Restena Foundation if you have an account of the type @education.lu and/or a RESTENA user account). Only the confirmation of your authentication is visible to the connection point.
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Is there a charge for eduroam?
No. The use of eduroam is entirely free of charge for all holders of an eduroam account, and this applies worldwide. The Restena Foundation does not invoice its own users, or the institutions that implement the service for their employees, for the provision of an eduroam account. The only investment required is to have equipment that is compatible with eduroam.
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I am at university in another country, but there is no eduroam network. How can that be?
Since each university and research institution is free to choose whether or not to offer the eduroam service, it is possible that the university where you are does not offer this service. Please consult the list of access points in Luxembourg on the website eduroam.lu, or you can find the complete list at eduroam.org
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I cannot believe that eduroam is really free of charge. What is the catch?
There is no catch. Very often, universities offer a local wireless network anyway, and the costs generated to allow roaming are not very high. Therefore, access can easily be provided free of charge to users.
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I have heard a lot of talk about "sniffing" on wireless networks. Can other people see what I am doing on the eduroam network?
eduroam WiFi networks must be encrypted, therefore as soon as connect to eduroam a new encrypted key is sent to you, which is exclusively for your own use and solely for this connection point. People who are nearby will not be able to obtain this data.
However eduroam guarantees this protection only on the "wireless" part, please bear in mind that you are connected to the internet, and that your data must be properly protected by your applications and/or VPN after leaving the connection point.
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I work in education and research in Luxembourg. Can I use eduroam?
Depending on the institution to which you belong, the Restena Foundation may be your eduroam access provider. If you have an email account of the type @education.lu and/or a RESTENA user account, the Restena Foundation manages your access.
For other research and education employees in Luxembourg, this connection is provided directly by their institutions of origin, provided that the latter have taken the necessary steps to obtain it. For this, consult the website eduroam.lu or your IT department.
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Where can I use eduroam?
Several thousand eduroam connection points are available at numerous universities, research centres and schools in Europe and beyond. Please consult the list of access points in Luxembourg on the website eduroam.lu, or you can find the complete list at eduroam.org
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What information about me does eduroam reveal at the connection points?
Only the authentication result (success or failure) is communicated by the Restena Foundation. At the connection point's request, the Restena Foundation can also provide a 128-bit number that makes it possible to recognise you the next time you connect to the same point, but this number cannot be used to reveal your email address or password. The number provided is identical, even if you change your external identity or use different equipment to connect.