Campus is expanding ucd-guest, ending moobilenet

On May 5, two significant changes will occur to the wireless network on the Davis campus:

  • First, UC Davis will roll out ucd-guest to the entire campus, which will simplify the ability of visitors to get wireless access while they're here.
  • Second, moobilenet will be retired. If you're one of the relatively few campus affiliates who still use this now-outdated wireless service, then you'll need to switch to one of the campus's more secure alternatives. The best option is eduroam.

Using ucd-guest

Until now, visitors who want wireless access on campus have had to obtain a temporary access account, approved by a UC Davis instructor or employee who filled out a temporary access form (TAF) on their behalf. That process remains in place for extended-stay guests, but ucd-guest will meet most other visitors' needs.

To use ucd-guest, visitors simply enter their name, email address and mobile-phone number into the ucd-guest service, which will then send them access information. Short-term visitors will not need a TAF. Instructions on how to use ucd-guest will be posted in the IT Knowledge Base by May 5.

Other features of ucd-guest:

  • Guest accounts do not require campus Kerberos authentication.
  • The accounts are valid for five days, although users must re-authenticate if they are off the network for more than eight hours.
  • One guest account can accommodate up to three wireless devices.
  • Visitors who lose their passwords can simply create a new account.

Communications Resources, part of Information Educational Technology, first installed ucd-guest in student housing last fall, then extended it to the Conference Center, Gallagher Hall, and Buehler Alumni Center on March 10. These initial phases have functioned as planned, leading to the campus rollout on May 5.

Moving on to eduroam

Mo obilenet, once the main campus wireless service, became a secondary choice over the years as UC Davis added moobilenetx and then eduroam. The campus kept moobilenet for visitors, however, and some UC Davis affiliates have continued to use it, perhaps partly due to habit.

Eduroam will eventually become the main campus wireless network, which is one reason why Communication Resources recommends it to campus affiliates who have been using moobilenet. Choosing eduroam now will save them a little extra transition time down the road.

Eduroam also offers a bonus for travelers--it works at other colleges and universities worldwide. Your eduroam login is your UC Davis login (Kerberos) ID plus "@ucdavis.edu," and you can use that same login to access wireless when you travel to any other member of the eduroam network. In addition, eduroam uses encryption to secure your communications, and automatically connects you to the wireless network--you don't have to manually log in to connect.

Other Northern California members of eduroam include UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, the UC Office of the President, Stanford University, and California State University Sacramento.

Faculty, students and staff should not use ucd-guest, which imposes a one-hour limit for anyone who accesses it with campus credentials. Eduroam does not have that limit.

For more about eduroam, please see these "connecting to wireless" articles in the IT Knowledge Base.