The University of Washington wireless (Wi-Fi) service is designed as a primary access method to UW networks for students, faculty, and staff. UW-IT provides Wi-Fi coverage inside most buildings as well as some outdoor areas on all three UW campuses, research areas at South Lake Union, and UW Medicine hospitals and clinics.
- Overview of UW wireless
- Connecting to UW Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi locations
- Visitors and Visitor Access from other eduroam institutions
- Anyroam
- Policy
Overview of UW wireless
UW Information Technology (UW-IT) offers three Wi-Fi networks for the UW community:
Eduroam
The eduroam network is an encrypted Wi-Fi network available at the UW, and it is the preferred Wi-Fi connection method for UW students, faculty, and staff.
The eduroam network is a general-purpose Wi-Fi network using private IP address space and WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise encryption. It is available at UW Campuses, UW Facilities, UW Medical Centers, and other eduroam connected institutions around the world.
Users need to onboard their devices to gain access to this Wi-Fi network. Onboarding information is available via the Eduroam page. UW-IT recommends connecting to the “eduroam” Wi-Fi network for the added security of encrypted data transmission and roaming.
- Wi-Fi Network Information:
- SSID: eduroam
- Type: 802.1X EAP-TLS
- Encryption: WPA2/WPA3-Enterprise
UW MPSK
The UW MPSK network is an encrypted Wi-Fi network available at the UW, and it is the recommended Wi-Fi connection method for IoT, TVs, and game consoles that require a Pre-Shared Key Wi-Fi network.
The UW MPSK network is a special use Wi-Fi network using private IP address space and WPA2 Personal encryption. It is available at UW Campuses, UW Facilities and UW Medical Centers.
Users need to register their device to gain access to this Wi-Fi network by visiting the Manual device registration page.
- Wi-Fi Network Information:
- SSID: UW MPSK
- Type: Pre-Shared Key
- Encryption: WPA2-Personal
University of Washington
The University of Washington network is an unencrypted Wi-Fi network available at the UW, and it is only recommended for devices that do not support eduroam or UW MPSK. This is also used for devices connecting for the first time to configure their devices for eduroam without logging in. This is considered the “network of last resort” for UW Faculty, Staff, and Students.
The University of Washington network is a general-purpose Wi-Fi network using private IP address space. It is only available at UW Campuses, UW Facilities, and UW Medical Centers.
Users need to register their devices to gain access to Internet resources outside the University of Washington network. A login page is presented via a Captive Portal in the user’s browser when the device first connects to this Wi-Fi network.
- Wi-Fi Network Information:
- SSID: University of Washington
- Type: Open System Authentication
- Encryption: None
Connecting to UW Wi-Fi
The UW’s Wi-Fi networks are eduroam, UW MPSK, and University of Washington.
- Connecting to the eduroam Wi-Fi network
- Connecting to the UW MPSK Wi-Fi network
- Connecting to the University of Washington Wi-Fi network
Connecting to eduroam
The eduroam network is an encrypted Wi-Fi service that is recommended for most UW students, faculty, and staff.
You must configure your Wi-Fi device to access eduroam using our eduroam onboarding application. The eduroam onboarding application leverages technology from SecureW2 that supports most common devices and will help ensure that your device is properly and securely configured for eduroam.
Once this process has been completed, you will be able to access eduroam on campus, UW Medicine locations, and around the world at any institution that supports eduroam.
Connecting to UW MPSK
The UW MPSK network is an encrypted Wi-Fi service that is recommended for devices such as IoT, TV’s, and game consoles.
To connect, register your device by visiting the Manual device registration page.
Once successfully registered, a unique password will be generated for the device to use with the UW MPSK network. Your device’s unique MAC address is associated with the password generated and cannot be used with another device.
NOTE: Be sure to turn off the use of Private MAC addresses or MAC randomization; these features cause the MAC address to change over time and will cause access to fail unexpectedly.
Future access to UW MPSK will automatically connect as long as the network is in range.
Connecting to University of Washington
The University of Washington network is an unencrypted Wi-Fi service that is recommended for devices that do not support eduroam or UW MPSK networks.
To connect, select the University of Washington Wi-Fi network on your device.
If this is the first time your device is connecting, or it hasn’t connected to the University of Washington Wi-Fi network in some time, you will be prompted to enter your UW NetID and password. Once authentication is successful, the device will be registered and allowed access to the Internet.
If the UW NetID login page does not display, open a web browser and go to a basic, un-encrypted website such as example.com. This should redirect you to the UW NetID login page.
NOTE: Be sure to turn off the use of Private MAC addresses or MAC randomization; these features cause the MAC address to change over time and will cause access to fail unexpectedly.
No login is required to use the wireless network to access services that reside inside the UW network.
If your wireless device does not have a Web browser (e.g., some phones, printers, etc.), consider using the UW MPSK Wi-Fi network or our Manual device registration page.
For access to the Internet at our UW Medicine hospitals and clinics, visitors not associated with UW may connect to the Patients and Visitors Wi-Fi network.
Visitors and Visitor Access from other eduroam institutions
Visitors from participating eduroam institutions can use the UW eduroam service to access the UW’s Wi-Fi network with no additional configuration required.
Visitors who are NOT from a participating eduroam institution may use eduroam using the ANYROAM service. To configure your device to use ANYROAM credentials on the eduroam network, visit ANYROAM and follow the instructions.
For other visitors, UW staff or faculty members may sponsor a temporary UW NetID for visitor Wi-Fi access. Please review the Temporary UW NetID Support Roles and Responsibilities information before creating a temporary UW NetID.
Temporary UW NetIDs are only valid on the UW Wi-Fi networks.
ANYROAM
ANYROAM is a complementary service to eduroam and provides login credentials to people who are not associated with an existing eduroam institution. ANYROAM is not meant to be used by people with eduroam access through their home institution and will conflict with the existing configuration and possibly prevent access. ANYROAM is an opt-in service, and not all eduroam providers support ANYROAM. UW-IT is not responsible for ANYROAM service, and all questions related to the service should be directed to ANYROAM.
NOTE: Setting up ANYROAM will interfere with your existing eduroam configuration and cause problems when trying to use eduroam.
Policy
The UW Information Technology (UW-IT) organization manages all Wi-Fi on UW campuses, UW Medicine, and several remote locations. Do-it-yourself wireless networking is not allowed without express written authorization from UW-IT. Request for non-UW managed Wi-Fi may be submitted via email to help@uw.edu.
Wi-Fi locations
Indoor Wi-Fi
Most UW Campus buildings offer indoor Wi-Fi connectivity for eduroam, UW MPSK and University of Washington Wi-Fi networks.
Most UW Medical buildings offer indoor Wi-Fi connectivity for eduroam, UW MPSK, and University of Washington Wi-Fi networks.
Outdoor Wi-Fi
Outdoor Wi-Fi service is available in a number of locations across the UW Campuses.
The maps below are interactive and show current UW Wi-Fi zones, which are highlighted in purple. Planned UW Wi-Fi zones are highlighted in grey.