Troubleshooting eduroam

As issues are identified and resolved, fixes will be listed here.

eduroam does not appear in the list of preferred networks even though Windows lists it in the 'Available Wireless Networks' box.

Authentication fails even though I have entered my credentials correctly.

I am using a Dell Mini 10, and it crashes when connecting to eduroam.

eduroam fails to authenticate 'due to user action'.

* I cannot make any network connection

If you find you cannot make any network connection at all, your computer may need some initial changes to its networking configuration before you can successfully connect to the college network, particularly if you have it configured in a specific way for a home network for example.

Navigate to your network settings and find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP ) > Properties
Make sure that the radio buttons marked 'Obtain an IP address automatically' and 'Obtain DNS server address automatically' are both checked. Or for Apple computers, that it is configured to use a DHCP server.

For more detailed configuration settings go to http://qm-web.its.qmul.ac.uk/halls/ or download TechNote 7

* eduroam does not appear in the list of preferred networks even though Windows lists it in the 'Available Wireless Networks' box.

This could be due to the Wireless Network Card not being capable of WPA2 or not having the capability installed. Try a Driver Update first, in case an update will rectify this.

Go to Control Panel, click on Network Connections
Right click on 'Wireless Network Connection' and click 'Properties'.
Then click on the 'configure' button next to the Wireless Network Card.
Click on the third tab named 'Driver' and click on 'Update Driver'
Allow Windows to search the web to find the most recent driver (you will have to be connected to another wireless/wired service to allow this)
After updating the driver you can check if the card is capable of WPA2 by going to the Wireless Network Connection Properties again as stated earlier. Then click on the second tab 'Wireless Networks'. Click on the Add button. Click on the drop-down arrow next to Network Authentication and see if WPA2 is listed as an option. If not, the Wireless Network Card may not be capable of WPA2. In this case use WPA instead.

* Authentication fails even though I have entered my credentials correctly.

If your network settings are all correct and you can make a connection but authentication fails, make sure you are entering your username in the format username@qmul.ac.uk. Note that, when using central college usernames, if you have anything other than just ’qmul.ac.uk’ after the @ sign, it will not work.
However, for those using departmental eduroam authentication, where your username takes the form 'dept.username' (e.g. dcs.rclarke) you will need to move the department code to after the @ sign when logging into eduroam, using the format username@dept.qmul.ac.uk (e.g. rclarke@dcs.qmul.ac.uk).
If you have not changed your password since before November 2007, you must do so to ensure your password is formatted correctly for eduroam to work. If you are a member of QMUL staff, to change your password please go to http://password.qmul.ac.uk/. If you are a QMUL student, please go to https://files.stu.qmul.ac.uk/password/.
Even if you have changed your password in that time, changing it again anyway will eliminate passsword problems as a possible cause of connection failure.You can actually 'change' it to the same thing as it is just the change process which will fix any problem, not the password itself.

* eduroam fails to authenticate 'due to user action'.

This has been noted in a situation where more than one 'wireless manager' programme was running, and wireless authentication settings were only offering 802.1X-WEP. Ensure that you are running only one wireless manager, and that you are configured to authenticate using WPA2.

* I am using a Dell Mini 9 or 10, and it crashes when connecting to eduroam.

There is an issue with the Dell Minis connecting to WPA2. To resolve this, ensure that you have the latest updates installed by running 'apt-get upgrade'. For further information, there is a discussion of the issue on the Dell forums, here.