Accessibility statement

eduroam logo‌

Wifi

Eduroam is the University's wireless network.

Once you've set up your laptop, tablet, phone etc, you'll automatically connect to the internet once you're near a wifi hotspot.

Automatic setup

Use the network setup tool to connect your device to eduroam.

You can do this before you arrive on campus if you wish.

If you're on campus, you can connect to the wifi network UoY Setup to run the setup tool.

  • Log in using your University username to install the network set up tool
  • Connect to the Eduroam network using your University username followed by @york.ac.uk

Network setup tool »

If you have problems using the setup tool try the alternative tool, or follow the manual setup guides.

Note: if you are using a University managed device it should connect automatically. You may need to enter your username in the format username@york.ac.uk and your password.

Overview

Available wifi networks on campus

The recommended network for staff and students is eduroam.

Eduroam
  • Eduroam is a secure network, and should be used by anyone with a University account.
  • Set up your device using the network setup tool.
  • Log in using your University username followed by @york.ac.uk, and password.
  • Once connected, you can set up access to filestore and printing.
  • You can't connect games consoles to eduroam - you'll need to use the wired network (see Help & troubleshooting) or the mydevices wifi network (see below).
  • Connect to eduroam when you visit other universities - see below.
  • Visitors from participating institutions:
    • Log in with the username and password provided by your own institution.
    • You must setup your device for Eduroam using the instructions provided by your home institution.
    • If you need any help, please contact your home organisation's IT help desk.
UoY Setup
CityConnectWiFi
  • Free wifi network maintained by City of York Council and Pinacl Networks.
  • Ideal for visitors who don't have a University of York account. If you have a University account, you should use eduroam as CityConnect doesn't offer the same speed or security.
  • Please note, the University of York can't provide help with connecting to this service.
mydevices

Network connectivity for home wifi devices not capable of connecting to eduroam. Currently “mydevices” connectivity is restricted to certain wifi devices:

  • Amazon Echo/Dot
  • Amazon Fire TV/Stick
  • Xbox
  • PlayStation
  • Nintendo
  • Roku
  • Oculus Go
  • Smart TV

You need to register your device with us so that they can connect to the network. As part of the registration process, you'll need to provide your device's MAC address. We have instructions for some devices:

You can also use the same registration page to register your games consoles for the wired network.

Register your device »

On-campus users only. Off campus users will need to connect through the VPN to view the registration page.

Eduroam in York city centre

Eduroam is available in York city centre, allowing staff and students to connect to wifi when out and about in York.

Once your device is set up to use eduroam, it will connect automatically when you're near wifi hotspots in the city centre.

Please note: the network in the centre of York is not an extension of the University's wifi network. For security reasons, facilities that are only available on campus will not be accessible. However, you can use the Virtual Private Network or Virtual Desktop Service to access these resources.

Eduroam at other universities

You can use your York username and password to access the internet at participating organisations:

Please check that you can connect to eduroam at the University of York before visiting another organisation.

If you need any help connecting to eduroam, please contact the Library and IT Help Desk.

Help & troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

If you can't get connected, please see our step-by-step troubleshooting guide:

System requirements

To connect to the wireless network you will need:

  • a computer with an 802.11 a/g/n/ac wireless LAN card or integrated wireless network adapter
  • a network client that supports 802.1X/PEAP/MS-CHAP-V2 authentication (most operating systems include this as standard)

Wireless vs wired

The wifi speed depends on many factors, including levels of usage, and the device being used.

A wired connection will always provide better reliability and faster speeds.

Apple Devices

Some users may have iCloud Private Relay enabled on iOS/iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. Unfortunately this feature is not supported on the University network.

Please see our iCloud Private Relay Support Page for more information.

Games consoles

To connect to eduroam, your console will need to support WPA2-Enterprise. This information should be available in the product description for the console.

If your console doesn't support WPA2-Enterprise, you can still connect to a dedicated wifi network called mydevices - see the Overview tab on this page for details. You can also connect to the wired network in study bedrooms on campus. For more information, please see:

Other wifi devices (wireless printers, smart home devices, etc)

Phones, tablets and computers connect to our wireless or wired network using enterprise authentication known as 802.1X (on wifi this is sometimes called WPA2 Enterprise).

At the moment, most wifi devices that don't support 802.1X can't connect to our wifi. The exception is games consoles (see above). However, some devices may work when connected to the wired network, including:

  • Games consoles
  • Smart TVs

You'll need to register your device for our 'mydevices' network before you can connect it:

As a general rule any device designed for a domestic setting and controlled from a phone or tablet won't work.

For example, you can't use the following on eduroam:

  • wireless printers (but you can turn off the wifi and use the USB cable)
  • media devices such as Sonos audio systems
  • Apple AirPlay
  • Google Chromecast
  • NOW TV box
  • smart domestic devices such as wifi kettles and wifi lightbulbs (eg Philips Hue)
  • early models of the Amazon Kindle

If in doubt, before purchasing or bringing a device to campus it's always worth contacting us to check whether you’ll be able to connect it to the network.

Areas not covered by wifi

If you find an area that is not covered by eduroam, please let us know. We will investigate whether we can extend coverage to that area.

Library & IT Help Desk

If you're having problems using wifi, get in touch with the Library and IT Help Desk.

Our commitments

Service status Live and supported service.
Hours of service 24/7
Service support For help and support with this service, contact the Library and IT Help Desk.
Hours of support Help from the Library & IT Help Desk is available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Target availability

General IT Services targets:
Resilience The wireless infrastructure has been engineered with resilience at the heart of the design. There are multiple routers and controller hosted in two primary data centres.

Known risks

 The wireless technology uses shared public frequencies and therefore can be susceptible to interference from devices not in our control.
Review cycle This service is reviewed every three years.
Policies
Our performance

Our service standards have been produced in consultation with our customers, and monitor the quality, timeliness and access to facilities and services:

Complaints procedure

If you wish to give us general feedback on this service, please see our Feedback page for ways to get in touch.

If you wish to make a complaint, please see our complaints procedure.

Your responsibilities

Terms and conditions

This information is intended to supplement the University's terms and conditions:

To help us keep the network running smoothly, please note the following guidelines.

If you have any questions about appropriate use, or whether it's ok to connect a device to the network, please contact us for advice.

Don't set up or enable personal hotspots

Many mobile phones and other devices allow you to create a personal wifi hotspot, usually using your 3G or 4G network. We ask you not to use this facility while on campus. Personal hotspots interfere with the campus wifi, causing significant local disruption.

Using Bluetooth

Please minimise your use of Bluetooth devices on campus, especially indoors. Bluetooth uses the same frequencies as wifi, and can cause local disruption to our wireless network.

Prohibited devices

You are not allowed to use any of the following on the campus network. They can cause significant disruption and/or pose security risks.

  • switches and repeaters (network "hubs") not installed and managed by IT Services
  • network routers of any kind
  • any device which can provide DHCP services or otherwise offer IP addresses - this includes:
    • personal and domestic routers
    • personal firewall devices
    • personal hotspots such as MyFi devices
    • laptops or PCs set up to provide Internet Connection Sharing or its equivalent
  • wireless access points or repeaters not installed and managed by IT Services
  • wireless printers
    • you may use a wireless printer if it's connected via a USB port and the wireless functionality is switched off

Network location

On first connection, Windows users will be prompted to choose a network location.

We strongly recommend you choose Public network. This stops your computer from being visible to other computers around you (eg other people using eduroam).

Depending on your security settings, choosing one of the other options may result in other people being able to see your files.