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(edu)roam even further: University and Council roll out free wifi network

(edu)roam even further: University and Council roll out free wifi network

Posted on 24 March 2015

Historic city it may be, but communications technology in York is firmly in the 21st century thanks to a pioneering ‘town and gown’ partnership.

Photo credit: Francois Schnell (CC-BY-2.0)

In a joint project with City of York Council, the University of York has rolled out eduroam wifi in the city centre with support from Pinacl Solutions.

Not only does this allow staff and students at the University free connection to wifi, but as eduroam is a global network, it is also available to York’s many visitors from other educational institutions worldwide.

If a device has already been set up on eduroam, it should connect automatically when users are close to wifi hotspots in York’s city centre.

It is the first phase of a project that will eventually see City of York Council’s free City Connect WiFi scheme extended to the University of York campus. This will enable non-University members to connect to a free wifi network when visiting the campus. The low cost project is jointly funded by the University of York and City of York Council and makes use of existing CityConnect WiFi infrastructure across the city provided by Pinacl Solutions.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Koen Lamberts, said: “This is a fantastic development that demonstrates how we can achieve great benefits for both York and the University by working in partnership with the Council. We look forward to collaborating further in the near future.”

Roy Grant, Head of ICT at City of York Council said: “The new wifi will benefit thousands of students across the city and it’s great to see our partnership work with the University of York benefiting students. The expansion of CityConnect WiFi is progressing at pace also, which will benefit residents and visitors as free wifi rolls out to campuses across the city in the coming months. This is one of many schemes the council is supporting across the city as York looks to boost its infrastructure and support residents with greater access online.”