The City of Surrey has added eduroam (education roaming) Wi-Fi service to all Surrey Libraries branches and recreation centres throughout the City. eduroam enables staff, faculty, and learners at post-secondary institutions to connect seamlessly to secure Wi-Fi at all library branches and City of Surrey recreation centres using the same username and password they use at their home institution.
eduroam is a free, global Wi-Fi roaming service developed for the international research and education community. Students with eduroam configured on their devices will automatically connect to Wi-Fi when they visit library branches and recreation centres throughout Surrey. Once connected, there’s no time limit for being on the secured network.
“Our branches are regularly used by students to study, conduct research, and work on group projects,” said Amy Ashmore, Director, Collections and Technology at Surrey Libraries. “The convenience of eduroam helps Surrey Libraries deliver even better service to our community.”
eduroam is offered through BCNET which is partnering with municipalities, public libraries, school districts and airports to offer the service across British Columbia, extending the free, secure internet service for its membership of colleges, universities and institutes.
“By expanding the free Wi-Fi service to municipalities and libraries, we are helping to bridge the digital divide in British Columbia,” says Clarence Lee, Director of Client Services and Communications. “With the service available at over 190 locations in the province and 450 sites across Canada, students and faculty can simply open their laptops and seamlessly connect to the Wi-Fi network. Bringing eduroam to Surrey’s libraries and recreation centres represents a significant win for the higher education sector.”
For students and faculty on the move, eduroam is available in over 100 countries and 10,000 locations worldwide. Students, staff, and faculty who do not have eduroam configured on their devices can check their institution’s Information Technology Services website for more information.
In Canada, the eduroam service is managed and operated by CANARIE, BCNET’s federal partner in Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN), which supports millions of eduroam logins per month.
“eduroam provides secure and easy connectivity for today’s mobile cohort of students, staff and faculty, and making it available in more places amplifies the value for users,” says Christina Colangelo, Program Manager, Identity and Access Management Program at CANARIE. “We’ll continue to work with BCNET and other partners to make eduroam available at more public facilities across the country.”