eduroam (Education Roaming) is an acronym for the system that uses 802.1x security standards over a RADIUS-based infrastructure. eduroam provides users from all participating institutions with internet access at other eduroam member institutions (Visiting Institution) using the same username and password they use at their home institution (Home Institution).
When a user tries to connect to the eduroam network at a visiting institution, the visiting institution's server redirects the user to their home institution's server to validate the credentials. The communication between the servers is done through an encrypted tunnel, which prevents the username and password information from being seen outside of the user's own home institution's server. Thus, users can easily log in at a visiting institution just as they would at their home institution.
Globally, there are two main confederations: the European eduroam Confederation and the Asia-Pacific (APAN) eduroam. Thanks to the eduroam federation hierarchy, member institutions send queries to the eduroam federations in their respective countries, and national federations forward these queries to their associated confederations. This hierarchy ensures that every new institution joining the European eduroam Confederation is easily recognized by all other members.
To view the participants in the European eduroam confederation, you can visit the eduroam page here.
