eduroam(UK) Service Provider Assurance Tool Feedback
Scope
It is intended that this document acts as a shared area for reporting experiences during the broadening of the proof of concept trial following Networkshop 42 (March 31 2014). It is editable by all members of the group. Feedback will be used by Scott and Alan to further develop the system ready for the intended integration into the national service.
Current Status of Probe Development
The status of development work is:
- Probe prototype developed to state of stable and functional unit based on TP MR3020 APs
- Probe software built on OpenWRT and wpa_supplicant runs a series of test at 15 min intervals
- Probe units need to be registered in the Probes database and associated with sites in the eduroam(UK) database on Support
- Probes run a series of wireless environment, authentication, and network services tests
- The units report results of tests back to Probes database (currently on Support, but to be moved to Development)
- There is no remote access functionality in the probes, the Ethernet port is also disabled (power is provide via mini-USB)
- Updates to the test suite are achieved through an automated system in which the probe detects any parent code change and initiates a refresh
- Next step is to develop further tests including support for VPNs
Proof of Concept Status
Following the initial Jan-March field trial, the trial is being extended and expanded to include a wider section of the community.
Feedback Area Below
Participants in the extended trial are invited to submit findings and suggestions below or you can e-mail eduroam@ja.net.
Comments/suggestions regarding using the probe and Support server portal in practice:
Features that you would like to see added to the probe:
Would status/results indicators be useful on the probe unit itself?
The original intention was for the probe results to be used by eduroam(UK) Support and the site system administrators. Do you agree with this scope? (Bearing in mind that there is already a publicly available service status page that helpdesks etc can view https://support.roaming.ja.net/?q=general)
Do you see the probe status page having a broader audience? Which group(s) so you think might benefit?
The probe package has been deliberately chosen to be a small neat unit, but it is limited to the 2.4G band. Would you be happy to deploy a larger unit more akin to a standard AP that would also test the 5G band?
Would you deploy multiple probes (e.g. one per eduroam visitor VLAN)?
Janet is able to provide one probe per member organisation. Would your organisation be willing to purchase additional pre-programmed units from Janet or to purchase AP/mifi units and send kit to Janet to be programmed and sent back to you?
Any other suggestions?
