Single Primary SSID Project - Executive Summary

The wireless service was introduced in [year] since which time it has become a very popular service within the organisation. The number of users is constantly growing; usage has increased from a daily peak of around [xxx] users when the service was launched, to a peak of approximately [yyy] simultaneous users in [current month/year].

At the time the wireless service was initially deployed there was a wide variety in the capabilities of the different wireless hardware components and software supplicants. As a result of this, as was standard practice within the academic and research community, a number of separate wireless service networks were created, each with its own SSID (service set identifier), and each serving a different need for specific user groups.

The current multiplicity of SSIDs introduces confusion; users are not sure which network they should be using and often use an inappropriate one. Given this confusing situation, and considering that wireless technology has now advanced to the point that there is no technical need for multiple SSIDs, it is proposed that the complexity of wireless services be reduced by consolidating the SSIDs into just one for Janet connectivity.

Whilst it may seem that [current organisation branded SSID] is the obvious choice for this primary SSID given that this carries the organisation’s branding, it is in fact preferable to move to using the ‘eduroam’ SSID. The reasons for this are:

• As a participant in eduroam we are obliged to broadcast the eduroam SSID for visitors whether or not any other SSID is broadcast;
• Our users need to be able to test their eduroam configuration to ensure that, when they leave the site and roam to other institutions, it works, therefore the eduroam SSID needs to be broadcast across the network;
• Faced with the current assortment of SSIDs many users may be unsure what eduroam can provide for them; by making it the standard SSID, the profile of eduroam will be raised, leading to the recognition amongst users that they will be able to achieve network connectivity wherever they see it broadcast;
• Having eduroam as the default means that users’ devices will be configured and ready to roam, and do not need to set up an extra SSID for when they visit another eduroam organisation. This simplifies the process of configuring users’ devices;
• eduroam is a global brand easily recognisable by both visitors and home users;
• Many other organisations in the sector are moving forward with this plan;
• eduroam is planned to be the default in the [e.g. Windows 7] wireless service;
• If users accidentally connect to the commercial broadband wireless network, we can provide a simple informational message directing them to connect to the single primary eduroam SSID.

[To provide for a gradual change over to the single primary ‘eduroam’ SSID with the current service being deprecated:

The [XYZ] SSID will remain available until the current [Windows XP Staff Desktop] service is discontinued. The SSID for this will be hidden in order to encourage users to switch to ‘eduroam’ and policies will be applied to authentication so that only clients for which this was relevant could log onto it.]