Today, Berkeley IT offers several Wi-Fi network services, some of which provide identical features. The user experience for configuring access to the primary campus Wi-Fi service (eduroam) is not intuitive and has poor accessibility. Our existing services do not adequately support IoT devices or the needs of students in our residence halls. IoT devices are nonstandard computing devices that connect wirelessly to a network and have the ability to transmit data. To improve the experience of students, faculty, and staff we will be:
- Retiring unnecessary Wi-Fi services.
- Implementing services to support IoT and residential devices.
- Improving the accessibility and usability of the Wi-Fi keys registration portal to make it easier for users to access Wi-Fi.
- Modifying CalVisitor to better suit the use of short-term campus visitors.
Goals
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Reduce complexity and improve stability and performance by eliminating duplicate services.
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Improve accessibility and usability of the Wi-Fi onboarding (Wi-Fi keys) tool.
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Provide improved connectivity options for IoT devices and residents.
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Reduce reliance on insecure and limited CalVisitor service.
Project Milestones & Timeline
All dates are estimated and subject to change.
Date |
Milestone |
|
11/16/21 |
AirBears2 SSID broadcast turned off |
|
1/12/22 |
PAN Refresh (new hardware & CPU cycles in place) |
|
3/23/22 |
AirBears2 Network Abated |
|
4/26/22 |
Integrate Sensors into Wi-Fi Operations/Support |
|
8/16/22 |
Portal Wi-Fi Keys User Experience Accessibility & Usability Go Live |
|
8/31/22 |
Enhance Wi-Fi User Experience Monitoring |
|
9/15/22 |
PSK/IoT Network Development |
|
11/1/22 |
Remote Connectivity for International Students (Phase-1 China) This project will be discontinued on 12/1/22 due to a large reduction in the student population in China and a lack of interest in the service within that population. |
|
11/1/22 |
Implement New Wi-Fi keys portal |
|
11/30/22 |
Integrate Sensors into WI-Fi Operations/Support |
|
12/15/22 |
Code Wi-Fi Keys User Experience to incorporate IoT feedback |
|
1/4/23 |
Berkeley-IoT (Internet of Things) |
|
1/6/23 |
CISCO WAP Abatement & Aruba WAP Installed |
|
3/1/23 |
Berkeley-Visitor launch (CalVisitor Improvements, both to run concurrently until CalVisitor abatement on 7/1/23) |
|
3/1/23 |
PAN Firewalls Provisioned by Default |
|
7/1/23 |
CalVisitor Network Abated |
Retirement of the Airbears2 Wi-Fi Network Service
The Airbears2 Wi-Fi network was retired in 2021. Users with a Calnet ID should use eduroam as their preferred Wi-Fi network on campus for the best and most secure connection. Details on how to connect your device to eduroam are available here
Faculty, Staff, and Affiliates can get IT help by contacting the ITCS Service desk (itcshelp@berkeley.edu or 510-664-9000). Students please contact Student Tech Services
