Before the semester started, the ULM Wi-Fi was changed. To keep your Wi-Fi connection secure from hackers, the Information Technology Department decided to adopt a new servicing system for students and faculty to connect to at ULM called “eduroam,” short for education roaming.

Eduroam is only offered to universities participating in Internet2 which is an internet provider specifically geared toward colleges, government organizations, research facilities and corporations.

According to Chance Eppinette, the IT Department director, ULM’s upcoming medical school will also use eduroam and the new Wi-Fi authentication process, but not every university will be adopting the system.

“Keep in mind that eduroam is not available at just any institution, but as in our case the number of participating institutions are growing,” Eppinette said. “One example is through our partnership with VCOM.”

Previously at ULM, a student must put in the username and password of their corresponding Moodle accounts.

However, upon returning to ULM this semester students began to notice they were unable to access the Wi-Fi. This is because the switch to eduroam changed the authentication process to where you must sign in using your Warhawks e-mail address and password.

First, a student or faculty member must forget the ULMStudent or ULMFaculty Wi-Fi domain before attempting to reconnect. Then, the individual should be able to log-in using the correct username and password.

After a few weeks under eduroam, students still appear to be having complications accessing the Wi-Fi. Some students posted confused statuses in the Student to Student Facebook group where ULM students often complain about things on campus, get advice about college and share memes.

The comment sections of these posts were filled with other students who also were confused as to why they couldn’t log-in.  Some students, like Brendan Harris, said that although the authentication process is working, the Wi-Fi is slower than ever and causing problems during their studies.

“I’m having trouble staying connected and actually being able to sign in without an error,” said Harris, a senior psychology major. 

According to the Internet2 website, 321 colleges in the United States use Internet2 as their main internet provider. This means, that any ULM student who visits another university that uses Internet2 can access the Wi-Fi through a short authentication process.