Tim Bennett’s blog – Electron Soup

UNSW provides a campus-wide wireless network for students and staff to access the internet – the UniWide network. Any mobile device with support for 802.11x and WPA encryption can connect to the network. Two access methods are provided: WPA-Enterprise authentication and WPA-Personal Web Authentication. These instructions demonstrate how to connect an iPhone or iPod to the network with WPA-Enterprise. (If your device does not support WPA-Enterprise, see the WPA-Personal instructions.)

Contrary to IT Services’ website instructions, iPhones and iPods running the 2.0 firmware (including all iPhones sold in Australia) do support WPA-Enterprise. Connecting to the ‘uniwide’ network is superior to ‘uniwide webauth’, because it does not require the user to enter their username and password in a browser to get online. This connection also does not time out after 30 minutes. Instructions follow:

1. If you are a first-time user, reset your Unipass.

This is a very important step. If you have never connected a device to the Uniwide network before, or even if you’ve only ever connected to Uniwide using web authentication, visit IT Services’ Change Your Unipass page and reset your Unipass. Note that you can enter your current Unipass as your new Unipass to avoid memorizing a new password; these instructions will still work.

2. Open your iPhone’s “Settings” panel, and click the “Wi-Fi” button:

3. Beneath “Choose a Network…”, select uniwide. Note that if the ‘uniwide’ option does not appear, you are probably in an area with no network coverage. Refer to the Uniwide Coverage Map to find a better location near you, or step outside (indoors reception is often poor).

4. You will be prompted to enter your username (your staff/student number) and password (your Unipass). Do this, and click “Join”:

5. The UNSW gateway server will issue a security certificate to authenticate you to the network. Click “Accept”. (Not sure why it says “Not Verified”… maybe UNSW needs to update its certificates!)

6. You should now be connected to the network, and see a wi-fi icon in your phone’s status bar:

7. Enjoy browsing the web on campus without eating into your 3G data quota.

These instructions worked for me on the first attempt after resetting my Unipass. If they haven’t worked for you and you didn’t follow Step 1, try that first. Make sure you have the most recent version of the iPhone or iPod Touch firmware – you can find out your version through “Settings: General: About: Version”.

One issue I’ve noticed is that my iPhone doesn’t seem to connect to the Uniwide network whenever it’s in range. To get a connection, I have to open the Settings screen and click the Uniwide network name (although the iPhone remembers my username and password). I’m not sure if this is because Uniwide is an enterprise network, because my iPhone connects to my WPA-Personal wi-fi, without prompting, whenever I’m at home.

I hope this guide helps anybody who was confused about why their phone would not connect to the network!