Captive portal
University of Manchester WiFi
Captive portal is the name of the technology which uses web-based authentication to allow you onto our wireless network. When you connect to either the 'UoM_WIFI' or 'University of Manchester' wireless networks, you will be connected to the University network and prompted to provide your username and password.
Once you are connected, you'll be able to browse the web and connect to a variety of other University services.
Alternatives to captive portal
If you don't want to go through the captive portal web authentication process, you can still connect to the network using the Virtual Private Network (VPN). This service is also available to visitors.
Alternatively, you can use the more secure 'eduroam' network, which also provides wireless access in other institutions.
Security
The nature of any captive portal system is that it is open, meaning that over-the-air network traffic is unencrypted, and therefore insecure. It is important for all users to be aware of data security and take responsibility for encrypting any sensitive data before using the network. Please see the IT security section for more information:
Restrictions
There are restrictions on what sort of connections can be made and which services may be accessed via captive portal. As much as possible they are restricted to services which are encrypted and authenticated.
Also, if you leave your device idle for more than 15 minutes you will be logged out of the network. This ensures a basic level of security for the users and for the University.
