Connecting to Network Requiring Username and Password

We are attempting to connect to our university’s public wifi that requires a network ID and password. The app only supports a password. Any suggestions for solutions or what to ask the university IT?

Electric Imp does not support such a system. Not sure if there is a way to allow the Imp to bypass that.

@MikeyDK is right, @PARCS - the imp doesn’t support networks that require a username and password (ie. WPA2 Enterprise). See ‘Network Requirements for imp-enabled Devices’.

How you get round this depends on what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re just testing, you can use a phone as a temporary hotspot. Make sure it’s set to WPA2 Personal security, ie. password only. If your implementation is broader, you can explore whether IT has a WPA 2 personal or open network available, or can set one up for you. Quite a few network devices, eg. printers, can’t work with WPA2 Enterprise, so it’s not uncommon for organisations to implement ‘hidden’ networks to connect these devices.

@MikeyDK and @smittytone Thank you very much for your answers, especially about potential workarounds. We are trying to make a wireless system for the university as a senior design project, and so a wireless solution needs to be more permanent. They might let us on to a hidden network if there is one, but they will probably not establish a new router system for us unfortunately (we will try both solutions though).

Thanks again for the help :slight_smile:

Can you tell us more about the project and what the project requires in terms of hardware such as the imp, and the internet?

It might be possible that the imp is not the best controller for your project.

Depending on what your project is, or does, there are other controllers that can exchange data and commands via sms text messaging. I’m thinking like a Twilio account that handles sms text messages between a website script and an sms controller that has its own sim card and monthly text only plan. Arduino type of control. No WiFi involved.

Most campus and corporate wifi networks are managed by a central controller, these can be configured to provide hidden SSID’s tunneled through the internal network to a DMZ. It’s pretty easy to do if you get the right networking guy onside.

So, we’ve managed to find a workaround. It works!

As was said, there was a hidden SSID at our campus that students use to register devices like game consoles and such. We registered the device MAC ID with the university, and received a special password for the hidden SSID.

Thanks for the suggestions!