Uni students ‘roaming’ on the river, thanks to rollout of wireless net

Published on 10 October 2019

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It will now be much easier for university students to access their online studies from Rockhampton’s CBD, even if they are strolling along the river.

In fact, they can just as easily gain online Wi-Fi access from Rockhampton Airport and Council libraries on the Northside, Southside and in Gracemere.

CQUniversity has partnered with Rockhampton Regional Council to sponsor and facilitate a roll-out of the Eduroam global wireless access service across Council’s public network, including the riverfront precinct.

The University’s role included building a fibre connection to the Council to enable the service (which runs over RRC wireless network and connects to the internet via the University’s AARNet connection).

CQUni’s Chief Information and Digital Officer, Roy Pidgeon says students from all universities will benefit from this initiative, as the Eduroam network partners with universities in Australia, New Zealand and around the world.

“This initiative secures online Wi-Fi access for university students wherever the council offers its free WIFI network,” Mr Pidgeon says.

“Students can access the network with their own university login on most devices, just as they do on campus.

“Eduroam is a secure global roaming wireless network for the research and education sector, with many partners here in Australia.

“Through this partnership with RRC, we have expanded Eduroam access in Rockhampton to a range of public areas and this will benefit staff and students from CQUniversity, as well as students from other Australian and international universities who may be visiting our region.”

Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow said the initiative was part of Council’s award winning Smart Way Forward Strategy which has delivered a suite of new technologies in Rockhampton.

“Council and CQUniversity have been collaborating for quite some time now to get Eduroam up and running and now we are pleased to announce that students and university staff are no longer confined to just the campus - they can work from the CBD, Riverside, Kershaw Gardens, Rockhampton Airport, and all of our libraries in Rockhampton,” Mayor Strelow said.

“Since Eduroam went live in late September, there has been over 2,200 individual users including students, staff and academics using Eduroam at our free Wi-Fi locations, with the CBD being the most popular location, followed by Kershaw Gardens.

“And not only have we had connections from our CQUniversity students, but also from 31 other universities and institutions including from London, Germany, and Singapore.”

  • Eduroam is a global wireless network access service tailored for students, academics and researchers aligned with campuses across the world. In Australia, it is distributed by AARNet in collaboration with the global Eduroam community.