Every day, Stanford hosts many visitors and guests who need wireless access. They include:
- Prospective students and their families
- Vendors attending meetings on campus
- Alumni
- Conference attendees from other educational institutions
Three types of wireless access are available, depending upon who you are:
- Stanford Visitor (short-term sessions; limited bandwidth; ports limited to email, web browsing, VPN, and SSH; not part of Stanford University IP space)
- Sponsored Guest (no restrictions based on ports; available for up to two weeks; requires a Stanford sponsor; part of Stanford University IP space)
- eduroam (for eduroam affiliates; requires an account at an institution that participates in eduroam)
Stanford Visitor wireless access
With the Stanford Visitor network, you can use the university's wireless network to access the Internet while on-campus. The Stanford Visitor network is intended for the average Stanford visitor — not visitors who need access to special applications.
The visitor network offers limited bandwidth, and sessions are limited to 12 hours. Services are limited to email, web browsing, VPN, and SSH, and visitors on this wireless network are not part of Stanford University IP space— meaning firewalls on campus may give you less access than if you use the Sponsored Guest wireless.
How to get online
- Select the SSID Stanford Visitor from your device's list of available wireless networks.
- Open a browser and load any URL; you will be redirected to an access page (on a mobile phone, the access page should open automatically).
- Click Accept to acknowledge the terms of use. Your browser will be sent to a confirmation page, and from there you can get online.
Sponsored Guest wireless access
If you use an application that has a unique set of ports or if you need to be part of the Stanford University IP space, you may want to consider using the Sponsored Guest wireless network.
You will first need a current Stanford faculty member, staff member, or student to sponsor a wireless guest account for you.
To sponsor a guest, visit wirelessguest.stanford.edu to establish a SUNet ID-sponsored guest account. This includes selecting a user name and a password for the guest account.
The length of the sponsorship ranges from one to 14 days. If your guests visit for more than two weeks, they will need a new guest account. University IT tracks guest accounts to the sponsoring SUNet ID.
How to get online
To access sponsored wireless guest service:
- Open wifi settings on your device, and select "Stanford" not "Stanford Visitor" when you are on Stanford University campus.
- Open a browser and load any URL to display a Stanford WebLogin page.
- Log in with your sponsored guest user name and password. After you log in, you can use Internet services and web browsing as you would at a public venue such as Starbucks.
Note: As a Stanford guest account sponsor, you are responsible for your guests' Internet use as well as any reported misuse.
eduroam wireless access
This secure, worldwide service allows students, researchers, and staff from other institutions that also use eduroam to connect to the network by supplying the login credentials of their home organization.
How to get online
Note: When connecting to eduroam from an off-campus location, you should accept the radius-cert.stanford.edu and authenticate your device, if prompted.
To use the eduroam service in its initial implementation on campus:
- Select the SSID eduroam from your device's list of available wireless networks.
- Enter your user name at the prompt, in the format <SUNetID>@stanford.edu and your SUNet password.
- Accept the eduroam certificate and authenticate your device, if prompted.
After you configure a device for eduroam on campus, the SSID should allow you to connect wherever it's supported.
For more information on the eduroam service, please refer to the eduroam website.
