eduroam connectivity extended to rural clinical settings in Wales

The challenge

Cardiff University medical students at Bronllys Hospital often face weak or unreliable connectivity with the on-site student accommodation not connected to the hospital’s wifi network.

The existing wifi signal is weak as the accommodation sits on the edge of the hospital site, looking out towards the Black Mountains. A fixed eduroam solution was not feasible.

The solution

The university’s library service and Powys Teaching Health Board’s library service have found a simple and cost-effective solution in a Jisc proof-of-concept to extend eduroam connectivity via 4G and 5G mobile networks.

When we told the two library services about our proof-of-concept solution, both wanted to be involved as part of a wider trial with NHS Wales. Powys offered a great opportunity due to its very rural setting, which can often provide poorer mobile network connectivity compared to more populated city centre locations.

Jane Parry, library services manager for Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB), 'jumped at the opportunity' to extend eduroam to the student accommodation at Bronllys.

Meg Gorman, NHS Wales libraries partnership lead at Cardiff University, selected three proof-of-concept locations at hospitals across Wales including Bronllys Hospital in Powys, which serves a vast, mostly rural area with nine community hospitals, 20+ primary care surgeries and an integrated health and social care facility.

The trial locations included on-site student accommodation, the library and the new Health, Care and Social Care Academy.

How it was achieved

Jisc developed the concept using mobile data backhaul technology to deliver the eduroam service in places where it hasn’t been possible before, via a low-cost, ‘plug and play’ device using 4G and 5G cellular connectivity. It’s a Jisc-managed cloud service, supported via Cradlepoint's NetCloud Manager platform offering a fast, agile and secure way to authenticate users to access eduroam right across the UK via their own devices such as laptops and phones.

We see it as an important part of the solution to end digital inequalities, improving student experience in off-campus learning and living spaces. The devices themselves provide wireless eduroam wifi connectivity between 10mb and 400mb upload/download speeds, depending on the model chosen and the coverage that’s available locally from MNOs.

At Bronllys, there was some trial and error to find suitable locations for the devices. Ideally, they use 4G/5G cellular connectivity, but the area is only served by 3G and 4G. Ensuring line of sight with the mast is key to the setup process.

Jane said:

"We just needed to find a suitable windowsill or shelf near a power source. You can also move the devices around easily – we even put one in a consultant’s office in Brecon for a while when students needed better connectivity there."

During the proof-of-concept phase each device was supplied with two SIM cards (either EE, Vodafone, Three UK or O2) for failover capabilities – a primary card and a secondary card for back-up in case of a cellular outage. Testing by Jisc and PTHB confirmed EE and Three as the most suitable mobile network operators (MNOs) locally for their users.

The health board can now make sure medical students on placement know they’ll have excellent connectivity as soon as they arrive on site.

Jane said:

"They’ve always had a pre-arrival ‘welcome’ email with travel information, accommodation details etc, and now we also tell them about how we’re extending eduroam and how they can use their own device to connect to wifi using the eduroam credentials they already have.

"They may have heard from other students about previous connectivity issues and we want them to know these are a thing of the past. They’ll be able to get connected immediately, even if they arrive at the weekend or late at night, without having to talk to NHS IT staff."

Reduced workload for IT staff is another benefit. Medical students use their own devices and because they’re simply using Jisc’s eduroam network Powys Teaching Health Board IT Security Group could authorise the trial easily.

Jane said:

"IT just need to know where the devices have been located."