Gnu York

IT-Services

How to make wireless Eduroam and Enterprise networks work under Android 2.3 (GingerDX/Cyagenmod)

This tutorial might help you to make university wifi networks work under Android 2.3.

Certificate missing?

In general Eduroam needs a certificate for authentication. You've to set this certificate as "CA certificate" in the wifi settings of the network (you should not need a user certificate). If the certificate is not installed on your phone, you should search for it on the website of your university (or try to use this one). The certificate file should have the extension ".crt". You can install it by placing it in the root directory of your sd card. Afterwards you've to open the settings menu of your smartphone and import the certificate using the "Location and Security" menu ("Install from SD card / Install encrypted certificates from SD card"). Now you should be able to set up the Eduroam network in a correct way.

A workaround: VPN/WEB

Mostly there is also a network called "VPN/WEB" additionally to the Eduroam network. This network can be used to transfer data in an unencrypted way (you should not do this) or to connect your phone with the VPN (Virtual Private Network) of your university. The VPN connection is also encrypted and can be used to connect the internet. A tutorial that shows you how you can set up the VPN should be available on the website of your university.

Fixing wpa_supplicant

A common problem (especially with Android 2.3 GingerDX/Cyagenmod) is that a bad version of wpa_supplicant is installed on many smartphones. Wpa_supplicant is the application that manages the most encrypted wifi connections under Linux. You can fix this problem by replacing wpa_supplicant with another version.
Please note that you'll need root (superuser) access on your phone to do this. If you're using GingerDX/Cyagenmod your phone should already be "rooted". If you have no idea, what we're talking about, you should use your favorite search engine to find it out! Valuable search terms are: "Android", "root", "SuperOneClick" and the name of your smartphone. You also should know that it could be possible that you loose your warranty by rooting your smartphone and that you could damage it if you're doing something rash.
  • Download this .zip archive and extract it on the SD card of your smartphone. It contains some versions of wpa_supplicant. You should only need the version that can be found in the folder "1". (You can try the other versions if this one is not working.)
  • Install a root file manager (like "Root Explorer") on your smartphone.
  • Disable your Wi-Fi
  • Open the previously installed file manager and go to "/system/bin"
  • Rename the file "wpa_supplicant" to "wpa_supplicant.old" (so you've a backup of the old version)
  • Copy the "wpa_supplicant" file that you've extracted on your SD card in the "/system/bin/" directory
  • Check the file permissions of the file. It should be readable and executable for all users: rwxr-xr-x (=755)
  • Enable your Wi-Fi. Your smartphone should now be able to connect the Eduroam network.
  • The following settings should be fine for the most Eduroam networks:
    EAP method: PEAP
    Phase 2 authentication: MSCHAPV2
    CA certificate: your certificate
    User certificate: unspecified
    Identity: your_login@university.edu
    Anonymous identity: anonymous@university.edu
    Password: your password


We've tested this on:
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 / E15i
  • Android 2.3.7 GingerDX Build 21, Cyagenmod
  • Baseband version: ...15
  • Kernel: 2.6.29 SEMC
  • CPU: ARMv6 @ 710MHz
  • modules: x8overclocking, x8gesture