Technology Services Wi-Fi Help Portal-Illinois Faculty, Staff and Students-Linux Devices

This page is to help configure your Linux devices to our Wi-Fi networks. To start, please select the Wi-Fi (SSID) that you wish to connect to.

Click here to return to the main help page



The following configuration information is for faculty, staff and students to join "IllinoisNet". Please remember that "IllinoisNet" is the Primary Wi-Fi network for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campus and for the best experience, all devices that can support this network should be configured for it! Linux is also a complicated operating system for us to document, this is because there are so many different flavors and each flavor usually has the settings moved around. Instead of providing detailed step-by-step instructions, we will provide you with the appropriate pieces needed to join our Wi-Fi network.

    *Note: Steps marked with an * might be optional for your machine. In Spring of 2020 we updated our certificate chains and are now using a chain that is more commonly found in Linux systems that are up-to-date. Older machines might still require these steps.

  1. If you device is not currently connected to a source of Internet, please do so, or connect to IllinoisNet_Guest as described below.

  2. *Navigate to https://go.illinois.edu/wificert This will download the intermediate certificate required for your host to have to connect to IllinoisNet

  3. *Once the certificate has downloaded, open your Wi-Fi settings

  4. We will need to setup a new Wi-Fi connection the following settings: (Note: some of these settings you may see, and some you may not)

  5. Username: Your NETID

  6. Password: Your Password

  7. Security: "802.1X" or "WPA & WPA2 Enterprise"

  8. EAP Method (or Outer Method): PEAP or TTLS

  9. Phase 2 Authentication: MSCHAPv2

  10. *CA Certificate: Please find the certificate you just downloaded

  11. Domain: wireless.illinois.edu

  12. Anonymous Identity: Leave Blank

  13. Still having issues? Please contact the help desk. Details on how to reach out to us can be found here: Technology Services Help Desk


  1. While on campus, connect your device to the Wi-Fi network "IllinoisNet_Guest"

  2. A browser window should automatically open; this is our Wi-Fi Captive Portal Page. If this does not happen, open your web browser and navigate to http://illinois.edu.

  3. This page will prompt you for your NETID and password to log in. If you are a visitor on campus then click the link at the bottom of the page and you can self-register an account.

  4. After a brief moment the system should then inform you that you have been given Internt access. If you are a faculty, staff, or student and need to set up your device for IllinoisNet please click the "Setup IllinoisNet" link and and continue to follow the instructions as above. Any visitors should click "Click Here for Wi-Fi Access" and proceed with having access to the network. Keep in mind that any visitor accounts are only valid until 4am the following day, after which you will need to repeat this process.

  5. Still having issues? Please contact the help desk. Details on how to reach out to us can be found here: Technology Services Help Desk


For whatever the reason you had to reset your your NETID password! Devices love to hold on to your old password and cause all sorts of trouble with letting you back on the Wi-Fi. To update your device to have the new password, you will need to remove its Wi-Fi profile and reconfigure your device. Please follow the instructions below to help with your device.

There are many different flavors of Linux, and some prefer GUI interfaces vs CLI. This following instructions are best effort.

  1. Go to your Network Settings Icon, or Network Settings in your control panels

  2. Select Edit Connections

  3. From here you can delete/remove Wi-Fi connections that your computer has connected to.

  4. Now that you have removed the Wi-Fi Profile, please follow the instruction above on how to reconfigure your device for the appropriate SSID. We apologize for any inconvenience, but this is the best way to update your password on your devices.
  5. Still having issues? Please don't hesitate to contact our Technology Services Help Desk.



KeywordsWi-Fi Help Portal wifi cert certificate wificert   Doc ID90285
Ownerwireless w.GroupUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
Created2019-03-09 19:27:08Updated2022-10-31 14:16:11
SitesUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
Feedback  11   2