Eduroam (Wi-Fi) maintenance schedule 24/01/23

Tuesday 24th January – Whiteknights/London Road

What is happening?

DTS are doing some work on the Eduroam Wi-Fi service between the hours of 1900 and 2200 on Tuesday 24th January. During this time there may be some interruptions in the Wi-Fi signal whilst changes are carried out.

Where: Whiteknights/London Road
When: 1900 to 2200 – see schedule of works
Who is affected: Everyone (staff and students)

This work forms part of the ongoing upgrade and improvement to Wi-Fi availability on campus.

Schedule of works

Please note timings are for information only and are subject to change. 

Testing will place at 7pm in the Mathematics/DTS building. The Library will be last at approx. 8.15pm. London Road will start at 8.15pm and should complete by 9pm.

1900-1930

1930-2000

2000-2030

Mathematics & DTS (testing) Polly Vacher Meteorology
JJ Thomson Allen Lab Palmer
Philip Lyle Wager Miller
Minghella Studios ICMA Agriculture
Sports Park Russell Mathematics & DTS
Hopkins Student Union Park House
  Carrington Cedar Hotel
  Chemistry Archway Lodge
  Health & Life Sciences Harry Pitt
  Henley Business School (Whiteknights) Whiteknights House
    Estates
    Foxhill House
    Edith Morley
    Library

Contact

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the IT Service Desk

Microsoft to Disable Legacy Email Protocols 01-10-22

What is happening?

Microsoft are making a mandated change on the 1st of October 2022 and will be retiring Basic Authentication for legacy protocols in Exchange Online.

About email and authentication

When you send an email from your reading.ac.uk or student.reading.ac.uk account, the email contains additional information which advises our Microsoft Exchange email server that you are authorised to send email from that email programme and email account. If you are sending email from an unsupported programme or account, you will get an error message.

The majority of apps, services and websites use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), i.e. as well as username and password you need to set up an additional check when logging in, whether via an app or by entering a code sent by email, phone call or text message.

There are some legacy programmes which use Basic Authentication, i.e. username and password only. Support for this is being removed by Microsoft in their Exchange email server on 1st October 2022.

What does this mean for me?

If you are using an email programme with only Basic Authentication, you will not be able to send emails from 1st October and beyond.

Who is affected?

This affects people who are using either an old or nonstandard email app, e.g.

  • If you use older Outlook email programmes, i.e. Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013
  • If you are on a mobile device and using a non-native email app
  • If you use Thunderbird or Spark as your email client (mainly Mac users)
  • If you manually configured your email client, i.e. you put in your own information when you added your profile, which are now not recommended.

Who is not affected?

You will not be affected if your Microsoft Office is up to date i.e. you use Outlook 2016 or Microsoft 365, you use the built in email client on your mobile (e.g. Microsoft Outlook App), or you use email on the web.

How can I tell?

A simple way to tell if you are affected is how you log in to get your email.

Basic authentication only requires a username (email address) and password, as shown in this screenshot:

Screen capture showing email and password

This is an example of a modern authentication request – it requires additional approval beyond username and password.

Image showing modern authentication method

What do I need to do?

There are several ways to mitigate this by either changing or upgrading your email programme, which are summarised below:

  • All users: Use webmail/Outlook on the web instead. You can access your University email account at https://outlook.office365.com/mail/
  • All users: Change your email programme to Outlook (2016 or 365) or another email client which uses modern authentication such as Gmail. Note that all staff and students are eligible to download Outlook 365 via Microsoft 365 Apps, following these instructions: KI 0202
  • Outlook 2013 users: Remove and re-add your account choosing “Microsoft 365” as the account type.
  • Mobile users: Change or upgrade your email programme to the Microsoft Outlook app.
  • Mac users: Update iOS to current version and reinstall the Apple Mail application
  • Thunderbird users: update to latest version of Thunderbird following these instructions: KI 1209
  • “Other” mail clients, remove and add back account choosing ‘Microsoft 365’ as the account type

For the technically minded, the full table:

Legacy protocol Description What uses it Solution
Exchange ActiveSync & AutoDiscover Used to connect mailboxes to Exchange online * Windows Mail

* Calendar

* Email clients on mobile device

* Mac OS

Use webmail/ Outlook online

Use Outlook 2016 or Office 365 or Outlook for mobile

Update iOS to current version and reinstall Apple Mail

IMAP Allows access to email without downloading it to the device. Email is read directly from the email service Email clients such as Thunderbird and Spark.

Outlook and Apple Mail when manually configured

Use webmail/ Outlook online

Use Outlook 2016 or Office 365 or Outlook for mobile

Update to current  Thunderbird app

Update iOS to current version and reinstall Apple Mail

MAPI Over HTTP Primary mailbox access protocol used by Outlook 2010 SP2 and later Outlook 2010 and newer email clients on mobile devices Use Outlook 2016 or Office 365 or Outlook for mobile
SMTP Authentication TCP/IP protocol used to send/forward email; it cannot receive messages Email clients such as Thunderbird and Spark.

Outlook and Apple Mail when manually configured

Update Thunderbird

Remove and add back account choosing ‘Microsoft 365’ as the account type

“Other Clients”

(Linux mail clients, custom mail clients, etc)

Any other protocols identified as utilizing legacy authentication Application should be up-to-date and added using modern authentication protocol such as ‘Microsoft Exchange’ or ‘Microsoft 365’ option

What happens if I don’t do anything?

If you don’t do anything, you will not be able to send any emails using your current method from 1st October. As this is mandated by Microsoft, DTS have no ability to grant an extension.

Further information:

This change is examined in further detail in this Microsoft article: Deprecation of basic authentication exchange online

What version of Outlook do I have? You can usually find the Outlook product version by selecting Help > About while in Outlook. Also see this article by Microsoft.

Creating a new Outlook profile to restore default settings: KI 1813 How to create a new profile in Outlook 2016 (Windows 10) 

Contact:

If you want any advice or have any issues, please raise a ticket with the IT Service Desk.

Network Downtime impacting internet service and VPN, University websites and ESS – 06/09/22 between 1800-2200

DTS will be performing maintenance on the core network infrastructure on Tuesday 6th September between 1800-2200.

What is happening?

DTS are making improvements to the core network infrastructure on Whiteknights campus. This requires some downtime as we carry out this important work, which will affect both wired (network) and wireless (Wi-Fi) connections.

When:

This work will take place between 1800-2200 on Tuesday 6 September

This time has been agreed to cause the least disruption.

Location: University of Reading Campuses (excluding Malaysia)

Who is affected?

Staff, students, visitors.

 

There will be no internet service during this change; this means that for Whiteknights, London Road and Cedar Farm, any devices connected to a campus network connection, the University’s Wi-Fi (Eduroam), and Teams telephones will not be able to connect to the internet.

If you are off campus or Greenlands campus, access to the VPN, University Websites, and corporate applications such as the Employee Self Service will be unavailable.

 

Further information and help

This change is being carried out under change reference: C-2208-279

 

If you need to speak to us about this change or would like advice please raise a ticket with the IT Service Desk, https://uor.topdesk.net/ or email dts@reading.ac.uk

Where do I get software from?

At the University of Reading, we provide free access to commercial level software including Microsoft Office 365 (Teams, Word, Excel), plus academic software such as MATLAB, NVivo, SPSS etc.

These are available to access in three different ways, depending on the type of software you require. In this article we will talk about the places to get software from, and provide links to detailed Knowledge Item articles with instructions on how to use them.

1. Microsoft 365: Office.com

Staff and students

Microsoft logoAll the main Office applications are available to download for free from your Office 365 home page, for up to 5 devices (note that for staff one of these is your work computer).

Instructions: How to get Office 365

Find out what is included: https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-technology-services/service-catalogue/office-365

2. Curriculum applications: AppsAnywhere

Staff and students

Apps Anywhere logo AppsAnywhere is our most widely used system for accessing applications, this service allows you to launch over 180 different apps. AppsAnywhere can be used with both University owned computers and also your own personal devices.

You can launch AppsAnywhere by clicking this link: https://appsanywhere.reading.ac.uk/

For staff, to request software on AppsAnywhere, please follow this form: Request Software for Labs

Find out more about Apps Anywhere: https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-technology-services/apps-anywhere

3. General Applications: Software Center (SCCM) or Company Portal

Staff only

We use the Software Center or Company Portal to distribute a few applications which cannot go on Apps Anywhere because of the way they are licenced or need to be installed.

Whether you have the Software Center or Company Portal will depend on when your device was purchased and set up for the University. Some software, such as YuJa Learning Capture, is available on both Software Center and Company Portal.

Software Center

SCCM logoSoftware Center is an application installed on most older University Staff computers (pre 2021) and allows you to install certain applications that are unable to run via AppsAnywhere.

We have a knowledge article that explains how to access software via the Software Center: Installing applications from the Software Center (University staff PC)

If you have a newer device, delivered after March/April 2021, you’ll need to head to the Company Portal:

Company Portal

Company Portal logoCompany Portal is an application installed on most newer University Staff computers (anything purchased after March/April 2021) which allows you to install applications that are unable to run via AppsAnywhere.

We have a knowledge article that explains how to access software via the Software Center: Install Software from Company Portal on an Autopiloted device

What if I need software that’s not available on any of these systems?

If you need software that you cannot find on any of these systems, please take a look at this form, which will help you to log a ticket to get access to software that is not available. Install/use New Software (desktop/laptop installed)

For some software there may be a different process to have it installed, depending on the licencing of the software, complexity of the software and/or the amount of people that will be using the software. However, by logging your request via this route, DTS will be able to guide you through the process.

Important: Please do not install any software you are not sure about. By using the authorised software delivery services on this page, you will get an up to date, supported version of the software you need.

Need more help?

As always, if you require any further assistance, please get in touch with the DTS Service Desk who will be glad to help guide you.

World Password Day May 5th – Update your password!

World password day logo

World Password Day takes place on Thursday May 5. It was set up in 2013 as a day set aside for people to update and strengthen their passwords.

The average person has over 100 different passwords for various apps, websites, and online services. In practice most of us re-use the same handful of passwords, and ignore prompts to “update your password” until we are forced to do something. Unfortunately, there are an increasing number of people who will take advantage of this. 

What is the risk?

Password protection is one of the most important things you can do to safeguard your personal, professional, and sensitive data. Without a strong password, you risk:

  • Giving hackers easy access to your most sensitive accounts
  • Breaches to multiple accounts that share the same or similar passwords
  • Attacks by keystroke loggers who steal common login credentials
  • Loss of data through shared (and easily stolen) passwords

How do I make my passwords stronger?

Strong and secure passwords are crucial, especially now that most of our work is done online. Even if you have strong passwords, they need changing regularly as they may have been exposed in a data breach. The strongest passwords are:

  • At least 12 characters long
  • A mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special symbols
  • Not based on your username or other personal information
  • Unique to each account

Our Password page has some more guidance for creating a stronger password.

Further information and reading

As well as the Password page, DTS have several pages dedicated to Cyber Security, https://www.reading.ac.uk/digital-technology-services/cyber-security

For more general information about keeping yourself safe online, have a look at the National Cyber Security Centre website.

Interruption to Student Email Service

This has now been resolved for all students.


We are happy to confirm that on Friday (02/08/19) evening we were able to fix the issue affecting the student e-mail service. There appears to be an issue with UoR Malaysia students experiencing a similar difficulty which we are currently investigating.

Please be aware that any messages that were bounced back will need to be resent.

We will be having a meeting on Wednesday 7th review the incident.


We are currently experiencing an interruption to our student email service.

E-mails sent to affected student accounts will bounce back to the sender, and will need to be re-sent once service has been restored.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused – we are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. Our status page has been updated, and will be kept up to date with progress.