Off-campus connectivity

Connectivity to libraries

Students residing in the wider metropolitan areas typically do not have the same Internet experience as those either visiting or living in on-campus accommodation. To assist with this issue, the university's ICT Services has provisioned the eduroam Wi-Fi service to 11 public libraries. This allows staff and students to connect to the university's Wi-Fi at these libraries in the same manner as on campus.

The service is available at the following libraries in the Metro:

Walmer
Uitenhage
Kwanobuhle
North End
Newton park
New Brighton
Algoa Park
Zwide
Korsten
Motherwell
Linton Grange

Nelson Mandela University has its own dedicated infrastructure installed at these libraries, so we do not rely on any of the Metro's Wi-Fi services that they have with their suppliers.

ICT Services hopes to expand this service to all Metro libraries so that more students can access university resources off-campus.

Connectivity to off-campus residences

ICT Services has embarked on several projects aimed at improving internet connectivity from off-campus venues.

A Minimum Wi-Fi Standards document for residences has been created and shared with off-campus accommodation. The standards are useful for both accreditation and monitoring purposes.

The Off-campus Accommodation Connectivity project involves ICT Services providing backhaul connectivity to off-campus accommodation, in other words providing an internet "pipe" to the residence, while the owner is responsible for providing the Wi-Fi capacity within the residence that uses the internet pipe provided.

Phase 2 of the project has now been completed and a total of 47 accredited privately-owned residences have been connected to the university network. This services over 5700 students, which now have an internet experience similar to that of students living on campus.

The networks of the university and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) have been connected to each other since 2016, and a MoU exists between the two parties which enables the sharing of infrastructure where possible.