How to manage visitor network accounts

You will need to have been given visitor network account management access for the sponsoring unit and know the full name of the visitor and full name of the person who is sponsoring their access.

1. Access the Visitor Network Account Administration site
2. Select the default group for the sponsor's unit. This is likely to be named Default Group for unit (replacing unit with the name of the unit).
3. Complete the form with the new user's information, then select Add User
4. Select the  icon in the Credentials column to download a PDF containing the login credentials, instructions for getting online, and confirmation of the validity period. Print or send this to the sponsor or visitor themselves

If you need to set up multiple accounts with the same validity period and sponsor then use custom groups.

1. Access the Visitor Network Account Administration site
2. Select Add New Group
3. Complete the form with the new group information, then select Add New Group
4. To download login credentials for each visitor, including instructions for getting online, and confirmation of the validity period:
   Select the Manage Users tab, then select the icon in the Credentials column for each account.
5. To download a list of all login credentials:
   Select the Groups and Users tab, then select the PDF or CSV icon in the group's Credentials column

Further information

Automatically generated accounts can be valid for the life of the group (up to 92 days), but accounts generated later will only be valid for up to 14 days.

1. Access the Visitor Network Account Administration site, or select the Groups and Users tab if you are already there
2. Find the group whose users you wish to manage
3. Select the title of the group, then select the Manage Users tab
4. Complete the new user form on this page to add new users to the group, as described in Create accounts, above.  The credential documents of a custom group will be updated automatically with the new information
5. Select the symbol in the Enabled column for the account will toggle between a green tick indicating that the account is enabled and a red barrier symbol to show it is disabled. Disabling an account immediately disconnects the user from the visitor network and prevents them from logging in
6. Select the x icon in the group's Edit / Delete column to delete the account
7. Select the Activity Report tab to view a list of accounts in the group that are currently logged into the visitor network

Visitor network administrators must be either ITSS or staff members of the unit.

The Head of IT (ITSS01) can grant and revoke visitor network administrator access for their unit through the Delegation Control: Visitor Network Accounts page.

If the ITSS01 is not available for a prolonged period of time, please contact IT Support Staff Services to discuss alternatives.

OWL Visitor Network Overview

The service operates in a similar way to those provided in coffee shops and airport lounges. Provided that you can see the "OWL" WiFi network, connect to this and open a modern web browser or visit http://neverssl.com/ to be prompted for your visitor network details. 

A PDF instruction document is available for each account. This will include basic steps for connecting, your username and password, and the dates / times of the validity period during which your account can be used.

If you need to manually configure the WiFi network then the following settings should be sufficient:

• SSID (Network Name): OWL
• Static WEP: Disabled
• WEP Authentication: Open (not Shared)
• Network Type: Infrastructure (not Ad-Hoc)

Within the validity period for an account, connections are valid for 10 hours after logging in and accepting the terms of use. After this time you will be prompted to log in again. Your device may be disconnected following 15 minutes of inactivity, however it should connect back up automatically provided you are within the 10-hours window.

Network traffic routing and addresses

Traffic on this service is routed outside of the University network. This means that although clients may be physically within a University or College building, they connect to the University's network as if coming from the internet. Consequently they have no IP-based access to resources and are subject to any firewall restrictions.

Clients will be leased RFC1918 (private) IP addresses, translated into public addresses that are not part of the common University allocation; a reverse DNS look-up for these addresses will resolve to a record in our oxuni.org.uk domain rather than ox.ac.uk.