We need to talk about eduroam.

On June 30, every Penn State student, staff, and faculty member must connect to the new eduroam Wi-Fi network to access the campus internet. In theory, eduroam is supposed to make logging in easier, more secure (whatever that means), and consistent across devices. In reality, it’s been a confusing, frustrating, and wildly overcomplicated mess for anyone who’s tried to set it up ahead of the deadline.

Let me be clear: I’m not writing this as someone bad with tech. I’ve connected to dozens of Wi-Fi networks in my life, I’ve troubleshooted routers, and I’ve helped my parents with the printer. But nothing, and I mean nothing, has been as needlessly complicated as getting eduroam to work on all of my devices.

The current setup process is a maze of contradictory instructions, QR codes that lead to five-step downloads, hidden logins that require adding “@psu.edu” even when you’ve already entered your email, and wildly inconsistent results depending on your operating system.

For Mac users, it’s one thing. For Android? Good luck. And don’t even get me started on trying to connect a desktop or Xbox. I have found that even for Apple devices, you are forced to wait a minimum of one hour after downloading the necessary profile to enable it due to FindMy flagging it as dangerous.

To make matters worse, the only reliable guide is buried several clicks deep on an obscure IT help page. Meanwhile, students are getting kicked off of “psu” and “psu-guest” networks they’ve used for years, only to find themselves without connection come the start of next semester, trying to download configuration profiles with no internet access.

The irony is exhausting. On your phone is one thing with a cellular connection, but for your tablet or laptop that doesn’t have an outside connection without WiFi, you won’t be able to download the necessary software to get it hooked up until you go home. What are students supposed to do when they come to class on the first day in August and realize they can’t get their laptop set up?

Now, as I understand it, eduroam is a global system, and it offers benefits: roaming access at other participating universities, better security, blah, blah, blah. All of that is completely meaningless if the setup process is so difficult that people give up.

Penn State is making this switch mandatory on June 30. That means the clock is ticking for thousands of students and staff who still haven’t figured it out or even realized the change is coming.

Now, like I said earlier, the technologically advantaged among us are going to find this a pain to get set up. What happens to the professors who struggle to get the projector turned on? I fear they will be completely lost with this process, and I honestly don’t blame them. This is something I wouldn’t expect my parents to be able to do.

Here’s what I’m asking: Make it easier. Streamline the setup. Give us one unified page with real, easy-to-follow instructions that work across all devices. Make those instructions accessible and visible, just like on Canvas, the Penn State home page, or even printed flyers on campus. And most importantly, bring back in-person tech support that isn’t just “submit a ticket and wait.”

If you’re going to force us all onto this new system, you should at least meet us halfway.