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CU Guest Wi-Fi - FAQ

This page addresses common questions specific to CU Guest Wi-Fi. For answers to general Wi-Fi questions, like which campus network to use, see Wireless Internet - FAQ.

 New Wi-Fi Now Available Campuswide

As of Dec. 17, 2025, the new CU Secure and CU Guest Wi-Fi networks are live in all campus buildings. eduroam is still available, but UCB Wireless and UCB Guest were discontinued. Learn how to connect to campus Wi-Fi.

CU Guest Wi-Fi​Specialty Wi-Fi Devices
 

CU Guest Wi-Fi

Login Requirements

Why can't I use my IdentiKey to log in to CU Guest year-round?

Users with an active IdentiKey are better served by connecting to CU Secure Wi-Fi, as it's more secure, less susceptible to registration issues, allows access to a wider range of campus resources, and only requires users to log in once every two years.

At the start of the fall and spring semesters, OIT enables CU Guest's IdentiKey login with the express purpose of helping incoming students, faculty and staff access the internet so they can install the CU Secure certificate/app.

Why do I have to change the guest password you just sent me?

Emails sent from one CU Boulder email account to another are encrypted; however, that isn't true when we send to other email providers. This lack of end-to-end encryption makes the email we send to guest users vulnerable to interception in transit.

We've submitted a request for out vendor to develop a more user-friendly solution to this security issue. Until that happens, the only tool currently available to us to reduce this risk is requiring you to reset your password upon first login.

If you intend to log in to CU Guest Wi-Fi for multiple days, make sure to store your new password in a secure location. Your automatically generated guest username and established password will remain active for seven days.

Internet Access

What does "general internet access" and "limited access" mean? What can I connect to from CU Guest Wi-Fi?

All common web and VPN traffic is available through CU Guest; however, some applications will not be able to connect due to the needed port not being open on the network.

The following ports are available:

Web
  • 80/tcp, 443/tcp
Email
  • Secure SMTP – 587/tcp
  • Secure IMAP – 993/tcp
  • Secure POP – 995/tcp
  • SSH – 22/tcp
  • FTP – 20/tcp, 21/tcp
VPN
  • (PPTP) – 1723/tcp
  • (IKE) – 500/tcp & udp
  • (IPSEC) – 4500/tcp & udp, 10000/tcp & udp
  • (GRE) – protocol 47
  • (ESP) – protocol 50
  • (AH) – protocol 51

Register a Shared University Device

How do I register a shared university laptop (e.g., lab machine, loaner laptop)?

Secure Computing Devices

If the device is enrolled in Secure Computing, then it already has the CU Secure certificate installed. Learn how to identify a Secure Computing device.

Non-Secure Computing Devices

If your device isn't enrolled in Secure Computing yet, the long-term solution is to start or continue the Secure Computing enrollment process. See Secure Computing - Information for IT Professionals.

In the short term, the devices can be allowed to connect to CU Guest Wi-Fi for one year by following these steps:

  1. If you haven't already, submit a Secure Computing standard exemption request for those devices.
  2. Once the exemption request is approved, open a ServiceNow request with this information:
    • Business Service: CU Guest
    • Nature of issue: Allow list
    • Description: [Include the Wi-Fi MAC address of each device]
  3. The devices will be onboarded to CU Guest for one year, per OIT Security policy.

After one year, if your devices still aren't enrolled in Secure Computing, you'll need to renew your exemption and submit a new ServiceNow request.

Troubleshooting

When I clicked on CU Guest, it said the network has security issues or my connection isn't private. Is it safe to continue?

Yes, it is safe to continue. Click Continue Anyway, Advanced > Proceed or a similar link that allows you to open the CU Guest login page.

When I clicked on CU Guest, my browser opened but the page won't load. The URL is weird, too. What should I do?

This issue seems occur in certain older operating systems. If the page doesn't load after a minute, stop your browser, go back to your Wi-Fi networks and click on CU Guest again. The page should load after one or two more tries.

I logged in to CU Guest but still don't have internet access. How do I get connected?

First, make sure you completed the full login process:

  1. On the CU Guest login page, you entered your username and password, then clicked Log in to CU Guest.
  2. If prompted, you selected a new password and clicked Change Password.
  3. You landed on a success page that said, "Login to CU Guest Successful!"

If you got to the success page but aren't connected to the internet, try the following troubleshooting steps:

  1. Toggle your device's Wi-Fi off and on.
  2. Select CU Guest from your available Wi-Fi networks.
  3. Reboot/restart your device.
I'm connected to CU Guest, but my internet is really slow.

If you've been moving around the building, it's possible your device hasn't yet connected to the closest Wi-Fi access point. Once you've settled into a location, turn your Wi-Fi off and on. This should break the device's connection with the more distant access point and connect to the closest one instead.

 

Specialty Wi-Fi Devices

Why can't I access the device portal? The error message says the site can't be found, can't be reached or can't be loaded.

The Specialty Wi-Fi Devices Portal is located on an internal CU Boulder network. If you can't access it, then it's likely your internet connection isn't approved to access internal campus resources.

To access the portal, you need to be connected to one of these networks:

For security reasons, CU Guest does not allow access to internal resources.

I manage several business-critical Wi-Fi devices (e.g., QR code scanners, temperature sensors). How do I add them to campus Wi-Fi?

These devices must be registered on CU Guest Wi-Fi, not CU Secure. Learn how to register a business-critical Wi-Fi device.

I'm trying to add a device and I keep getting an "Error Loading Page" notification. What's the problem?

There are a few potential reasons for this error. From most likely to least likely:

  1. You've entered non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., apostrophes) in the Device description field. Remove any punctuation or special characters from that field and try again.
  2. You're using a mobile device that's experiencing network interference, so it's bouncing between CU Secure Wi-Fi and your data plan. If possible, wait to finish registration until you're in a location with a stronger Wi-Fi signal.
  3. You're currently connected to CU Secure, but because you've connected to CU Guest within the last 24 hours, your device isn't sure which Wi-Fi network to prefer and is bouncing between CU Secure and CU Guest.
In the device portal, my registered devices all have a status of "Pending." Are they not fully registered yet?

There is no approval process for self-service device registration, so as long as you entered the device's Wi-Fi MAC address correctly when you registered it, the device should successfully connect to CU Guest Wi-Fi. 

The status column is hidden by default on most browsers, as it does not accurately reflect the status of the device's registration. At this time, the only possible status is "Pending," which will display even if the device is currently using CU Guest Wi-Fi.

I'm having issues doing online gaming on my console.

If you're doing multiplayer online gaming, we strongly recommend plugging your console into your room's network jack instead of using campus Wi-Fi.

Not only are wired connections more stable, but they typically provide faster internet speeds and lower latency (i.e., ping).

Depending on your room's setup, you should have at least one Ethernet wall jack (a rectangular socket that looks like a larger version of a telephone jack) or a white device that says "Cisco" on it (the Ethernet ports are on the bottom).