The all-in-one platform for university connectivity
University WiFi for staff, students, guests - and every device they bring with them.
Purple delivers frictionless, campus-wide connectivity for universities and colleges - one intelligent higher education connectivity platform, with privacy controls handed back to the people who use it.
One platform, endless possibilities
Purple provides a complete platform for university connectivity, from network management and security to student engagement and analytics.
Built with purpose, certified B Corp
Purple is a certified B Corp - we measure success by the difference our technology makes to people, not just balance sheets. Our higher education connectivity platform helps universities extend access into the communities around them, supporting digital inclusion, widening participation and the civic mission your institution is built on. Better-connected campuses, better-connected communities.
Read our 2025 B Corp Positive Impact Report
Built for student accommodation - and the whole campus
Student accommodation is where university WiFi is hardest - and where it matters most. Hundreds of personal devices per building, all expecting it to work just like home. Purple starts in the halls, giving every student their own private iPSK network, then extends the same platform to staff, eduroam users and campus visitors. One intelligent connectivity platform, with student accommodation WiFi at its heart.
A home-from-home WiFi bubble for every student
With Identity-based Pre-Shared Keys (iPSK), every student at your university gets their own private WiFi bubble. Smart TVs, games consoles, speakers, printers and any other IoT device can find each other and connect, just like at home - while each bubble stays isolated from every other student's, so devices stay secure and the network stays clean. Purple's iPSK university solution scales from a single hall of residence to multi-site student accommodation WiFi across the country.
Secure, reliable connectivity for university staff
Give academic and professional-services staff a secure, reliable network that's easy to manage and monitor. Authenticate against your existing RADIUS directory and identity provider, with role-based access to internal systems and applications - all managed from one console.
Turn open days, conferences and events into connections
Open days, graduations, conferences, sports fixtures and summer lettings all bring thousands of visitors onto campus - and every one expects to get online instantly. Purple gives them branded, one-tap access through a captive portal that looks like your institution, captures opt-in data for recruitment and marketing follow-up, and keeps visitor traffic completely separate from staff and students. Turn a campus visit into a measurable connection, without adding a thing to IT's plate.
Expand eduroam across campus - and beyond
Your students and academics already rely on eduroam wherever they roam. Purple works with your existing eduroam and RADIUS setup to remove the friction - smoother onboarding, fewer failed logins, and reliable access from lecture halls and labs to halls of residence, satellite campuses and partner sites. Wherever your community goes, their connection follows.
More bandwidth for teaching, less for junk
A surprising share of campus traffic never serves learning - ads, trackers and background junk. Purple Shield blocks ads, malware domains and bandwidth-heavy unwanted content at the DNS level, before it ever reaches the network, so more of your capacity goes to lectures, research and the student experience. No extra hardware, no per-device agents.
Free up the network, automatically
Shield filters at the DNS layer, so there's nothing to install on student devices. Block ads and high-bandwidth categories, keep educational resources fast, and see exactly what's being filtered in real time.
- DNS-level filtering
- Ad & tracker blocking
- Reclaimed bandwidth
- Real-time reporting
Privacy controlled by each user
Higher education has the highest standards for student data, and Purple is built to meet them. Every user controls their own privacy preferences from the Purple app - which data they share, which communications they receive, which campus services they connect to. Universities collect only what students choose to share, and every campus promotion respects those choices. UK GDPR-compliant, with a full consent audit trail across the platform.
Security built into the network
Universities are among the most-targeted organizations for cyberattacks, and often the most stretched. Purple adds a security layer that works quietly in the background - DNS-level filtering blocks malware and phishing domains before they load, every connection is authenticated, and you get a full audit trail. Backed by Cyber Essentials certification, it's enterprise-grade protection without the enterprise overhead.
One-tap WiFi Pass and smart notifications
The Purple University App gives students a seamless campus experience. Download it once and connect automatically wherever they go - no captive portal, no shared passwords, no friction. The same app powers digital student ID, campus navigation and smart notifications - course and timetable updates, library and exam-hall reminders, student union events and partner offers - all targeted by location and tailored to each user's privacy preferences. Onboarding new students at the start of term takes seconds.
The app is fully customizable to match your university's branding and can be integrated with your existing systems and services.
WiFi data that supports estates and sustainability
Purple's analytics turn anonymized WiFi connection data into actionable estates intelligence. See which buildings are working hard and which are underused, when peak occupancy happens and where dwell time concentrates - then use that to optimize heating, lighting, cleaning schedules, opening hours and net-zero reporting. For estates teams chasing sustainability goals, university WiFi data is one of the few sources of real-time, building-by-building occupancy already running across the campus.
See real-time and historical occupancy for every building, floor and zone across the campus.
Track footfall and dwell time across libraries, lecture halls and study spaces to right-size opening hours and cleaning schedules.
Turn anonymized WiFi data into occupancy evidence for energy, net-zero and space-utilization reporting.
Automate your campus
LogicFlow is a powerful automation engine that allows you to create custom workflows and triggers based on user behavior and location. From sending welcome messages to new students to triggering alerts when a student enters a restricted area, the possibilities are endless.
Example LogicFlow: Send a welcome message to new students when they first connect on campus.Send a welcome message to new students when they first connect on campus.
Send a push notification to students when they enter a specific area of the campus.
Send an alert to security when a student enters a restricted area.
Ready to transform campus connectivity?
Speak to one of our experts to find out how Purple can help you deliver a world-class digital experience for your students, staff, and guests.
Frequently asked
Can Purple provide guest WiFi for university visitors and open days?
Yes. Prospective students, open-day attendees, conference delegates and contractors connect through a branded captive portal in seconds, with guest traffic kept completely separate from staff and students. It is part of the same university WiFi platform, so you get one consistent campus WiFi experience with opt-in data capture and no extra IT overhead.
How does Purple's iPSK university solution work?
Identity-based Pre-Shared Keys (iPSK) give every student at your university their own private WiFi key. Each student's devices - laptops, phones, smart TVs, games consoles, smart speakers - find each other inside their personal WiFi bubble, but stay completely isolated from every other student's bubble. Purple's iPSK university deployment scales from a single hall of residence to multi-site student accommodation.
Can Purple be used for student accommodation WiFi?
Yes. Student accommodation WiFi is one of Purple's strongest use cases. iPSK gives each room or each resident a private network, captive portals can be branded per-building, and analytics show occupancy and dwell time by location. Many UK universities deploy Purple across both their academic campus and their student accommodation as a single platform.
What's the difference between campus WiFi and university WiFi from Purple?
They're the same thing - Purple delivers a single higher education WiFi platform that covers every part of the campus, including lecture halls, libraries, halls of residence, sports facilities, student unions and outdoor spaces. Whether you call it campus WiFi or university WiFi, the underlying platform is consistent.
Is Purple WiFi GDPR-compliant for UK universities?
Yes. Purple is built to UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 standards. Consent is captured at the point of WiFi login, stored with a full audit trail, and honored across all marketing and operational workflows. Students control their own privacy preferences from the Purple app.
Can WiFi data support estate utilization and sustainability goals?
Yes. Purple's presence analytics turn anonymized WiFi connection data into building-by-building occupancy data, which estates teams use to manage heating, lighting, cleaning schedules, opening hours and net-zero reporting. It's one of the few real-time sources of space utilization data already running across most universities.
Does Purple work with eduroam?
Yes. Purple integrates with your existing eduroam and RADIUS infrastructure rather than replacing it, removing friction so students and visiting academics get smoother onboarding and more reliable roaming - across lecture halls, halls of residence, satellite campuses and partner sites.
How does Purple help universities with cyber security?
Purple adds network-level security that blocks malware and phishing domains at the DNS layer before they load, authenticates every connection, and keeps a full audit trail - backed by Cyber Essentials certification. It works alongside your existing security stack to protect a notoriously hard-to-defend, device-heavy campus network.
Featured products for Higher Education
The Purple platform pieces most Higher Education venues deploy on day one.
Guest WiFi platform for Higher Education
Captive Portals, analytics, and marketing automation as a cloud overlay.
Captive Portal software for Higher Education
Modern Captive Portals with social login, SSO, and marketing consent.
Passwordless WiFi for Higher Education
EAP-TLS, iPSK, and Passpoint — replace shared passwords with identity.
Recommended solution for Higher Education
WiFi for IT & network teams. Cloud Captive Portals, RADIUS, and analytics layered on top of Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki, and Ubiquiti.
See WiFi for IT & network teams →Related pillar guides
The topical pillars most relevant to Higher Education. Each guide is the canonical hub for that area of the platform.
Enterprise WiFi security
WPA3 Enterprise, 802.1X, EAP-TLS, iPSK, and cloud RADIUS for staff networks that pass audit.
Multi-tenant WiFi
iPSK per resident, the WiFi-bubble model, and the operational realities of long-term residential connectivity.
Captive portal
How the WiFi sign-in works, the eight authentication methods, and the join surface technical detail.
Related industries
Other verticals running on the same Purple platform.