University-grade WiFi for your college, without the university budget
Guest WiFi for visitors, single sign-on for staff and students, a private key for every device and managed eduroam. One platform, run on the access points you already own.
- Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace sign-in
- Managed eduroam
- xPSK for every device
- 99.9% RADIUS uptime SLA
Your students expect a university network. Your budget is a college one.
Universities run eduroam, certificate-based sign-in and per-device security with a dedicated network team. Colleges teach many of the same students, carry the same safeguarding duties and run on a fraction of the staff. That gap usually shows up in four places.
A typical college today
- One WiFi password, shared on a classroom whiteboard and never changed
- Leavers who can still connect months after they have gone
- Printers, smart TVs and consoles on the same network as student laptops
- Visiting university staff and examiners who cannot get online
With Purple
- Everyone signs in with their own college account, so there is no password to leak
- Access ends the moment an account is disabled in Entra ID or Google Workspace
- Every device gets its own key and VLAN, isolated from people
- eduroam lets visitors connect on arrival and your students roam
Everyone and everything on campus, each on the right network
Four networks that would normally mean four projects, run from one dashboard by the team you already have.
Sign in with the college account
Single sign-on through Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace or Okta. Joiners get access, leavers lose it.
02 · DevicesA private key for every device
xPSK gives printers, displays, AV and consoles their own key and VLAN, revocable one at a time.
03 · eduroamManaged eduroam
The roaming access universities offer, run for you on cloud RADIUS with nothing installed on site.
04 · GuestsVisitors, parents and events
A branded welcome page for open evenings, employers and community users, kept apart from teaching networks.
One login for email, Teams and WiFi
Staff and students connect with the account they already use every day. Purple syncs with Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta and JumpCloud over SCIM, and group membership decides which network and policy each person gets.
- Leavers are revoked automatically when their account is disabled
- Staff, students and contractors land on separate VLANs with their own rules
- College laptops get EAP-TLS certificates through Intune or Jamf
- Personal phones and laptops are onboarded in about 60 seconds with the Purple app
Every session is logged against a named person, device, time and location, which helps you evidence the DfE filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges.
Explore identity-based WiFi
Staff and studentsA private key for everything that cannot sign in
Interactive displays, projectors, 3D printers, esports consoles, door controllers and sensors cannot use a username and password. xPSK gives each one its own key and its own VLAN, so a leaked key affects one device, not the whole campus.
- Revoke a single key without re-keying every device
- MAC binding ties each key to the first device that uses it
- Works under your vendor’s name: iPSK on Cisco, DPSK on Ruckus, MPSK on HPE Aruba and Juniper Mist, PPSK on Extreme and UniFi
- No per-device license and no cap on devices per key
xPSKeduroam, without building it yourself
eduroam lets staff and students connect automatically at universities and colleges around the world, and lets visiting academics, examiners and partner staff connect at yours. Running it normally means your own RADIUS servers, certificates and a federation connection to maintain. We run all of that for you.
- Your students and staff roam with their college login, wherever eduroam is available
- Visitors from eduroam institutions connect the moment they arrive
- Cloud RADIUS with a 99.9% uptime SLA and nothing to install on site
- Authenticated against your Entra ID or Google Workspace directory, alongside your other networks
eduroamGuest WiFi that works as hard as your open evening
Prospective students, parents, employers, apprentices’ managers and community users of your sports and conference facilities all need to get online. Purple gives them a branded welcome page, kept entirely separate from teaching and admin networks.
- Branded captive portal with CCPA/CPRA consent and a full audit trail
- Open-day sign-ups sent to your CRM through 400+ data connectors
- DNS content filtering on the guest network
- Visitor numbers and dwell time for open days and events, ready for your marketing team
GuestsWhat it takes to build it yourself, and what it takes with Purple
Everything a university network team builds and runs, delivered as a service on the hardware you have.
Run four networks with the team you already have
Most college IT teams look after everything from timetabling systems to classroom AV. Purple takes the network authentication off their list, so the WiFi stops generating tickets.
Figures from Purple platform data and service terms.
Free brochure
Take this page into your next budget meeting
Everything on this page as an eight-page PDF brochure, ready to share with the people who sign off your network spend.
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Live without new hardware
- 1
Connect your directory
Link Microsoft Entra ID or Google Workspace. Staff and student groups sync over SCIM.
- 2
Point your access points at Purple
We configure the guest, staff and student, device and eduroam networks on the access points you already own.
- 3
Switch on, network by network
Roll out one network at a time with our onboarding team, starting wherever the pain is greatest.
See your college on one network platform
Tell us about your campus and we will show you how guest, staff and student, device and eduroam access would work on your hardware.
- Works with Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Ubiquiti UniFi, Cambium, Extreme and Fortinet
- Single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace and Okta
- ISO 27001 certified, CCPA/CPRA compliant, US RADIUS region
Book a college demo
A 30-minute call with someone who knows college networks.
College WiFi questions, answered
What IT and estates teams ask us most
Do we need to replace our access points?
No. Purple runs on the access points you already own, including Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Ubiquiti UniFi, Cambium, Extreme and Fortinet. There is no on-premise RADIUS server to install.
Which identity providers do you support?
Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Okta and JumpCloud sync over SCIM, and SAML and LDAP directories are supported too. Group membership decides which network and policy each person gets.
How does managed eduroam work?
Your college stays the eduroam member. Purple runs the RADIUS side for you in the cloud, authenticating your staff and students against your own directory and handling visitors from other eduroam institutions. There are no servers or certificates for your team to maintain.
What happens when a student or member of staff leaves?
When their account is disabled in your directory, SCIM revokes their WiFi access automatically. They cannot reconnect, and there is no shared password to change.
How do printers, displays and games consoles connect?
With xPSK. Each device gets its own key and VLAN, bound to the first device that uses it. You can revoke one key without touching any other device.
Does it help with safeguarding?
Every session is logged against a named person, device, time and location, and DNS content filtering is available on the guest network. That gives your safeguarding lead the evidence the DfE filtering and monitoring standards for schools and colleges ask for.
Where is our data held?
Purple has RADIUS regions in the US, EU and UK, is ISO 27001 certified and CCPA/CPRA compliant, and has had zero data breaches since 2012.
Featured products for Colleges
The Purple platform pieces most Colleges venues deploy on day one.
Guest WiFi platform for Colleges
Captive Portals, analytics, and marketing automation as a cloud overlay.
Captive Portal software for Colleges
Modern Captive Portals with social login, SSO, and marketing consent.
Passwordless WiFi for Colleges
EAP-TLS, iPSK, and Passpoint - replace shared passwords with identity.
Recommended solution for Colleges
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 Colleges. 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.
Further reading for Colleges
Technical guides, articles and customer stories for teams running WiFi in this sector.
Guides for Colleges
- University Campus WiFi: eduroam, Residence Halls, and BYOD at Scale
- The Enterprise Guide to SCEP: Deploying Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol for Automated Campus WiFi Security
- How to Build a Campus WiFi Network: A University IT Guide
- University WiFi: How to Build a Campus-Wide Wireless Network
- Eduroam and 802.1X: secure WiFi authentication for higher education | Purple
- Enterprise SCEP Setup Guide: Certificate-Based WiFi Authentication for Higher Education and Large Networks
- Managing Public IP Exhaustion in Student Housing
- Managing Bandwidth in Student Housing Networks
Related industries
Other verticals running on the same Purple platform.
Speak to an expert
Tell us about your venues and we'll show you how Purple fits.