How to Connect to CU-Resident Wi-Fi

Getting connected to Wi-Fi at CU may seem straightforward, but the process can be intricate, similar to connecting to a printer here… This guide will walk through the steps to connect your device to the CU-Resident Wi-Fi network and enable extra security using the free quad9.net DNS service. It’s recommended to connect to a Wi-Fi network as “CU-Guest” is heavily bandwidth limited, meaning on average on CU-Guest you would normally get 10mbps while on “CU-Resident” you can achieve speeds on average of 100mbps. Though, if you add a custom DNS through quad9.net you can achieve speeds well over 100mpbs, while increasing privacy and security of your devices.

CU-Resident only allows on campus residents to log in to register their devices.

Registering a Device (Required)

Although registering a device may seem complicated, this guide simplifies the process and makes it straightforward. The only requirement is that you have a device already connected to the network, which can be either CU-Resident or Cornerstone.

1. Visit – https://clearpass.cornerstone.eduNote - If you are not connected to either CU-Resident or Cornerstone, the site will return an error "We can’t connect to the server at clearpass.cornerstone.edu."
2. Login – to clear pass by using the following format Username is "first initial, followed by a 0, then ID number" example “a0123456”. Password is your Microsoft account password.
3. Click – "Guest Management" located under "ClearPass Guest"
4. Click – Add Device located on the right near "List Devices" and the "Logout" button.
5. Add – a "Device Name", it’s recommended to not personally identify the real device. I would put device 1, device 2, device 3, etc. This increases privacy a little bit.
6. Add – the "Mac Address" of the device, this can be found in various places on a variety of devices. I recommend to lookup on YouTube, “How to find mac address for (blank product)”Apple Products - Settings → General → About → "Wi-Fi address"Windows - Settings → Network & Internet → Ethernet or Wi-Fi → Select the connection → Properties → "Physical address (MAC)"Linux - Open Terminal/Console → Type and enter "ip link" → Mac address → Mac address will be listed after "link/ether"
7. Press – "Create Device" once you have entered your device’s Mac address, be sure to leave "Enable AirGroup" blank.Note - CU only allows 3 devices to be connected to one account, meaning you can only have 3 devices registered per account.

Connecting a Device (Required)

Once you have completed all the steps to register your devices, you can now simply connect to "CU-Resident" as you would with any other Wi-Fi network. I do highly recommend setting up quad9 as a custom DNS with the instructions below, but it’s only optional.

Enabling Extra Security (Recommended)

This is an optional step but is highly recommend as not only does it give your devices more security and privacy, but it could increase Wi-Fi speed quite significantly. Based on my tests alone, it allowed a number of my friends to download/update various PlayStation games well over 50 GB’s in less than 10 minutes. Since quad9 is relatively a big non-profit organization, they have crafted a handful of guides made per devices and operating systems.

https://quad9.net/support/set-up-guides

Enabling Extra Security via VPN (Recommended)

While I highly recommended adding quad9 to your devices simply due to it being a trustworthy non-profit organization, and it’s free. If you are looking for a secure and fast VPN, I recommend either ProtonVPN, Mullvad or IVPN. Although I have a custom code for "Proton Mail Plus" as they are allowing me to give away one month of Proton Mail Plus completely free. Which gives you access to many perks including a secure and private VPN.

Free One Month of Proton Mail Plus Click Here

Note - If you are connected to CU Wi-Fi, they block any website name with the words "VPN" due to VPNs having the capability to unblock all network restrictions on their censored networks.