Wireless Access for UofL Visitors

Owned by Chris Weaver
Last updated: Aug 29, 2022 by Trenton Hurt
3 min read

Every day, UofL hosts many visitors and guests who need wireless access. They include:

  • Prospective students and their families

  • Vendors attending meetings on campus

  • Alumni and other visitors

  • Conference attendees

Four types of wireless access are available, depending upon who you are:

  • ulvisitor (for visitors; short-term use, limited internet functionality)

  • ulsponsor (full-service unencrypted network access for up to 30 days; requires a UofL sponsor)

UofL Visitor wireless access (ulvisitor)

With the ulvisitor network, you can use the university's wireless network to access the Internet while on-campus. . Services are limited to HTTP, HTTPS. 

How to get online

To use the ulvisitor service on campus:

  1. Select the SSID ulvisitor from your device's list of available wireless networks.

  2. Open a browser and load any URL; you will be redirected to an access page (on some mobile devices, the access page should open automatically).

  3. Click Accept to acknowledge the terms of use. Your browser will be sent to a confirmation page and from there you can get online.

NOTE: If your home page is set to a secure web page (a page with a url that starts with "https://"), then ulvisitor wireless will be unable to redirect your browser to our login page. Changing your home page setting to a non-protected page should correct this problem. We recommend using http://neverssl.com to overcome this known issue.

 Browser redirection to the ulvisitor login page is known to not work if either of the following are true: 1) if the website you are trying to visit does not exist or is offline; 2) if you are trying to visit an SSL encrypted site. However, once you have authenticated in ulvisitor, SSL sites will work.

Sponsored wireless guest access (ulsponsor)

Sponsorship is required for a guest that requires less restrictive access. Any UofL faculty or administrative staff member are able to create wireless guest network accounts. To sponsor a guest please submit a Sponsored Account Request.

The guest network account may be made active for up to one year.

Note: as a UofL guest account sponsor, you are responsible for your guests' Internet use as well as any reported misuse.

How to get online

To access sponsored wireless guest service:

  1. Select the SSID ulsponsor from your device's list of available wireless networks.

  2. Open a browser and load any URL to display a UofL guest log in page.

  3. Log in with your sponsored guest user name and password. After you log in, you can use Internet services and web browsing as you would at a public venue such as Starbucks.

NOTE: If your home page is set to a secure web page (a page with a url that starts with "https://"), then ulsponsor wireless will be unable to redirect your browser to our login page. Changing your home page setting to a non-protected page should correct this problem. We recommend using http://neverssl.com to overcome this known issue.

Browser redirection to the ulsponsor login page is known to not work if either of the following are true: 1) if the website you are trying to visit does not exist or is offline; 2) if you are trying to visit an SSL encrypted site. However, once you have authenticated in ulsponsor, SSL sites will work.

Set up a Sponsored Account for Guest

To sponsor a guest, visit the mydevice Portal using a VPN or on-campus access to create an ID-sponsored guest account.  Enter your UofL userID and password to begin the process.

After you sign-in, you will be directed to a page where you create and manage accounts.  The system will auto-generate a user name and password after you have entered and submitted the appropriate information.  The guest network account will be made active for up to 365 days.  If your guest requires UofL wireless for more than 365 days, you can extend the guest account duration in the portal.