The JoinNow App is used by your organization to get your devices configured and securely connect to your organization’s Wi-Fi. As a result, once the App has configured the device to connect to a network, you won’t have to worry about manually configuring the device again.

JoinNow configures your device to only connect to the correct secure network, preventing honeypot traps (or rogue SSIDs) from impersonating your institution’s network and capturing your data. In addition, configuring your device can help eliminate common connection issues when connecting to a secure network.

Your IT department has either determined that auto-configuring your device will result in safer connections for you the user, or has found it to reduce the number of connection issues.

An unfortunate side effect of more and more people getting access to the internet is that there are more opportunities for intruders to try to capture user data over-the-air. Using the JoinNow App will help ensure your device is being securely connected to a wireless network because it updates the security settings to ensure your connection is encrypted.

After downloading the app, return to your institution’s wireless setup portal and hit the JoinNow button. Your device will download the settings it needs to connect to the network and configure them for you automatically.

If you cannot find your way back to the setup portal, use the app to search for your university’s  domain and download the settings.

These are the most common things that people maintaining a stable connection:

1. Neglecting to remove the onboarding network from your device.
2. Uninstalled the JoinNow app after completing set up (don’t do that!)
3. Forgotten to enable location permissions (for Android 8 versions and above).

If you click “Restart Setup” in the JoinNow application – don’t worry, you won’t lose anything. You’ll have to go through the authentication and enrollment processes again; they’re painless and should only take a couple minutes. This is very useful if you suspect that you may have entered incorrect credentials and need to resubmit.

Feedback is crucial in helping us sort out issues. If you’ve encountered what you believe to be a bug or glitch, or otherwise unable to successfully connect to the network, please submit a feedback form. Describe the problem in detail, and include as much of the following as you can:

• What device you’re using
• What operating system and version number you’re using
• What you were doing when the problem struck
• What your desired outcome was

Once you’ve filled that out and submitted it, please also submit your error logs. We may reach out to you for more information.

On most versions of Android, uninstalling an application deletes the configuration data associated with your organization’s network. This will prevent you from connecting, so only uninstall if you are done using your organization’s network. Forever!

The app doesn’t take up much space. It’s less than 20mb, which is about 5 pictures.

Android devices automatically connect to (and prefer) Wi-Fi networks that they’ve connected with frequently. Because you’ve used the Open / Onboarding Wi-Fi to connect your device to your organization’s network, it automatically has preference over the secure Wi-Fi that you need to use on a day-to-day basis.

Even on non-Android devices (such as iPhones), the old connection isn’t removed from your device, it may switch back and forth between the two networks – which will cause Internet outages. You’ll need to forget/delete/remove the old network information in your Wi-Fi settings. Here are instructions that should work on all operating systems:

1. Open the Settings app and choose Network & Internet
2. Tap Wi-Fi
3. You should have a list of saved Wi-Fi networks, with your currently connected network at the top. Find your onboarding network (usually called ‘Open Wi-Fi’ or ‘Onboarding Wi-Fi’, ask your IT department if you can’t locate it).
4. Long press the entry and choose ‘Forget’ (some devices have ‘Remove’ or “Delete’ instead).

Location permissions gives the application more data so it can provide a more consistent Wi-Fi connection for you and help your IT department troubleshoot anything that may go wrong with your Wi-Fi connection. The app can also use location permissions to make sure that your device connects to the correct Wi-Fi network.

Location allows your app to help you connect (it can make the connection and troubleshoot). Without it, we have limited ability to help your device to connect.

If you are concerned that SecureW2 or your organization is using this data to track your location, it is not. We understand your concern; data privacy has not been taken seriously or respected as much as it should be. However, JoinNow is only used to configure devices to Wi-Fi networks. It is not used to monitor the location of users.

No. The JoinNow app runs a one-time configuration on your device so that it can connect to your organization’s WPA2-Enterprise Wi-Fi network. After the one-time configuration, it will automatically connect your device to your organization’s Wi-Fi. Afterwards, the application does not need to be used (however, it’s highly recommended to keep the app installed) by you and your device to enjoy secure Wi-Fi at your campus.

Your institution has chosen to store a digital certificate onto your device to ensure you are connecting to the wireless network securely. The digital certificate will validate the network you connect to, protecting you from copycat or “evil-twin” networks that might try to steal your information. Google’s security standard requires a screen lock be set on the device in order to connect to secure networks. Therefore, Google’s policy for android devices (not the JoinNow App) is the reason you are required to have a lock screen after configuring your wireless settings to connect securely.

If you’d like to connect to the network without digital certificates, check to see if your institution has manual configuration options available. Although please note that your connection will be less secure.

If you no longer need to connect to the network and want to disable the screen lock, you may need to clear your credential storage first. On your Android device, got to Settings > Security then click on Clear Certificates near the bottom. You should now be able to disable any screen lock. There is more information available here.

Please note: if you disable your PIN after configuring your device, you may experience connectivity or security issues with your network.

• Before disabling the lock screen, consider first changing how often you are prompted. Instead of being prompted every time you turn on the screen, you can set it only to lock after 30 minutes of activity. Third party apps like this one can extend that time by hours or even days.
• Although Android requires a screen lock, it does not necessarily have to be a PIN or password. Pattern locks should also be acceptable, as well as some third party locks such as fingerprinting or other biometrics.
• There are also third party apps that will let you hide or “suppress” the lock screen. You will still need to set a password or pin, but these apps will bypass the lock screen while they are running. An example is No Lock.

After configuring your device and connecting for the first time, the app does not need to run to keep the device connected to network. However, consider holding on to it to ease the process when you need to re-authenticate to the network, or experience connection issues and need to re-configure the device.

No, the JoinNow App makes configuring the wireless network on your device a one-time process.  After the initial setup, you can reconnect to the network by simply selecting the secure network you wish to connect to from the Wi-Fi settings; Running the JoinNow client again is not required. In the case your institution makes any changes to the Wi-Fi network, such as using different encryption type or configuring a different network SSID etc., which requires reconfiguration of device, then you will need to run the App again.

For privacy and security reasons, our app does not store your password. Depending on the network at your school, you may be prompted to re-enter credentials after a certain amount of time or if you have switched access points. If you find yourself reconnecting too often, please consult your network administrator or IT help desk.

Our app does not manage the wireless on your device in any way. In case you are unable to connect to Wi-Fi, you can try to forget the Wi-Fi network in your Android’s Wi-Fi settings and run the JoinNow App again. In the case that the problem persists, please contact your Network Administrator or IT help desk.

You can also send the Android logs to us by clicking “Create and Email Help File” under App Menu. Please describe briefly the issue that you are facing.

Android provides user to share bug report which can be further helpful in debugging the issue that you might be facing. For more information please refer to section How to create bug report.

Please note: if you have disabled your PIN after configuring your device, this may cause connectivity issues with your network.

Android allows you to generate a bug report and share it through email. This is helpful in reporting issues to the developer of the Apps.

Please perform the steps mentioned below to generate bug report.

For devices running Android version 4

1. Use the phone menu and open “Settings”.
2. Scroll down and open “Developer Options” and turn it On.
3. Now exit from “Settings” and go back to main home page.
4. Run the JoinNow app, and wait for the app to finish configuring the Wi-Fi network.
5. Once the App has finished setup, go back to “Developer Options” in “Settings” and select “Take bug report”.
6. Exit the “Settings” and wait for the bug report to be generated.
7. You will see a notification that reads “Bug report captured”. Now tap this notification.
8. You can now share the bug report over email.

For devices running Android version 5 and above

1. Use the phone menu and open “Settings”.
2. Scroll down and open “Developer Options” and turn it On.
3. Enable the below options under “Developer Options”:
   Under Debugging:
   a. Enable “USB debugging”.
   b. Enable “Include bug reports in power menu” (in some versions of Android it is shown as “Bug report shortcut”).
   Under Networking:
   a. Enable “Wi-Fi Verbose Logging”.
4. Now exit from the “Settings” and go back to main home page.
5. Run the JoinNow app, and wait for the app to finish configuring the Wi-Fi network.
6. Once the App has finished setup. Now long press power button. You will see an option that reads “Take Bug Report”. Please select it.
7. When prompted, select “Report”. This would take a while. Please wait.
8. After the bug report is generated, you will see a new notification. Please select the notification to share the bug report. When prompted, check the box for “show this message next time” and select “OK”.
9. You can now share the bug report over email.

To find the version of Android running on your device

1. Use the phone menu and select “Settings”.
2. Scroll down and select “About Phone” option.
3. Under the section “Android Version” you can see the android version running on your device.

JoinNow App does not access your personal data . You can check the permissions that the App requires by clicking “Permission details” in the under the “Developer” section of the App in google Play Store or alternatively you can visit this link to check the required permissions under “Additional information”.

No, the JoinNow app does not allow the organization to access your internet data.

No, the JoinNow App only updates the Wi-Fi settings and will not interact with any other Applications. If the Wi-Fi network was configured by a different Application, you need to forget that network and then run the JoinNow App to get configured again.

After updating the Android, you should not have any problems connecting to the Wi-Fi network (the settings are saved and reloaded after the update). In the case that you are having an issue, please forget the network and re-run the JoinNow App. If the problem persists, please notify your Network Administrator or IT help desk.

There are 2 reasons for not saving the password in JoinNow App.

1. The Information Security Policy of organizations does not permit the storing of user credentials on 3rd party applications and
2. JoinNow App needs to run only once for configuring the Wi-Fi settings on your Android Device. Once the Wi-Fi setting have been configured, there is no need to rerun the App again.