Setup NUS Wireless for Nokia N97

This page provides detailed step-by-step instructions for configuring a Nokia N97 to connect to the NUS wireless network (the secure one that uses 802.1x PEAP). It’s very similar to my other configuration guide for N95 8GB, but I decided to write up a companion guide targeted at S60 5th Edition devices, including the likes of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, N97 mini, etc.

As before, you may find configuration details here that may be useful for you to figure out the setup of other types of mobile devices.

Here are the steps.

1. Starting at your home screen, click on Menu, Settings, Connectivity, then Destinations. Just to make sure we’re on the same page, your screen should look like the screenshot below.
2. Click on “Access point”.
3. When asked “Automatically check for available access points?”, click No.
4. When asked “Select access point:”, click on WLAN.
5. When asked for “WLAN network name:”, enter “NUSa”. Yes, note the deliberate misspelling. It is necessary when you are doing this configuration when you are in NUS, because if the phone detects the NUS SSID wireless network, it will start playing smart, turn on WEP and prompt for a WEP key. But NUS uses something more advanced. If you are configuring this at home, or away from NUS, this deliberate misspelling is not needed but it is fine to just follow along these instructions.
6. For the next “Network mode/status:”, choose “Infrastructure (hidden)”. Note the screenshot below is just for illustration, as the selected mode shown is wrong. I cannot make the selection and still be able to take the screenshot.
   
7. Then, for “Security mode:”, choose “802.1x”. Again, screenshot below is for illustration.
8. Next, for the “WPA/WPA2 mode:”, choose “EAP”.
9. Then, for “Select destination:”, choose “Internet”. If you have custom destinations setup, you can choose them as needed to fit your needs. But if you’re not sure what to do, just stick with “Internet”.
10. This should bring you back to the Network Destinations screen, and you will notice a new access point defined under the Internet destination.
    
11. Double-click on Internet. You will see a list of access points defined for this destination.
12. Double-click on the deliberately misspelled NUS1 access point configuration.
13. The “Connection name” is automatically set to the WLAN name. Change it to “NUS”, or you can change it to anything you want. It is just a descriptive title to refer to this WLAN configuration.
14. Change “WLAN network name” to “NUS”. This is important, because it must match the SSID actually used by NUS.
15. Double-click on “WLAN security settings” to enter the sub-menu.
16. Double-click “EAP plug-in settings”.
17. Here’s the tricky bit. Double-click on EAP-PEAP to enable it (tick on right hand side).
18. Then, we need to disable EAP-SIM and EAP-AKA. Click on EAP-SIM, click on Options, then Disable. Repeat for EAP-AKA. There should be no tick against these entries. Your screen should look like the screenshot above.
19. Then, double-click on EAP-PEAP to enter the sub-menu.
20. Change “Authority certificate” to “Thawte Premium Server…”.
21. Change “User name in use” to “User defined”.
22. In the “User name” field, enter your NUSNET userid. No need for the domain portion.
23. Change “Realm in use” to “User defined” and leave the “Realm” field blank.
24. Set “Allow PEAPv0” to Yes (already default), “Allow PEAPv1” to No, and “Allow PEAPv2” to No (already default).
25. Press the right arrow to move to the EAPs tab.
26. Double-click EAP-MSCHAPv2 to enable it.
27. Then disable EAP-SIM and EAP-AKA by clicking the respective entries, then click Options, then click Disable.
28. Double-click on EAP-MSCHAPv2 to enter the sub-menu.
29. In the “User name” field, enter your NUSNET userid. No need for the domain part.
30. Enter your password in the “Password” field.
31. Click back 4 times to return to the Internet destinations list. Change the priority as needed by selecting the entry, then click Options. This priority determines the order of access points used when your phone needs to establish a connection using this “Internet” destination.
32. Finally, just get out of the configuration by going back/exit. Your configuration is saved as you exit.

That’s all.

Note that it is a lot better to use the NUS Wireless LAN with 802.1x PEAP security because your wireless communication is encrypted. Other wireless users within “ear shot” of your mobile device or the wireless access point cannot tap into your communication. Furthermore, the configuration allows you to automatically login to the wireless network without having to type your username and password each time.