This role is assigned to low-risk devices that only require outbound Internet access. These devices are generally well-managed by Ohio State IT (Information Technology) or require little to no management. Devices include but are not limited to scientific instruments, digital signage, AR/VR headsets, and micro-computers.
Network role at a glance:
- Wi-Fi (Registered4OSU) and wired connectivity options available
- Private IP addressing with network address translation (NAT) for traffic destined off-campus
- Wired connections support DHCP reservations. Dynamic DNS supported on wired and Wi-Fi.
- All outbound traffic permitted
- Inbound traffic limited to management tools only.
Network Role Characteristics
Aliases for this role include
- Device
- Other Device
- IOT (Internet of Things)
- osulan-device
Network Traffic Permissions
No outbound traffic limitations are applied to this network role.
Inbound traffic is limited to:
- IT management tools (e.g., Active Directory, Config Manager, Jump hosts, etc.)
- Remote access tools (e.g., Guacamole, RDP gateway, etc.)
How to connect
Ohio State staff authorized for device registration access for IT administrators have permission to register a device’s Wi-Fi or wired MAC address at the My Devices registration system and assign it to the OSU Other Device network role.
Once registered, connect the device to a wired port on OTDI’s Managed Network Service or choose Registered4OSU from the list of Wi-Fi networks and use the password provided in the device registration receipt sent to the email provided during registration.
IP (Internet Protocol) Addressing
Devices placed in the Device role are assigned private IPv4 address space dynamically assigned through DHCP, and IP address reservations are supported on the wired network only. Traffic destined off-campus to non-Ohio State address space will have the source IP translated to routable IPv4 public address space. However, traffic destined to Ohio State address space will retain the original private source address and not be translated. Publicly routable IPv6 addresses are currently supported for this network role.
After receiving an IP address, the campus DHCP service will dynamically create a DNS A record for the endpoint in the DNS zone device.role.it.osu.edu. For example, an endpoint with hostname “thing123456” would have a DNS record of thing123456.device.role.it.osu.edu. In the event the endpoint has no configured hostname, the mac address of the device will be used instead.
Additional Information for IT Teams
This network role is made available to all IT administrators with access to My Devices. Staff can fulfill their self-service request by completing the following:
- Log in to MyDevices with your administrative account (name.#a)
- Choose OSU Other Device for the network role when registering the MAC address of the device
Registrations will need to be renewed annually, which can be performed by simply editing the record and selecting Update to extend the expiration timestamp by one year.