The mailing list for users of the eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool (CAT)

[Stefan Winter <address@concealed>]

Hello all,

in this thread, there are multiple issues.

One of them is the geolocation. This is known to be inaccurate sometimes
but there is little we can do about this. When on a cellular network,
the IP range is typically at the HQ of the cell provider rather than
near the user.

A possible way around that would be to get the exact (GPS etc.) location
from the device itself. This in turn requires the app to request the
permission for ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, and the user to have GPS enabled.

This is not going down well with many users. We already get requests
from users why we are accessing just the filesystem in the first place.
Of course if there is a general sentiment that using fine location for
better institution location is the thing to do then we can code that
into the app.

The other problem is the excessively slow loading of results. From the
reports here so far, this could be exclusively an Android 10 issue (some
reports wrote about Android 10, others only wrote "same here" but I
can't figure out from that if the "same" is referring just to slow
loading or slow loading in combination with Android 10.

FWIW, there is a GitHub issue that the app would need a newly introduced
Android permission NETWORK_SETTINGS on Android 10 or otherwise the
profile installation fails
(https://github.com/GEANT/CAT-Android/issues/37). However I have a bit
of trouble believing that because those of you who commented here write
that a manual download of the file and then installing from there *does*
work - despite the lack of permission. Also, the Android Wi-Fi API
documentation only speaks of this permission in relation to Wi-Fi
scanning, while there is no definition of this in public API docs (which
I find rather unacceptable by AOSP -
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html
has no such permission listed; I'm happy for additional inputs if
someone has some).

We have also tested profile search in the current app version across
several Android devices with varying Android versions, and all I can say
that the search typically works within very few seconds. So we are
unable to reproduce this particular problem. I for one do not have
access to a Google Pixel with Android 10 though.

In short, we can't really reproduce this and would need to pinpoint the
issue to exact Android versions and/or device models to take this any
further.

I totally understand the frustration of those who are affected but with
the situation being less than clear right now I can't offer an immediate
solution.

Greetings,

Stefan Winter

Am 02.10.19 um 07:37 schrieb Daniel Roch:
> Is there an update to the situation?
> In the next 3 weeks, 10s of thousands of new students will enter German
> universities.
> It will only be 1,500 here, but I'd like to know what to tell them when
> the inevitable questions come.
> 
> Thanks?
> 
> Am 01.10.2019 um 15:48 schrieb Carlos Maqueda:
>> Same issue here too.
>>
>> -- 
>> Carlos Maqueda
>> Unidad Técnica de Comunicaciones
>>
>> Tecnologías de la Información
>> Universidad Autónoma de Madrid • Campus de Cantoblanco
>> c/ Fco Tomás y Valiente nº 11. Edificio B EPS, despacho TI-206 - 28049,
>> Madrid
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Mensaje original-----
>> De: address@concealed
>> <address@concealed> En
>> nombre de Daniel Roch
>> Enviado el: martes, 1 de octubre de 2019 10:29
>> Para: address@concealed
>> Asunto: Re: [[cat-users]] Slow, unreliable actually not working
>> configuration search and download in Android CATapp
>>
>> Same issue here.
>>


-- 
Stefan WINTER
Ingenieur de Recherche
Fondation RESTENA - Réseau Téléinformatique de l'Education Nationale et
de la Recherche
2, avenue de l'Université
L-4365 Esch-sur-Alzette

Tel: +352 424409 1
Fax: +352 422473

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