Janet and Jisc
Who can connect to Janet: the connection policy explained
The Janet connection policy sorts organisations into three categories, sets the rules for giving partner organisations access, and explains why public users — conference guests, out-of-term hall residents, event Wi-Fi — must reach the internet another way.
On this page
At a glance
- Universities and colleges of higher or further education are Category 1 — including every higher education provider registered with the Office for Students.
- A connected organisation may give Category 3 partners access through its own connection, and becomes responsible for their compliance.
- Public users (event Wi-Fi, out-of-term hall lettings, unrelated conferences) must go to a public ISP, or be authenticated and tunnelled to one.
- If you’re a training or apprenticeship provider and unsure of your category, the policy says to ask the Jisc Service Desk.
The three categories
The Janet Network connection policy (MF-POL-053 issue 2.2, dated 2 March 2023 and last reviewed on 4 July 2025) puts organisations into three categories:
| Category | Who | How they normally connect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Organisations whose primary purpose is state-regulated education and/or research, regulated through a Jisc core funding body — including “universities and colleges of higher or further education, including all providers of higher education registered with the Office for Students” | Through grant-funded or collective arrangements |
| 2 | Organisations connecting mainly to sell commercial services to others on Janet | Individually, on a tariff |
| 3 | Anyone else compatible with the policy — including schools, academies, museums, charities, local and central government, and health and social care | Individually, on a tariff |
Janet is regulated as a private network under the Communications Act 2003.
Training and apprenticeship providers
The policy doesn’t say explicitly which category an independent training provider or apprenticeship provider falls into. It says to ask the Jisc Service Desk (help@jisc.ac.uk).
Partner organisations
A connected organisation may give Category 3 organisations access to Janet through its own connection — but not Category 1 or 2 organisations. If you do, you become responsible for your partner’s compliance with the Janet Acceptable Use Policy and Security Policy.
Public access: events, conferences and halls
The policy gives these as examples of users who could count as “members of the public”:
- people using Wi-Fi at a public venue or event on campus;
- “the letting of rooms in student halls of residence outside term time”;
- people at conferences hired for events unrelated to the institution.
Providing public internet access brings regulatory duties — the policy mentions the Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations 2018, the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and PECR. So that Janet stays outside those rules, public traffic must either:
- go to a public ISP; or
- if it is carried over Janet, be authenticated, tunnelled (encrypted) across Janet to the public ISP, and identified as coming from that ISP.
The connected organisation and the public ISP — not Jisc — are responsible for compliance.
Guests from other institutions can use eduroam or govroam under each federation’s rules — see eduroam and govroam.
Where to go next
Sources
Checked 25 October 2026. We wrote this guide from these sources, in our own words:
- Jisc: Janet Network connection policy (jisc.ac.uk)
- Jisc: Janet IP connection (jisc.ac.uk)
Broadband for Education is an independent guide. It is not a broker or a supplier, and it is not owned by, or connected to, Jisc, any network provider, framework or government body. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.