Tech and software for online study

As a significant amount of your learning will be delivered online, you will need your own computer (desktop or laptop) with built in or additional webcam, microphone and speaker (or a headset with a mic).

Returning students: if you have a computer that has met your study needs until now, it should be fine for the coming year.

We expect most students to fund their own IT equipment, but understand that for some students this will be very difficult. If you will genuinely struggle to do so, you can apply for support.

If your course requires specialist software, please contact your academic school to ask if you may need a higher specification device.  

For most study needs, the guideline specification below is good enough to: 

• Join online seminars and lectures using Microsoft Teams
• Access your Kent email and use the Microsoft Office tools available free to you
• Watch recorded lectures via KentPlayer
• Use most standard software packages provided by the University

Guideline specification

If you already have a computer that you've used for online study, you shouldn't need to buy a new one. These guidelines may help if you're thinking of buying a new PC: 

• Intel i5 processor 8th generation (2018 model or newer) or AMD Ryzen 5 processor
• 8GB RAM
• 256 GB or greater storage
• Long battery life (e.g. 10 hours)
• If you will need to carry a laptop up to campus, consider a lightweight model
• Windows 10 operating system ideally: see below for more about models

Choosing a model

• Windows 10 is recommended
• Mac: If you choose a Mac, make sure it has MacOS 10.14 or newer (make sure Filevault is enabled). Some University services may not work fully on Mac
• Chromebook: we advise against using a Chromebook for your study needs, because some of the standard and specialist software you might need to use won't work on it. And like Linux below, our staff are unable to support their use
  
• Linux may work, but we can't provide user support if you have any problems connecting them to University services

You get 1TB of cloud storage through your Kent IT Account (Microsoft 365). This may give you the option to use a laptop with an SSD drive (which will perform faster than a traditional HDD drive).    

Security requirements

• Your PC/laptop needs current anti-virus software with regular system updates
• Staff: if you use a laptop for work, you need to password-protect it

How to set up your study area

Follow this advice to set up your study area

To be able to connect to University Wi-Fi when on campus, or the VPN which gives you network access from off campus, your device needs to meet our security requirements. Only secure and supported operating systems are allowed on the University of Kent network.  

On all your devices check settings to make sure you're getting automatic updates, and that your operating system is still supported.

Advice on free anti-virus protection

• See what software is available to you - including Microsoft Office
• Assistive software, apps and productivity tools
• Software on student PCs

Due to Covid-19 precautions, University library laptop loans are suspended.  

Where to study on campus

These models should work on campus

Most modern devices will meet our security requirements (requiring WPA2 Enterprise/AES encryption). To make sure yours does, bring a device that has one of these operating systems and has anti-virus protection:

• iOS 11 or newer (Apple phones and tablets). Make sure you have automatic updates turned on, and it's protected with a fingerprint, PIN or password
• Android 7 or newer (Google, Samsung, some HTC and other phone/tablet brands like Kindle Fire). You should protect it with a fingerprint, PIN or password. Enable Encryption in Settings, under Security and Location.
• Windows 10 (Nokia, and some HTC phones). You should also use a PIN or password.

You will need to bring a network/Ethernet cable for your campus bedroom, whether you'll live on Canterbury campus or at Liberty Quays in Medway. You need it to use the wired internet especially if you want to bring any of the devices below. It's fast and there's no risk of interference.

Printers

• You can use campus print/copy/scanners
• To use your own printer in a Canterbury bedroom you'll need a cable to connect it to your laptop/PC

Smart TVs

You need a network/Ethernet cable to get your television online on the Canterbury campus, as it can't use our campus Wi-Fi (for Liberty Quays, check the requirements here). You probably need a TV Licence too.  

Smart speakers and streaming  

Smart speakers (Amazon Echo, Google Home) and streaming devices (Firestick, Chromecast) will only work on campus if they can use a wired connection. If it relies on a Wi-Fi network it won’t work at present due to network security standards. The device must support WPA2 AES encryption security. Most Wi-Fi devices don’t meet this standard at the time of writing.

Games consoles

You can play multiplayer games and use online services like Xbox Live using the wired network in a campus bedroom.

Find out all the ways you can get in touch: