How to use the VPN
- Jennifer Allan
- Kathy Downham
- Martin Keen
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a method of securing communications between your home computer and the network at the University. Once the connection is made, you can connect to many of the University resources like you would were you sitting at your desk.
However, as a method of working remotely it is fairly underwhelming - you start it up, log in and nothing happens! That's because the VPN is only giving you a tunnel through the internet to your work network. Now you have to actually go and find, or connect to, the systems you need.
How to connect to the VPN & When to use the VPN
You don't need to use the VPN for email access, although you certainly can. Just configure your email client (e.g. Outlook) as outlined on this page - Configure Outlook on a Home Windows PC.
Remotely connecting to your computer at work
You can access your work computer through the VPN, by running a remote desktop session, that's exactly like sitting at your desk in the office. Please see this guide for help on setting it up - Remotely Connect to Your Work PC. Please note that your computer must be turned on for you to be able to connect. If you are not in the office and the computer is turned off you can try to find a colleague to turn it on for you, or contact the Service Desk. We have tools that are sometimes able to turn on the computer remotely.
Group or Home drive
You need to specifically connect to a group or home drive, as outlined on these pages; depending on which type of home computer you use:
Applications
You will need to install any applications you need on your home computer. You can install a copy of the Microsoft Office applications using your University licence for free. Follow these instructions - Office 365 Guides.
Journals
If you know the URL for the journal, you should be able to connect to it, by typing the journal's URL into your preferred web browser.
University websites
You should be able to log in to any University system or website like Employee Self Service.
CUFS
Depending on what functions you use in CUFS, you may need to install Java on your home computer. Java can be downloaded from here https://ufs.admin.cam.ac.uk/technical-news/download-area. Also please note that you are best to use Firefox to access CUFS.