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Help VPN dongle?

telbert

telbert

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Looking for a bit of help here please. I've just started working for a new company & i use a laptop daily at work at several different locations, all are equipped with a wifi router that doesnt let me access the company server ( sited in our head office) via the VPN. Can i buy a dongle that will let me do this and more importantly, can a tech idiot like me set it up easily enough?
 
Presumably your employer will give you the kit required to get access. You shouldn't need to buy stuff yourself - but it depends whether the employer is reasonable.
 
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farmerbarleymow said:
Presumably your employer eill give ylu the kit required to get access. You shouldn't need to buy stuff yourself - but it depends whether the employer is reasonable.
Click to expand...
The employer is very reasonable & is as much in the dark with this as i am. Theres a few changes being made atm & they're in the process of appointing a new IT support company and have said , if i know what to get, just buy it & they'll pay for it, they tend to give me a bit of a free hand . I could wait a week or two to get it sorted but i'd like it sooner rather than later. .
 
telbert said:
Looking for a bit of help here please. I've just started working for a new company & i use a laptop daily at work at several different locations, all are equipped with a wifi router that doesnt let me access the company server ( sited in our head office) via the VPN. Can i buy a dongle that will let me do this and more importantly, can a tech idiot like me set it up easily enough?
Click to expand...
You shouldn't need a dongle, the VPN itself is a bit of code that runs on your laptop, it encrypts all your traffic and sends it to a gateway so it looks like you're on their local network.
The most common one I have come across for business is the Cisco one. What you will need is a two factor authentication device that generates a (usually) 6 figure code that syncs with the gateway.
Hardware versions of these are available but these days software ones that run on a mobile phone are commonly used such as Okta or Google Authenticator.
Speak to a member of the network support team at HQ, they will be able to point you in the right direction.
 
MickiQ said:
You shouldn't need a dongle, the VPN itself is a bit of code that runs on your laptop, it encrypts all your traffic and sends it to a gateway so it looks like you're on their local network.
The most common one I have come across for business is the Cisco one. What you will need is a two factor authentication device that generates a (usually) 6 figure code that syncs with the gateway.
Hardware versions of these are available but these days software ones that run on a mobile phone are commonly used such as Okta or Google Authenticator.
Speak to a member of the network support team at HQ, they will be able to point you in the right direction.
Click to expand...
This is excellent.Thanks.
 
We have the cisco thing but don't use auth codes - the system does its magic in the background. Its a very secure network so it must work ok from a security perspective.
 
Does the company provide end user docs for using the VPN (assuming they have this for end users)?
 
WhyLikeThis said:
Of all the stupid shite supine comes out with, this is the least stupid of comments.

An org of any decent size shouldnt be leaving technical problems to be worked out by end users.
Click to expand...
Theyre not leaving it to me. I want to get it done to make my work easier. And they're not a decent sized org. We're a small company.
 
farmerbarleymow said:
We have the cisco thing but don't use auth codes - the system does its magic in the background. Its a very secure network so it must work ok from a security perspective.
Click to expand...
Do you just use a password or just click on the icon? It depends on the level of security that's needed. I use Freedome VPN on my personal computer (mostly for hiding behind when I am downloading movies, tv shows and music)
All I have to do to activate it is click on the icon and it identifies me from my subscription, presumably there must be a device id in there as well since it restricts me to 5 devices.
I can configure it some I often change the outbound gateway so I can pretend to be in the USA so I can access stuff that isn't available in Europe.
On my EAM laptop I use Cisco and I have to logon onto that with a password wait for it to handshake with the inbound gateway and will ask for my 6 digit Okta code that changes every 60 seconds. The app runs on the mobile phone they've lent me.
Both run on almost the same hardware though. I have a Virgin Media router downstairs with the one upstairs ganged off the back as another subnet, I plug both my personal PC and my work laptop into 2 different ports on the same router and they happily run side by side with different VPN's.
 
If its a guest wifi then it is designed not to allow access to business resources. Is there a separate wifi for staff?
 
telbert said:
If i was trying to break any company policies, i doubt the director would have told me to get what i need to help and they'd pay for it.
Click to expand...

If you’d added the second post of info with the first i wouldn’t have given that answer. Bit rude to ask for advice and then lash out.
 
Do not buy anything. You just need to connect to the right network. Either physically or via the correct wifi or the companies VPN (if they have one).
 
If your only internet option at these sites is WiFi that isn't letting your VPN connect, then getting a 5g dongle will help as it wouldn't block VPN by default.

A better solution would be that whoever configured the wireless should fix it to allow VPN out or they should give unrestricted corporate access.
 
As mentioned you just need a VPN service. And some client software to connect to it. If you know someone who can set it up open VPN would work. Otherwise Cisco, we use that for work too.
 
Supine said:
If you’d added the second post of info with the first i wouldn’t have given that answer. Bit rude to ask for advice and then lash out.
Click to expand...
I shouldnt have needed to add the second post at all, it has nothing to do with the issue that i want help with. I havent lashed out to anyone and i dont need you to tell me what i should or shouldnt be doing for anyone. So now that you have this extra info, can you help?
 
Speak to whoever looks after the company's network. You need to know the following.

1. What VPN software do they use?
2. What is the IP address or full hostname of the inbound gateway the IP will be 4 3 digit numbers seperated by dots like 123.123.123.123, the hostname will be something like 'proxy.companyname.co.uk'
3. Do you need a userid/password and if so what are they?
4. Do you need an authenticator and if so which one?

then install the software, fiddle with it until you find where to enter gateway address and give it a bash.

Unless the site you're on is blocking ports 80(http) and 443 (https) then it should work, If they are then you will need to speak to them as well but anyone doing that is too stupid to really be allowed near a computer.
 
WhyLikeThis said:
If its a guest wifi then it is designed not to allow access to business resources. Is there a separate wifi for staff?
Click to expand...
Aaah. This makes sense. I visit construction sites and the wifi is normally provided by the principle contractor for everyone to use.
 
If they are blocking outbound VPN connections, if you’ve got control over the service, you can set it up on a familiar port, so it just looks like secure web traffic.
 
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