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Virtual Private Networking at MHC


  1. Overview
  2. Notes
  3. Registration
  4. Client Installation and Setup Instructions

Overview

The Virtual Private Networking (VPN) servers at Mount Holyoke College are run by the Network Department. These devices allow members of the MHC community to access IP restricted services using third party Internet service providers. You'll be able to access all of the same services that are available to registered on-campus computers via your home broadband connection. Dial-up modem connections also work, although you may not be pleased with the performance of certain bandwidth intensive services.

To use this software, you must install a piece of software (the VPN client) on your home machine. Then, using your MHC username, password, and this software, you will be authenticated on the VPN server and MHC-specific network services will be made available.


Notes


Registration

You must register with the MHC networking department in order to have your VPN account activated. Please register using this form.


Client Software Installation Setup Instructions

    PC Clients

    1. Download the appropriate client installation software from the client download area. This is a secure area, so you will be prompted to enter your mhc username and password. (The PDF files provide additional vendor documentation, which you may or may not find useful.)

    2. Remove any existing VPN client software. Do this via Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs. Reboot after removing the old client, prior to installing the new one.

    3. Run the installer. Accept the defaults. Note that the installation process will likely knock out any existing network connections. Reboot.

    4. Note: There is a known problem installing the Nortel VPN client on a Centrino laptop which uses the IntelPRO wireless adapter. This problem can be dealt with, but you must read and follow the instructions available here.

    5. Run the client. You will be asked if you'd like to use the wizard to setup your configuration. Say yes.

      • The first dialog presented prompts for a name and description. The values are unimportant.

      • The authentication type is username/password.

      • Enter your username. Leave the password field blank. Don't save your password.

      • Yes, you have a group id and password. The group id is '8910' (without quotes). The password is 'egbagdf'.

      • The IP address of the vpn server is 138.110.1.195

      • No, you do not want to dial first (this is assuming you have a broadband cable/dsl connection).

      • Done!

    Apple Macintosh

    Unfortunately, we cannot offer VPN support for Apple computers at this time. We are looking into ways to remedy this situation, and will update this page with new information as we have it.

    AppleShares are available using Appletalk over IP.

    Prior to OS X, you do this by going to the chooser, highlighting Appleshare, and clicking the 'Server IP Address...' button. You'll have to know the IP address of the machine you're attempting to connect to. You can see a computer's assigned IP address by going to the TCP/IP control panel.

    On OS X, Go to Finder/Go/Connect to Server... Type afp:// (e.g. 'afp://138.110.10.96') in the text box at the bottom of the dialog box that appears to view the AppleShares available on that machine. Again, you'll need to know the ip address of the machine you're attempting to connect to. You can find this information via the Apple menu/System Preferences.../Network dialog.

Connecting to MHC

At this point, you're ready to go! After you establish communication with your Internet Service Provider, enter your username and password on the Contivity VPN Client form, and click the "Connect" button to create a secure tunnel to MHC.

Once connected, you will have the same access priviledges to Mount Holyoke College's intranet services as you would have on campus, for example the Library's Databases and E-Books collections


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Copyright © 2008 Mount Holyoke College. This page created and maintained by Ron Peterson. Last modified on November 6, 2008.