University VPN

Connecting to the University VPN
Sometimes you will need to connect to the university Virtual Private Network, or VPN, from home. Quite often you'll have to do so to access journals when you're at home, or to access some of the services your department may offer.

Begin by opening Internet Connect from the Applications folder.


You'll probably be greeted with a Summary screen a bit like this:


From the file menu, choose "New VPN Connection..." and at the prompt, choose PPTP:


Under Configuration, choose "Edit Configurations..."


You'll need to fill in the following information:

Description: Lancaster University
Server Address: vpn.lancs.ac.uk
Account Name: Your ISS Username
Account Password: Your ISS Password
Encryption: Automatic (128 bit or 40 bit)

Select the OK button.

I also find it useful to make sure that "Show VPN status in menu bar" label is ticked.

To connect to the VPN, open Internet Connect, select the Lancaster VPN connection you just created, and click Connect.

You will need to set the Proxy server settings for the VPN (PPTP) connection in System Preferences - You can find instructions on how to do so at http://lumacintosh.blogspot.com/2007/06/proxy-settings.html