Since the beginning of early Spring—way back in March—we began working primarily remotely; and during these times, we have come to rely on VPN in order to safely and securely access private and protected information on Edgewood College’s network.
In light of this, we have put together our most commonly asked questions and are sharing them with the community!
Q. When should I use Edgewood College’s VPN Service?
A. You only need to use VPN when you are accessing protected network resources from off campus. This includes three main categories: Department Drives, Databases (such as Jenzabar Desktop Client, Infomaker, Feith, etc.) and Remote Desktop (accessing your work/office computer from a remote location).
Q. When is VPN not required to access an Edgewood College service off-campus?
A. Most services are available without using a VPN. These include WebEx meetings, Teams meetings, Zoom meetings, most Microsoft 365 services (OneDrive, Outlook, Stream, SharePoint, Word, Excel, etc.), Blackboard, J1 Web, Kronos, Faxing and more!
Q. Do I need VPN while I am on-campus?
A. Nope! While you are connected to the Edgewood College network, protected resources (mentioned above) are available to you without using VPN.
Q. Where do I get Edgewood College’s VPN service installed on my computer?
A. You can install FortiClient by using BigFix on Edgewood College owned computers. For personal computers, please contact TAC to receive instructions for installation.
Q. Will my home Internet affect VPN services and connection?
A. Yes. To keep a stable connection to our VPN service, your home Internet can play a big role in this. Typically, speeds of 10 Mbps for your upload connection (when you’re sending data to the Internet) are recommended; it is also highly recommended that you plug your computer directly into your home router using an Ethernet cable. Other users in your home can also impact your connection, especially if you have DSL service.
Q. My computer goes to sleep and then the VPN connection disconnects. Is this normal?
A. Absolutely. This is intended and is perfectly normal. Once your computer goes to sleep, persistent connections are usually closed, so you may find that your VPN session has disconnected. To reconnect, simply sign back into FortiClient and you’re good to go!
These have been some of the most common questions we’ve had regarding VPN so we hope they can help you out as well. If you have any additional questions or concerns regarding VPN, please do not hesitate to contact TAC at technology-assistance@edgewood.edu or by calling 608-663-6900.
Happy Holidays!