VPN Service (Virtual Private Network Connection)

We provide a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service for university subscribed users to connect and login to the university network from off campus locations. The service provides a more secure encrypted connection between your computer and the university network so that we can make certain resources available for off campus access.

Please note the "New VPN Server Name Alias" changes in the "Setting up your computer to use VPN" section below!

VPN provides access to

Our VPN allows access to a number of resources whilst you are connected, such as:

  • Allows secure access to the additional Library E-Resources (See related links) from outside the university network. For example to access the library's TDNet e-Journals management system or the Library WebCat Catalogue (See related links) in order to retrieve full-text articles and e-books.
  • Allows secure encrypted access to your iSolutions Samba home file store (See related links) once connected.
  • Allows access to many other secure web pages and network resources and file stores that require the user to be connected to the university network.


Alternatives to VPN

Alternative means of accessing these resources (which are normally restricted to on-campus use only) is to connect via either the iSolutions Dial–up/ISDN Modem Access, on campus Self-Service Ethernet, Wireless or Modem access points or from the Halls of Residence network (See related links).

A connection to the service can also be made from inside the universities network but most resources are already available on campus.

Please be aware that there is also a separate VPN service for iSolutions Wireless VPN (See related links) when connecting via our on-campus Self-service Wireless network.

 

Setting up your computer to use VPN

  • Connect to the Internet using your Commercial Internet Service Provider ISP (see related links for best efforts advice on suitable ISP's).
  • Set up and start the VPN connection as shown in the setup guides:
    Microsoft Vista, Windows 7, WindowsXP, Windows2000, WindowsME, Windows98, Windows95, Macintosh OSX 10. (See the Useful Downloads)
  • Once you have successfully logged into VPN you should have an IP address that that is part of the universities network. (e.g. 152.78.xxx.xxx) allowing you access to university resources. The VPN Domain Connection Test (See related links) can help you confirm this.
  • We also provide 'best efforts' advice on Personal Firewall configuration for the VPN service  (see related links).


PLEASE NOTE: NEW VPN SERVER NAME ALIAS!

The main VPN server now has an easier to remember alias name of vpn.soton.ac.uk which can be used instead of the actual sucs-ras.soton.ac.uk name. Either name will work as it is just another name for the same server, but vpn.soton.ac.uk will be the advertised name from now on. There is no need to change your existing VPN connections settings and there have been no changes made to the actual service.

Please note that the vpn.soton.ac.uk address WILL NOT WORK OVER iSolutions WIRELESS ON CAMPUS! You must use the wireless.vpn.soton.ac.uk address as described in the University Data Network - Self-Service Wireless pages (See related link).

VPN Support and Troubleshooting

Please see the VPN Support and Troubleshooting section or Contact iSolutions ServiceLine for more help (see related links).

Further Service Details

The following information may also be useful for understanding how the service works and where you and your computer fulfil all the requirements needed to connect to VPN.

When connected to this VPN service you are essentially part of the university network and all your network traffic will be directed via our VPN server. Also any access to the external Internet (World Wide Web) will travel via our on campus firewall and its access rules.

Basic Requirements

Hardware: • An Internet connection via a network, broadband or modem connection (connect to this first).
• If you are using any form of Router or Modem make sure it is VPN capable, has the most up to date firmware version installed on it and supports the PPTP protocol (see related link on VPN Support and Troubleshooting).
Software: • An operating system with Virtual Private Networking (VPN) capabilities, using PPTP (Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol) e.g. Microsoft Windows or Macintosh OS. See setup guides for more details.
• You may need to be able to configure your firewall (if using one) to allow full access to the VPN server name: vpn.soton.ac.uk
See related link, Personal firewall configuration for the VPN service. 
User: • Your University iSolutions Subscribed Username and Password is required to login to the VPN service.

Availability and restrictions


Locations: Can connect from any Internet connection, on or off campus.
Availability: 365 days a year.
Scheduled maintenance: Occasional reboots for automatic Windows updates if needed. Scheduled upgades or changes are rare but would be advertised on iSolutions NEWS web pages.
Restrictions: Maximum of 318 concurrent VPN user sessions supported only. 
Only TCP/IP protocols are allowed.
Only iSolutions Subscribed University of Southampton members may login to the service.
Note that access to electronic resources may be governed by specific licensing conditions which may prohibit access via a VPN connection.
Dependencies: To connect to the VPN server you need to have an active Internet connection already running (e.g. broadband, network or dial-up). The VPN server is on the university campus and so requires the university firewall, core network and the VPN server itself to be fully operational in order to make a connection to it.

Automatic disconnection timeouts:

Please Note: If you are connected to VPN and leave the connection idle for more than 10 minutes our server may automatically assume your connection is no longer needed and will disconnect the session. Also the maximum non-idle connection time is 8 hours. These timeouts are in place as an attempt to reduce the number of idle connections to the server, and improve the performance to active users. Note that VPN connections over weak or intermittent wireless connections could also cause VPN connections to disconnect.