Virtual Private Networking
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secure encrypted network connection. You may want to use a VPN to connect from your third-party Internet Service Provider (ISP) to Penn State services and resources.
A VPN uses encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users access the network and that data is secure. AIT manages approximately 4,000 VPN connections per day. Several reasons to use a VPN include:
- To secure all of your traffic between Penn State and your remote connection. Please note that this does not apply to connections made from your third-party ISP to a non .psu.edu domain (for example, a connection from your third-party ISP to abcnews.com).
- To access Penn State resources that are restricted to Penn State IP addresses. When you use a VPN, you are assigned a Penn State IP address as if you are on campus; this allows you to connect to certain Penn State services and resources. Some Penn State resources, such as library services, require you to connect with a Penn State IP address.
- It is now recommended that wireless networking users use Wireless 2.0 to securely connect to wireless access points on campus. Although, another method to authenticate and access the wireless network via a configured VPN client. For mapped coverage are, please seen TNS Wireless Information
