WebVPN at Wesleyan

VPN (Virtual Private Networking) provides Wesleyan computer users who are off-campus a means of connecting to the Wesleyan network with a secure, encrypted connection.    It gives you the same level of access you would have from any computer physically connected to the campus network.

PC users can now establish a VPN connection without installing or configuring any specialized software on their computers.  With WebVPN you can connect directly to the Wesleyan network through a web browser.  This solution is currently available only for PC users.  Macintosh OSX users can still use the client software that can be downloaded from your Portfolio (click on VPN Software Download under Tools and Links) 

Using WebVPN for Windows

(Please note: the instructions below assume that you have already established a connection to the Internet either through a dial-up ISP or broadband connection)

Open a browser and type webvpn.wesleyan.edu in the address bar.

You will see the WebVPN login screen

Login with your standard Wesleyan username and password

If your browser blocks pop-ups you may need to click on 'allow popups'  at the top of the screen to begin your WebVPN session.  You will see a security warning to this effect.

Depending on your browser and your security settings, you may see a bar across the top of the screen under the menu bar that reads:  This site might require the following "Cisco SSL VPN Client".  Click here to install.    You may see a similar bar indicating that Java needs to be installed.  Click on the  bar and agree to the installation. 

The SSL VPN Client for WebVPN dialog box will be displayed.   You will be asked to install and run the Cisco SSL VPN Client.  Click Yes.   Depending on your browser, you may only be prompted to do this the first time you use WebVPN.

You will be prompted "Do you want to enable access to the local area network?"  Click Yes

When complete you will see a message indcating that your SSL VPN connection has been established.

You will also see a small key-shaped icon in your System Tray  (lower right-hand corner of your screen).

To terminate your VPN connection, right-click on the key icon and select Disconnect.

A Note to users of Non-Wesleyan email accounts:

Please note that there has been a necessary system change that results in the following restriction.  It applies to all VPN users regardless of whether they use the standard VPN client software or the new Web-based version.

If you have a non-Wesleyan email address and an email program set up to send and receive email from that account you may find that you are unable to send email from that account while VPN is active.  This may be due to the fact that, once you have established your VPN connection to Wesleyan,  your email provider no longer recognizes your computer's network address as being part of their network and communication may be blocked. 

Since WebVPN (or any VPN client) makes your computer a part of the Wesleyan network, the restrictions and security measures that apply to all computers on the network will be in effect.   Outgoing email from  non-Wesleyan accounts may also be blocked by a Wesleyan security restriction that prevents communication with external email servers.  This measure is to prevent computers on the network that have been taken over by viruses or hackers from being used to disseminate further viruses or spam.  The following link explains this restriction:  http://www.wesleyan.edu/its/email/port25blocking.html

To resolve these problems, email users should simply terminate their VPN connection before using the alternative email account.