UCL VPN

Connecting to the UCL VPN

When you connect to the UCL VPN service your device will appear to be within the UCL network. This allows you to access IT resources that are restricted to internal use only.

Info a VPN connection will be required to remotely connect to a Windows Desktop (if you are Staff or a PhD student) and to internal only web services, such as MyFinance, etc. A UCL VPN connection is not required to access SGD, or other student services such as moodle and portico.

Install Anti-Virus and VPN Software

In order to access your departmental PC through the UCL and departmental firewall you will need to use the UCL VPN (Virtual Private Network). Before you can use the VPN you will need to make sure that your PC has a regularly updated anti virus product installed. UCL's licence for F-Secure allows you to install it on your own personal PC. You can download this for free at:

http://swdb.ucl.ac.uk/package/view/id/166

You will need this installed whether you are using Windows, OS X or Linux.

UCL's version of F-Secure works with the VPN on OS X, but it can take up to 3 minutes to connect. If you have an apple device I would recommend that you download and install Sophos Home Edition (The free edition is fine)

F-Secure should automatically update itself periodically, but you cannot access the VPN until you have updated, so you may want to manually update immediately after installing. On Windows, right click on the F-Secure taskbar icon, open the F-secure product and in the Window that appears you should see an "Update" option.

The latest version of F-Secure needs to be restarted before it will update. The first update will take a long time, usually about an hour.

Once F-Secure has been fully updated you can install the VPN software: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/services/get-connected/remote-working/vpn

Click on the link for your operating system and download/install the relevant software. All the instructions you need are on the site above, but essentially it is:

Run the VPN client (search for "Cisco Anyconnect")
enter the host address as vpn.ucl.ac.uk
login with your UCL userid (do NOT add @ucl.ac.uk) and your UCL password

Once you are connected you can disconnect/connect by clicking on the CISCO AnyConnect icon on the Windows taskbar, or the apple menu bar.

The UCL VPN service is managed by the Information Services Division, so we can only offer limited help with this service. To contact the Information Services Division about UCL VPN issues, please contact: servicedesk@ucl.ac.uk

Warning: When you are connected to the UCL VPN all network traffic to/from your PC goes via UCL