Virtual Private Network (VPN)

All University of Waterloo staff, faculty, and students have VPN access. It is recommended that you use VPN only when necessary (e.g. if you are accessing a service or application that requires VPN).

IST provides a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service to the campus community to facilitate telecommuting and other access to campus-based network resources. The VPN uses the public Internet to connect a remote computer, such as a home computer or a laptop, securely to the University of Waterloo network. The underlying principle is to make the remote computer seem as if it were physically connected to the campus network.

Examples of systems that do not require VPN	Examples of systems that require VPN
Skype for Business Request Tracker (RT) LEARN Microsoft 365 Workday Confluence WCMS	IST managed Windows workstations Faculty managed Windows workstations Network Drives (N: Drives) Remote Desktop Active Directory private.uwaterloo.ca sites

Accessing all campus network resources

Users will need to install the VPN client software in order to get access to all campus network resources. In this case, you would run the Cisco AnyConnect client software, then do what you need to do to access the resource. For example, you would start the VPN client before running site-licensed software on your laptop that needs to connect to our license server, before mapping a network drive, or before starting your Remote Desktop client. For instructions to sign in to VPN client please see https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ISTKB/pages/edit-v2/1540588259?draftShareId=48723990-22ae-41f6-ab1a-96a2878123a8

The VPN device network address is: "vpn.uwaterloo.ca"
The "Connect to" location for the AnyConnect client is: "vpn.uwaterloo.ca"
There are now two options under the 'Group' drop-down menu: UW-Campus and UW-General-Campus. If you experience difficulty connecting to UW-Campus or cannot reach some on-campus resources, please use the alternate profile, UW-General-Campus.

To learn more about this service, confirm required setting, or view installation guides, please visit our VPN service catalogue page.

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