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iPod touch Ipod Touch VPN Penn State

E

Eagle51389

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2007
46
0
Hello everyone,

Since the release of OS 2.0 for the Iphone and Ipod Touch has been released, I was wondering something. I attend Penn State (main campus) and our wireless connectivity system is via VPN. Previous attempts to connect with the Ipod Touch have failed (since there wasn't built in VPN software). My question is, if our VPN runs off of Cisco software, will I be able to use it on the campus wifi network? I'd especially appreciate someone that has tried it at Penn State if possible.

Thanks,

Eaglee
 
I'm using it on Penn State's VPN just fine. Go to Settings > General > Network > VPN > Add VPN Configuration > IPSec tab. Then enter the following details:

Description: <Whatever>
Server: mobility.up.psu.edu
Account: <PSU Username>
Password: <PSU Password>
Use Certificate: Off
Group Name: pennstate
Secret: pennstate

Then save it, and on the first page of settings there is now an On/Off toggle for the VPN. Just flip the switch whenever you need to connect to PSU's wireless.
 
I'm currently at University Park as well and I've been having trouble with the touch vpn. The settings are correct and I even was able to connect to the network on Saturday..but today the server keeps timing out. It says i'm connected on vpn and pennstate network. Any chance anyone else is having this problem on campus?
 
Hey there

I'm at Penn State (UP) as well and I just got the iPod Touch 2.0 software update. I just configured my VPN settings but since I'm at my dorm at the moment, I'm pretty sure the VPN will not work since we don't have wireless access here. Could that be your problem?

Have you tried other locations like the HUB or classrooms?

Check out this page for the Penn State wireless networks:
https://www4.tns.its.psu.edu/scripts/wireless/


EDIT: Okay, I'm supposed to have wireless access in the lobby of my dorm, but I just went down there to check and I wasn't able to connect. Hmm. Does anybody know why?

(you need to login, so if the link doesn't work, just access the ITS website and click on the "locations" tab on the left)
 
Follow Up

Hey everyone,

I did a blog post about this topic yesterday after I got the first response to this thread. A commenter on my blog said that he had gotten it to work once, but when he tired it again, it wouldn't work.

http://digitalfrontier.wordpress.co...touch-with-penn-state-wi-fiand-other-details/

Let's try to work something out between here and my blog. I will contact ITS to see if they have figured out a procedure that works. I will update on my blog so check back there.

Eagle
 
Update

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have moved the information on this subject to a different location on my blog. It is a static page which will only change when I update it. Mostly I made it so you do have to scroll and search for the information I put on the front page of my blog. Here is the link:

http://digitalfrontier.wordpress.com/iphoneipod-touch-penn-state-wi-fi/

I'm in the process of porting over the comments that gleam some information on the situation. I will update it when I find a fix or ITS posts the instructions.

Thanks for reading!

Eagle
 
Any updates to the success rate at main campus? I'm at home right now and went to a branch campus to see if I could connect but it kept saying the VPN was setup incorrectly on my iPhone, and yes I was using IPsec. It might have been more of the wireless availability at the campus than the software because my laptop couldn't even connect to "pennstate" which you have to do before you can open up the VPN client.
 
Update!!

So I emailed the Helpdesk at ITS today. They replied with a "there are no updates to report at this time".

Boring!!!

We have not been able to work out a solution on my blog but some good discussion is going on. Please give it a look and leave a comment with your thoughts.

I have a feeling that the problem lies with Penn State's network. In that case, we would have to wait until they configure the VPN server to accept this kind of device.
 
Update!!

So I emailed the Helpdesk at ITS today. They replied with a "there are no updates to report at this time".

Boring!!!

We have not been able to work out a solution on my blog but some good discussion is going on. Please give it a look and leave a comment with your thoughts.

I have a feeling that the problem lies with Penn State's network. In that case, we would have to wait until they configure the VPN server to accept this kind of device.

http://digitalfrontier.wordpress.co...touch-with-penn-state-wi-fiand-other-details/
 
I emailed the owner of the personal page that is listed in the post above. I am awaiting a response, and have posted the link on my blog. I looked the owner of the personal page up on the PSU directory and it looks like he might work for ITS. I will let you know what he says when I hear something. It looks like he is using settings that ITS lists for off campus VPN use. This allows a user to remote desktop into a computer lab or access their network drives. Can someone try those settings and get back to us?
 
Good News!

The ITS Alert has been updated to report that the iPhone/iPod Touch now function correctly with the VPN. Several sources have told me that it is consistently working. What I would like to know now is if the settings that were originally posted here (now at the bottom of the page) work. The settings given at the bottom of my blog post are shorter than the steps listed on the personal page that I posted the other day. Leave a comment, let me know how it goes!
 
Excellent news. I'll be getting one as soon as they update. Usually not into the waiting game, but I can't bring myself to buy at the current prices when it hasn't been updated since early February... Also that chance that it'll get GPS so I can use the currently iPhone only location aware apps. We'll see!

Hopefully my dorm room is within range of the wireless from the commons or some other building, wouldn't want to have to break the dorm connection agreement ;)
 
VPN Mobile App Store

Don't know if anybody knows why, but even with the VPN up and working at UP on my touch, I am unable to get either the app or itunes store working, they just won't connect. This does not make sense to me as every other app I have tried works perfectly. Any ideas?
 
Tried the VPN at Abington campus, seems to work fine with the settings provided in the first couple posts.
 
I have it working consistently at UP. I would try deleting the profile and re-inputting the information listed on this page.
 
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