Joining a VPN network with a MAC

[llotse]

Never had a single problem with Mac's joining any network before but the IT guy in the office is now saying there are probems with software etc. Not sure he is right. Does anyone here join and work on a VPN with a mac? If so did you set it up yourself?

 

[ianf]

Depends on the VPN.

We used to have the nortel contivity which didn't work so well (needed to run in a vm running windows), but now have the Cisco Anyconnect service and it works like a champ. (mac, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)

There's some limited built-in support too for l2tp over IPSec, and pptp, but you'd need to know how that works to configure it.

 

[stolzy]

I use a UK-based VPN service from France almost daily with a variety of mac and have had no problems at all, ever.

Problem with IT people is they know very well that half of them would be without jobs if their firms or customers used macs - they simply wouldn't be necessary.

 

[Ste]

Best mac VPN software in my opinion is VPN Tracker by a company called Equinux. I have used it for about 3 years to connect to the office on MacBooks and a Mac Pro and had no issues. It has a number of presets for a variety of Firewalls, however, you will still need various details from your IT Dept to set up.

 

[llotse]

Thanks for al the replies, hopefully I can convince the IT people to let me try to get in especially with that VPN tracker software. If not I will simply have no computer. Just tried to use the brand spanking new Dell laptop they gave me with Windows 7. What a load of shite, they would have to pay me a lot more to recompense me for the frustration of using that pile of crap.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

First of all as a member of IT staff I would say your paid to use the company computer so get on with it ;-) You wouldn't be allowed to connect your personal computer to our networks anyway as its a total security risk.

Second, it depends on what VPN they are using. Not all software will connect to all systems. The stock windows NAP wont connect to a MAC without a lot of hassle.