i want to use my college internet connection to vpn to my house to use my home internet connection

[JonnyJonJon]

at my college, certain ports are blocked to disallow xbox live / bittorrent / other things of the sort. i do believe that they do not block me from connecting to an outside vpn server, however...

so, i would like to use my internet connection at school to vpn home and use my home internet. i set up the built-in windows xp pro vpn server on my home pc. i can connect to it remotely from a friend's house using the xp pro vpn client. how can i use the internet that the vpn server pc is using from the remote client?

 

[AmberClad]

Sounds like you possibly want to bypass your college's firewall to use bittorrent, etc? I don't know how to do it under Windows, but with Linux, it's easy enough to just SSH in and run the command line version of bittorrent on your home PC, then SCP whatever you downloaded to your college PC (surely they haven't firewalled port 22?).

BTW, your college doesn't offer you the option of opting out of the firewall? Mine does, but most people don't know about that option (most don't even now that they're being firewalled), plus the web page where the info about how to do it in a really obscure place.

 

[fitz4521]

i understand what you're suggesting, and it would work. however, i'd really really love to just have internet running through the vpn so i can use my gui bittorrent client in windows as though i was at home. good suggestion, though. i'll keep it in mind in case i can't figure this out.

 

[fitz4521]

sorry, posting under my friend's name now on his pc. also, i KNOW this is possible because companies do it sometimes. when they don't want a home user to use split tunnelling while VPNing, they sometimes allow the user to just use company internet for a short time.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: fitz4521
sorry, posting under my friend's name now on his pc. also, i KNOW this is possible because companies do it sometimes. when they don't want a home user to use split tunnelling while VPNing, they sometimes allow the user to just use company internet for a short time.

You could try setting up ICS on your home computer's internet connection, and treat the incoming VPN connection at the LAN interface to share with.

 

[AmberClad]

Hmmm, you have a very trusting friend . What's the problem with using the VPN on your own home PC?

 

[Fardringle]

Originally posted by: JonnyJonJon
at my college, certain ports are blocked to disallow xbox live / bittorrent / other things of the sort. i do believe that they do not block me from connecting to an outside vpn server, however...

so, i would like to use my internet connection at school to vpn home and use my home internet. i set up the built-in windows xp pro vpn server on my home pc. i can connect to it remotely from a friend's house using the xp pro vpn client. how can i use the internet that the vpn server pc is using from the remote client?

If I'm reading this correctly, the short version is "My school blocks XBox Live games and Bittorent and I want a way to bypass the school's policies. Can I do this by using VPN to connect to my home connection and making the blocked connections from there?"

The answer is, yes, it can be done. But considering the fact that many of us here are network admins that have set up restrictions just like these for good reasons (usually for legal protection by prohibiting file sharing and for bandwidth reasons since file sharing takes up HUGE amounts of expensive bandwidth), you probably won't get a whole lot of help how to do it.

If you really want to use these things, do as AmberClad said and ask your school's network administrator for permission to do it. They might say yes, they might say no, but trying to break the rules will almost certainly get you in trouble. I highly doubt they'll let you use P2P like Bittorrent since they suck up massive amounts of very expensive bandwidth on the school's Internet connection, not to mention that they can make the network slow for everyone else, but if you ask nicely they might let you use the Xbox Live ports to play games online...

 

[JonnyJonJon]

i was hoping for some fellow shady file-sharers who would want to help the cause, but i get network admins. i understand where you're coming from, but i can't give up that easily.

anyway, we have huge dc++ servers on campus where people do lots and lots of (super fast) file-sharing. in fact, i believe they do not get shut down because some of the shadier network admins run them. i doubt vpn'ing off campus for the few files i can't find on our dc servers would suck up HUGE amounts of bandwidth. also, i want to use nintendo ds wi-fi connection when it comes out (like xbox live for nintendo DS).

 

[Fardringle]

Well, if you know that they allow the connections for other people, then simply asking the admins for permission to do it will probably get you the access you need without violating the school's network restrictions (and potentially getting yourself into trouble).

 

[AmberClad]

As Fardringle said, most colleges have problems with huge amounts of bandwidth being sucked up by filesharing. With that said, not all filesharing is of course illegal (e.g. Linux ISO torrents) and some colleges will permit it, but they enforce caps on the amount of bandwidth you're allowed. Violate the cap, and they may knock you down to 56k or revoke your network privileges altogether.

Now, colleges typical don't have the resources to monitor the content that's going over their networks, and even if they did, most wouldn't do so because of privacy reasons. But they will obviously notice if you consistantly download multiple gigs of data daily or if they received complaints from the MPAA/RIAA that you're running illegal file servers with huge amounts of shared files. So do be wise about it.

 

[fartbag]

Originally posted by: Fardringle

Originally posted by: JonnyJonJon
at my college, certain ports are blocked to disallow xbox live / bittorrent / other things of the sort. i do believe that they do not block me from connecting to an outside vpn server, however...

so, i would like to use my internet connection at school to vpn home and use my home internet. i set up the built-in windows xp pro vpn server on my home pc. i can connect to it remotely from a friend's house using the xp pro vpn client. how can i use the internet that the vpn server pc is using from the remote client?

If I'm reading this correctly, the short version is "My school blocks XBox Live games and Bittorent and I want a way to bypass the school's policies. Can I do this by using VPN to connect to my home connection and making the blocked connections from there?"

The answer is, yes, it can be done. But considering the fact that many of us here are network admins that have set up restrictions just like these for good reasons (usually for legal protection by prohibiting file sharing and for bandwidth reasons since file sharing takes up HUGE amounts of expensive bandwidth), you probably won't get a whole lot of help how to do it.

If you really want to use these things, do as AmberClad said and ask your school's network administrator for permission to do it. They might say yes, they might say no, but trying to break the rules will almost certainly get you in trouble. I highly doubt they'll let you use P2P like Bittorrent since they suck up massive amounts of very expensive bandwidth on the school's Internet connection, not to mention that they can make the network slow for everyone else, but if you ask nicely they might let you use the Xbox Live ports to play games online...

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated! Become part of the collective.

 

[JackMDS]

Wow, Colleges did not offer in my time a Major in Xbox, and a Minor in bittorrent.

Why even bother to go to college when the Xbox and the bittorrent connection are better at Home?:shocked:

 

[JonnyJonJon]

Well, if you know that they allow the connections for other people, then simply asking the admins for permission to do it will probably get you the access you need without violating the school's network restrictions (and potentially getting yourself into trouble).

the dc++ servers that we can use on campus are INTERNAL. as in, they are run by people on campus and accessible only by people on campus, using no bandwidth going out of or coming into campus. they are LAN only. i have never heard of the admins allowing people to use off-campus file-sharing. i can find most files i need on the LAN, but what about dreamcast games and stuff like that? almost no one shares those at my school.

c'mon. comebody post a useful tutorial or direct me to a better vpn server program or something. google searches have yielded virtually nothing.

 

[Imdmn04]

Originally posted by: JonnyJonJon

Well, if you know that they allow the connections for other people, then simply asking the admins for permission to do it will probably get you the access you need without violating the school's network restrictions (and potentially getting yourself into trouble).

the dc++ servers that we can use on campus are INTERNAL. as in, they are run by people on campus and accessible only by people on campus, using no bandwidth going out of or coming into campus. they are LAN only. i have never heard of the admins allowing people to use off-campus file-sharing. i can find most files i need on the LAN, but what about dreamcast games and stuff like that? almost no one shares those at my school.

c'mon. comebody post a useful tutorial or direct me to a better vpn server program or something. google searches have yielded virtually nothing.

There you have it, you answered your own question. Internal traffic is one thing, external traffic is another. I know universities throttles and monitors bandwidth at the border of the their network, any large inbound external network traffic going into a single ip will definately raise red flags. Revoking your internet priviledge is pretty much gauranteed.

 

[yukichigai]

I know of a number of people living in the UNR dorms who have actually paid for Cable internet because of UNR's almost oppressive network policy. No open ports save for the absolute necessary ones, and those have some kind of packet shaping filtering or something. Instant Messanger of any sort doesn't work properly half the time. Forget XBox live or playing PC games online. That "highspeed" internet might as well be 56k; all you can do on it is browse the internet.

Anyway, see if you can get DSL or Cable in your dorm. That should fix the problem for you nicely.

 

[wiin]

There you have it, you answered your own question. Internal traffic is one thing, external traffic is another. I know universities throttles and monitors bandwidth at the border of the their network, any large inbound external network traffic going into a single ip will definately raise red flags. Revoking your internet priviledge is pretty much gauranteed.

Universities also want to keep track of your activities. A friend of mine showed me a letter from his university informing him that he must register the MAC of his adaptor with the university. Otherwise, per the letter, should there be suspicious activities, he would be disconnected from the network. More like Big Brother to me

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: wiin

There you have it, you answered your own question. Internal traffic is one thing, external traffic is another. I know universities throttles and monitors bandwidth at the border of the their network, any large inbound external network traffic going into a single ip will definately raise red flags. Revoking your internet priviledge is pretty much gauranteed.

Universities also want to keep track of your activities. A friend of mine showed me a letter from his university informing him that he must register the MAC of his adaptor with the university. Otherwise, per the letter, should there be suspicious activities, he would be disconnected from the network. More like Big Brother to me

It's their line, their dime, their responsibility. If you don't like THEIR terms, don't use THEIR bandwidth. Do you guys have any idea what b/w costs? Not your "ultra 6mb cable", but true dedicated b/w? Maybe you should just get a T1 run to your dorm room, and then you can't whine about port blocking.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: wiin

There you have it, you answered your own question. Internal traffic is one thing, external traffic is another. I know universities throttles and monitors bandwidth at the border of the their network, any large inbound external network traffic going into a single ip will definately raise red flags. Revoking your internet priviledge is pretty much gauranteed.

Universities also want to keep track of your activities. A friend of mine showed me a letter from his university informing him that he must register the MAC of his adaptor with the university. Otherwise, per the letter, should there be suspicious activities, he would be disconnected from the network. More like Big Brother to me

More like its their network and you are "permited" to use it per the acceptible use policy.

See suspicious activity on a port...shut it down.

 

[blemoine]

with all the money your paying in tuition you could just drop out and take that money and have one great connection. T1 or better. xbox live would rock and you wouldn't have to worry about those nerds hogging BW to do research and science projects.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

School admins have enough to worry about as it is-- the RIAA/MPAA threatening to sue their students; hackers trying to gather precious student data. In 2003 at UT here in Austin, over 50,000 social security #s were compromised. They just convicted the guy a few months ago.

And like nweaver says, bandwidth ain't cheap. 6megs from my company lists at around $2700... that's before local loop (either 4 T1 loops or a DS3). It's probably best to grab all of your pirated software at home before you get to school.

 

[networkman]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
It's probably best to grab all of your pirated software at home before you get to school.

It'd be even better to just delete the pirated software and actually pay for the programs you want to use.

 

[archcommus]

Sorry to bring this up but I've been thinking similarly lately. You all keep talking about sucking up huge amounts of bandwidth by doing this VPN thing. What about if you WON'T be using much bandwidth at all? As in, less than a meg a day? Would using a VPN to connect to home be semi-acceptable in that case?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Sorry to bring this up but I've been thinking similarly lately. You all keep talking about sucking up huge amounts of bandwidth by doing this VPN thing. What about if you WON'T be using much bandwidth at all? As in, less than a meg a day? Would using a VPN to connect to home be semi-acceptable in that case?

No. Its a severe security risk.

All it takes is one worm to wreak havoc.

 

[LASE]

USE REMOTE DESKTOP ON HOME COMP

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: archcommus
Sorry to bring this up but I've been thinking similarly lately. You all keep talking about sucking up huge amounts of bandwidth by doing this VPN thing. What about if you WON'T be using much bandwidth at all? As in, less than a meg a day? Would using a VPN to connect to home be semi-acceptable in that case?

No. Its a severe security risk.

All it takes is one worm to wreak havoc.

And we all know that's impossible. Between tight default security settings, knowledgable admins, software diversity, and just plain quality products a large scale worm would be impossible on modern networks...

EDIT: Forgot to add: :crackpipe;