Connecting to VPN

Created by Admin Admin, Modified on Mon, 5 Aug, 2024 at 9:58 AM by Admin Admin

NPC VPN Connection Guide
NPC TAS June 2024

Please go to https://mfa.npc.edu and follow the Duo MFA setup guide if you haven’t yet enrolled in Duo for Multifactor Authentication.

There's a program named “Cisco Secure Client” on your laptop—that’s the VPN client that NPC uses that allows you to connect to the NPC network from home.

This program will not function if you’re on the NPC network, so please test this process from off-campus. Verify that you can log into VPN and that each of your programs and shared drives are working as desired.

Connect to the internet before trying to connect to VPN, then launch the VPN program.

Under the "AnyConnect VPN" text, you should see a drop down with two options:

Northland Pioneer College - PDC
Northland Pioneer College - WMC

Select the location nearest to you and click Connect

If you don't see these options, please enter "wmcvpn.npc.edu" or "pdcvpn.npc.edu"
After your first connection to VPN, these two options should be auto-filled.

After clicking Connect, a Microsoft login window will pop up

Enter your username and password

Then, a Cisco Duo Multifactor Authentication window will pop up.

If you registered the Cisco Duo app on your smart phone, you will see the following screen and receive a push notification on your device.
- NOTE: If you do not see a push notification, open the Cisco Duo app on your device and see if it pops up. If it doesn’t, close all open VPN windows, leave the Duo app open, and restart the log in process.
- If you don’t want to use the Number entry that Duo gives you, you can tap “Other Options” and select from a list of different authentication methods.

A screenshot of a computer

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After the authentication, you should see a message pop up that says “Connected”. You’re now connected to the NPC network from off-campus!

If you’re ever not sure whether you’re connected to VPN, open the Cisco Secure Client program, and you should see "Connected to Northland Pioneer College" and a button saying "Disconnect"

When you are done for the day, please open the VPN program and click Disconnect to log out of VPN.