28. September 2026 - Netzwerk eduVPN for remote work—now available for students, too
The new eduVPN service, currently in pilot operation, will also be available to students starting in the 2026–27 winter semester. Employees can already use eduVPN; the service is particularly recommended for working on mobile devices. It can be used as an alternative to Cisco VPN.
eduVPN – A Convenient Alternative for Mobile Work
eduVPN is an open-source-based VPN (Virtual Private Network) service developed specifically for the global research and education community, providing secure and encrypted access to the university network.
- The service is generally recommended for all students and staff, especially for remote work.
- Convenient login: After the initial login, the VPN profile remains valid for seven days, so multi-factor authentication does not need to be performed with every connection.
- By default, the split-tunneling feature is enabled for efficient internet usage.
Open-Source-Based VPN Alternative
eduVPN is open-source and is coordinated by the European research network GÉANT. The new service is being offered as an alternative to the existing Cisco VPN for students and staff with a university ID.
- Alternative open-source solution for greater data sovereignty.
- A “non-split” option is available, in which all data traffic is routed through the VPN. This is necessary, for example, when users outside the campus network wish to access licensed electronic media (databases, e-journals, and e-books) via publishers’ websites. After logging in, you can select the “WireGuard Non-Split” profile. (Unlike eduVPN, the Cisco Secure Client is set to the non-split connection by default.)
eduVPN is currently in pilot operation. If you encounter any issues while using it, please report them to IT Services. Cisco VPN remains available as an alternative.
Important for users: Only one VPN connection (Cisco VPN or eduVPN) may be active at a time; simultaneous use of both services is not supported and will result in connection problems.
We look forward to having many users and ask that you send feedback on the new VPN service to it-service@uni-heidelberg.de