Before you begin with Viscosity, download the VPN key files you’ve been sent in your email. They will have been sent as an attachment (possibly to the same email you’ve received this document attached to). Save those some place you can remember (by default, most Windows machines will save them in My Downloads but you can save them any place as long as you remember what it is. Different routers use slightly different file formats for VPN keys. The vast majority (essentially all routers built/maintained by Daily Data) will be opvn files. Some of the newer routers may have a vpn key with the file extension visz - doubleclicking on that file after downloading it will AUTOMATICALLY set it up with Viscosity and if yours is in that format, you can skip the rest of this section.
Right click on the Viscosity icon (the little round circle with a lock on it) and select Preferences to bring up the main window for using Viscosity.
Right click on the plus sign/dropdown icon on the lower left and choose “Import Connection from File” It will bring up a regular open file dialogue. Navigate to the location you saved your VPN key to. Select the file and click Open.
You’ll get a Success popup. You should be all set! :)
Using Viscosity to VPN into a remote network
Once you’ve set up your connection (see above), using Viscosity is really simple.
Make sure Viscosity is running (check the lower righthand corner of your screen in the icon tray. If the Viscosity icon is not present (circle with a lock on it), start Viscosity from the Windows Menu.
Open the Viscosity Preferences menu by right clicking on the icon and selecting Preferences. It will bring up the main menu and you will be able to see your VPN connections that have been set up previously.
Rightclick on the connection you’d like to activate, and select Connect from the dropdown menu that will appear.
A password dialogue will pop up. Enter your password. Depending on your router setup, may ask for both a username AND password. This will be the password you were supplied with your VPN key. It may or may not be the same as your email password or the password you use to login to your computer at work.
The VPN will connect and a notification will pop up in the lower righthand corner of your screen. You can also check the status of your connection by looking at the Viscosity icon in the tool tray – when it is connected, it will be lit up green. You’ll now be able to access network resources on the office network via the VPN.
If you are using your usual work computer, simply brought home and connected it to the VPN, all your normal resources (fileshares, network printers, network accessible software such as Quickbooks) will be accessible in the ways that you usually access them. If you’ve installed Viscosity on a home computer and set up a VPN connection that way, you will need to recreate shortcuts to network shares, reinstall network printers, and otherwise remake connections.
If you are unsure about how to access your company resources, check your email for a file (accompanying this one) with company-specific instructions. Many things will be slightly different than the way they work when accessing them from within the office. Please don’t hesitate to call us with questions.