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Users

How the connection works

What FiveGuardian5 does on your laptop inside and outside the office, and why internet access is sometimes blocked.

At the office

When your laptop is connected to the network of one of the organization's offices, the VPN is optional. The office network already has its own protection, so you can work normally even if the FiveGuardian5 tunnel is not up.

FiveGuardian5 automatically recognizes that you are at the office; you do not need to change any settings.

Outside the office

At home, in a coffee shop, in a hotel or on any other network, the VPN is mandatory:

  • The FiveGuardian5 encrypted tunnel must be up for you to have internet access.
  • If the tunnel is not up, internet access is blocked, except for what is strictly needed to reconnect.
  • You cannot turn off the VPN or the protection. This is intentional: the service is designed so that the organization's and its patients' information travels protected over networks we do not control.
If you have no internet for a few seconds after joining a new network, that is normal: the device is establishing the tunnel. If the sign-in window appears, sign in with your company account.

Sign-in and re-authentication

The VPN sign-in window appears when authentication is needed, for example the first time you use the device or when your session has expired. Sign in with your company account, using the method your organization configured. If your organization requires two-step verification, sign-in will ask you for it.

If you close the window without signing in, you will remain without internet access outside the office until authentication is completed.

Internet exit

Outside the office, your internet traffic does not leave directly through the network you are on (for example, the hotel Wi-Fi). It leaves through a FiveGuardian5 exit node. This is designed so that the local network cannot see or tamper with the services you connect to, and the organization applies the same protection everywhere.

Because of this, some websites may show you content for a location different from yours. This is expected.

DNS filtering

All DNS queries (the "translation" of names such as a website into network addresses) are sent by default to the FiveGuardian5 filtering resolver. It blocks malicious or unwanted domains, such as phishing or malware distribution sites.

If a site you need for work is blocked, request an exception through Support. The FiveGuardian5 team can exempt specific business domains (for example, a cloud service such as Salesforce) after reviewing them.

Networks with a sign-in page

Hotel and airport networks often require you to accept terms or sign in on a web page before granting internet access. FiveGuardian5 opens a temporary, time-limited window so you can complete that step. See Hotel and airport Wi-Fi.