United provided internet access/blocking restrictions [Consolidated]
 

At the recommendation of my son (a lot more tech savvy than me), I use an independent VPN service to further strengthen the security of my web browsing (particularly banking) and email connections. I'm sitting here in the EWR UC and find that my VPN service has been blocked. Here is the message when attempting to log into the VPN site.

Internet Access Notification
Per company policy you have been denied access to the URL:

(Not disclosed for privacy reasons)

Reason:
Not allowed to browse Anonymizer category

Website blocked

Read our organization's Web use policy: https://flyingtogether.ual.com/web/c...Guidelines.pdf

You may contact your IT support administrator at:
Phone: +1-847-700-5800


My son probably has another suggestion. Any thoughts?

Were you using an UA IP address? Like in the UA Club, were you using one of their computers, or their wireless access? Their wireless access may have an UA identified IP address. When I followed the link in your post, it gave me a screen for logging in as an UA employee. I tried logging in to my MP account from an IP address using a VPN blocking service and had no problem logging into my MP account.

Try using the VPN from your own wireless access.

I am logged into the UC wireless network and using my laptop.

I can launch the VPN app from my cell phone (android device) while connected to the UC wireless without it being blocked

Hmmm. It must have something to do with your laptop. Use your Droid for now, and when you can gain access to another wireless router besides UA Club, try again. Someone else more tech savvy than me may chime in to this thread later.

So long as you're using https for those connections (which should be the default for all the main webmail and banking sites) the VPN doesn't really add much in the way of benefits.

Beyond that, it looks like something might have gone amiss with the IP addresses being assigned by the hotspot and the filtering hardware UA has running.

I'm required to use a VPN to access my work account wherever I am, and I haven't experienced any problems doing so in any UC.

Is this one of those software VPNs, like the Juniper java based ones? I've never tried that one on one of UA's hotspots, but I have never had problems with Cisco IPsec or L2TP.

I've used 2 different ones recently
1. Proxpn.com (This one is blocked)
2. Anonymizer.com (Did not try this one)

If MKR was taken back to a UA employee login screen, that may well be the issue. OP mistakenly being treated as an employee. UA may restrict its employees' ability to use VPN for its own IT policy reasons. IT glitch.

Out of curiosity, when you say "independent VPN service", are you talking about a website that you surf to and enter the URL there, or is this a full-blown VPN that you launch from your desktop?

Application.

Never tried these (I recommend strongVPN personally), but were you already logged into the United Club wifi when you started the VPN connection? It may also be the app which establishes the connection on your computer. You could try setting up the VPN as a network protocol, bypassing the software. Another trick you can try is using Google's DNS (or another 3rd party DNS server) rather than the one automatically assigned by the hotspot. 8.8.8.8 to 8.8.4.4 are Google's. This is in case UA's DNS is flagging and redirecting the domain of the VPN service.

This is the odd part. I'm not sure why LAXOGG is ending up at an employee centric page from the sound of it. I would assume (and hope) that UA's internal networks are COMPLETELY isolated from their customer wifi!?!?

Off to HNL. Will try to connect at the UC there and see what happens .

It says it right there in the error message--they don't want anonymizers used on their network. There are many valid reasons for this. Very different than a corporate VPN.

Same here. No problem using establishing VPNs w/ my clients directly to their server using UC wi-fi. I think the anonymizer sites might be the problem.