Home Office Needs VPN: Solving the Printing Challenge

Working from home has become the norm for many. While accessing corporate networks securely via a virtual private network (VPN) is standard, printing in a home office with a VPN often presents challenges. Understanding how VPNs impact local resource access, especially for printing, helps IT teams maintain security while supporting productive remote work.

Connecting to the Corporate Network from Home

Employees can securely access corporate resources from their home office through a virtual private network (VPN).

When a company provides VPN access, employees typically use client software to log onto a VPN server from home. This establishes an encrypted connection over the internet to the company's network. Depending on the setup, the home computer might even receive an IP address from the corporate network, allowing access to shared resources and services as if the employee were in the office. Another common use is connecting only to specific applications within the corporate network, such as task management software.

To set up a VPN connection, employees need access credentials from their company and must install VPN client software with necessary certificates on their home PC. This software then allows them to access corporate services securely.

Why Printing with a Home Office VPN Is Tricky

When a user is connected to a VPN, printing to a local home office printer often fails because security settings prevent the corporate network from directly interacting with local devices.

As soon as an employee connects to the VPN, they usually cannot connect to local resources like their home printer. Even with the printer nearby, security protocols are designed to separate the corporate network from the local computer's environment. This separation protects the corporate network and is why practices like blocking USB ports on corporate devices are often recommended.

The ezeep Solution for VPN Printing

ezeep enables printing even when employees are connected to a VPN, providing a secure and centrally managed way to handle print jobs.

The ezeep Hub offers a direct solution for printing with a VPN. IT teams centrally manage the Hub, which receives regular updates. Built only for printing, without the ability to install other software, the ezeep Hub remains protected from malware. This prevents potential attacks from a private computer environment.

To use it, the company sends the Hub directly to the employee's home. The employee plugs it in and provides the IT department with the MAC address, found on the Hub's casing. Once IT staff enters the MAC address into their management console, the employee can immediately use their home office printer. This eliminates the need for employees to resort to insecure workarounds, such as forwarding documents to private email addresses. The ezeep Hub complements a secure, VPN-protected home office setup effectively.

The home office needs a VPN for security, and for printing in that secure environment, it needs ezeep.

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