Connecting a laptop to an instruments web interface: "This site can't be reached

[Sören_Marodören]

Hi,

At home I easily connect my laptop to e.g. my oscilloscope via LAN so I can control the instrument and even see information on its screen. Both the laptop and the instrument is connected to the same hub. I just use the IP address the instrument got from the DHCP server in the hub and type that into a web browser on my laptop. Usually it is a 192.168.x.x address.

At work at do the same, connect the oscilloscope to the LAN (via cable) and then use the IP address it was assigned to in a web browser.
Here the address is a bit different and can be something like 124.44.x.x. (I don't remember exactly.)
It works very good every time.

But if I bring my job laptop home and try to connect it to the oscilloscope on my network, it most often don't work. (I have got it to work a few times as a first attempt after restart or so. But it only work for a couple of minutes.)
Instead I get a message in the browser saying "This site can't be reached". See attached picture.
I can use my printer at home without any issue.

I suspect that it is related to security settings in the laptop. My work take security very seriously.
Does anybody know how to get my job laptop to work with my instruments at home?
Due to Covid I do a lot of job related work in my home lab. It would be nice to be able to do everything that I'm used to do with the instruments.
Can I change settings in my hub or do I need help from my IT department to change settings in my laptop?

Cheers,
/Sören

[tv84]

Hi,

At home I easily connect my laptop to e.g. my oscilloscope via LAN so I can control the instrument and even see information on its screen. Both the laptop and the instrument is connected to the same hub. I just use the IP address the instrument got from the DHCP server in the hub and type that into a web browser on my laptop. Usually it is a 192.168.x.x address.

At work at do the same, connect the oscilloscope to the LAN (via cable) and then use the IP address it was assigned to in a web browser.
Here the address is a bit different and can be something like 124.44.x.x. (I don't remember exactly.)
It works very good every time.

But if I bring my job laptop home and try to connect it to the oscilloscope on my network, it most often don't work. (I have got it to work a few times as a first attempt after restart or so. But it only work for a couple of minutes.)
Instead I get a message in the browser saying "This site can't be reached". See attached picture.
I can use my printer at home without any issue.

I suspect that it is related to security settings in the laptop. My work take security very seriously.
Does anybody know how to get my job laptop to work with my instruments at home?
Due to Covid I do a lot of job related work in my home lab. It would be nice to be able to do everything that I'm used to do with the instruments.
Can I change settings in my hub or do I need help from my IT department to change settings in my laptop?

Cheers,
/Sören

Nothing you can do in your hub will solve the problem. If your company "takes security very seriously" then you should present the problem to your IT dept and ask for their help in changing the laptop settings, if possible.

[Whales]

Your company might be running a full funnel VPN on your laptop.  This means it tunnels all traffic to your company, rather than letting it go over your LAN (with a few exceptions).  Check the IP addressed on the laptop itself when it's at home, see if it has more than just an IP in your LAN range. 

If so: yep, gotta talk to your company.  It's their setup, I wouldn't recommend working around it without their consent.