There are several options for working from home. Each has it’s +’s and -’s as noted below. Please use the method that works best for you.

Passwords

In most cases your account info, usernames and passwords should all be stored in your LastPass. If for some reason your account info is not in your LastPass Vault, please add it to your LastPass Vault. Also for most of your accounts your username is typically your full email address Firstname.Lastname@slpitts.com and in most cases you can use your email address to reset your account password to gain access to Dropbox, Adobe, LogMeIn, etc. There will be more instructions on maintaining passwords in another article.

Method 1 - Web

Using the web versions of Dropbox, Outlook, Office 365, and Acrobat Pro DC.

  • + Lightweight, very little or no software installation is necessary.

  • + Quick to setup just open the website login and you’re good to go.

  • - May not have all of the functionality of the desktop software.

Here are the links and steps you need to take:

  1. First install the LastPass browser extension from here https://lastpass.com/misc_download2.php

    1. Click the “Quick Install” button

    2. Once the LastPass browser extension is installed you must sign-in (please don’t sign-up) with your LastPass username and password

    3. You can now use LastPass to access all of your other accounts.

  2. Login to Office 365 here https://portal.office.com

  3. Access Outlook here https://outlook.office.com

  4. Login to access Dropbox here https://www.dropbox.com

  5. Login to Adobe Document Cloud here https://cloud.acrobat.com/recent 

Method 2 - LogMeIn

Use LogMeIn to “remote desktop” to your computer at work.

  • + Lightweight, only one small program to install and you have full access to everything on your computer at work.

  • - A slight lag or delay as your keyboard and mouse input is securely transmitted across the internet and your screen at work is transmitted back.

Here are the steps you need to take:

  1. Download and install the LogMeIn Client software:
    for     Windows https://secure.logmein.com/LogMeInIgnition.msi 
    or for     Mac https://secure.logmein.com/LogMeInClientMac.dmg 

  2. Once installed, sign in to your LogMeIn Client with your LogMeIn username and password. Again, this should be stored in your LastPass Vault.
    You can copy and paste the username and password from LastPass into the LogMeIn Client window and tick the box  ?  I trust this device. Keep me logged in.

  3. After you’re signed in you should see your work computer in the list, click the small monitor icon to start the remote desktop connection.

  4. You will be asked to sign in again, on this step use the same username and password you use to sign in to your computer at work.
    Username: FirstName.LastName
    Password:     your Office 365 password
    Domain: SLP
    Also you can tick the box to remember your username and password if you want to speed up the time it takes to login next time.

Method 3 - Install Everything

Install the desktop software of LastPass, Office 365, Adobe Acrobat Pro, and Dropbox on your home computer.

  • + Using the full desktop software does not have feature limitations.

  • - Setup takes much more time and consumes more resources of your home computer.

Here are the instructions for getting everything installed:

Install LastPass

  1. First install LastPass browser extension from here https://lastpass.com/misc_download2.php

    1. Click the “Quick Install” button

    2. Once the LastPass browser extension is installed you must sign-in (don’t sign-up) with your LastPass username and password

    3. You can now use LastPass to access all of your other accounts.

Install Office 2016

  1. Install Office 2016

    1. Go to https://portal.office.com 

    2. Sign in with your full email address and Office 365 password

    3. Once you're signed in click the button to Install Office 2016 in the upper right portion of the screen

    4. Once the installer is downloaded run the installer package. it should take about 5-15 minutes to install.

    5. Once it's installed you may be asked to sign into your Office 365 account. Please do this as it will activate your software license and synchronizes your settings.

Install Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

  1. Install Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

    1. Go to https://cloud.acrobat.com/acrobat and sign in with your Adobe ID (it should be stored in your LastPass)

    2. Click Download Now in the middle of the page

    3. Once the installer is downloaded run the installer package. It should take about 5-15 minutes to install

    4. Once Acrobat Pro is installed you will be asked to sign in with your Adobe ID. Please do this as it will activate your software license. You will only be able to activate 2 computers with Acrobat Pro including your computer at work.

Install Dropbox (with SmartSync)

  1. Install Dropbox (with SmartSync)

    1. Go to https://www.dropbox.com and sign in with your Dropbox account. (again this should be stored in your LastPass account)

    2. Click your “user icon” in the upper-right and click “Install”

    3. Once the installer is downloaded run the installer package. It should only take a few seconds to install but it will take about 10-30 minutes to do the initial Dropbox sync once you are signed in.

Method 4 - VPN

Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to connect to resources in the office.

Step by step instructions on how to setup SSL VPN for S.L. Pitts

Initial Setup

  1. Go to https://vpn.slpitts.com/sslvpn.html 

    1. If you are using Chrome:

      1. Click Advanced.

      2. Click “Proceed to vpn.slpitts.com (unsafe).” This is not unsafe.

    2. If you are using Safari:

      1. Click Show Certificate and tick the box to Always trust "Fireware web CA" and click Continue

  2. You should see the WatchGuard login screen.

    1. Sign in with

    2. Username: your Firstname.Lastname

    3. Password: your Office 365 Password

    4. Domain: slp.local

  3. Download the Mobile VPN with SSL client software for Windows.

  4. OR

  5. Download the Mobile VPN with SSL client software for Mac.

  6. Open the downloaded file WG-MVPN-SSL.dmg

  7. Install the software by double clicking the installer package.

  8. Follow the prompts and complete the install.

  9. Once it's installed double-click the WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL in your Applications/WatchGuard folder to start the software.

  10. Fill in the following information:

    1. Server: vpn.slpitts.com

    2. Username: your Firstname.Lastname

    3. Password: your Office 365 Password

    4. tick the box to Automatically Reconnect

  11. You will see a prompt about an Untrusted Server Certificate click Show Certificate

  12. Tick Always trust "Fireware web CA" and click Continue.

  13. You will see a window that shows Connecting... and then Connected and it will disappear once connected. At this point you will see a new green icon in your Menu Bar near the clock in the upper right part of the screen and you are connected to the VPN.

  14. Next you need to connect directly to the Dropbox.

  15. On Windows

    1. Open Explorer

    2. In the Address bar type in \\SLP-DC1.slp.local\Dropbox\

  16. On a Mac

    1. Open Finder.

    2. In the menu bar at the top click Go > Connect to Server... or [Command+K] is the keyboard shortcut.

    3. Type in smb://SLP-DC1.slp.local/Dropbox

    4. Click the + icon to save the connection

    5. Click Connect

    6. After a few seconds you should be prompted to login to the server

    7. Again use the Username and Password as above.

    8. tick the box to Remember the password in my keychain.

  17. You should now see the entire Dropbox.

  18. You can open and edit files and save them directly into this folder. 

  19. Please be patient with large files as transfers are "over the wire" directly to the office.

To Disconnect

  1. On Windows

    1. Save and close any work you done.

    2. Right-click the WatchGuard Mobile VPN icon in the system tray icons in on right side of the Windows Task Bar. Next to the clock.

    3. Click Disconnect

  2. On a Mac

    1. Right-click or Option-Click the Dropbox icon on your desktop and choose Eject "Dropbox"

    2. Click the WatchGuard Mobile VPN icon in the Menu bar and click Disconnect.

To Reconnect

  1. Open the WatchGuard Mobile VPN with SSL client software.

  2. Enter your password at this point you can tick the box to Remember Password.

  3. Click Connect

  4. On Windows

    1. Open Explorer

    2. In the Address Bar type in \\SLP-DC1.slp.local\Dropbox\

  5. On Mac

    1. Open Finder

    2. Go > Connect to Server... or use the shortcut [Command + K] on your keyboard.

    3. The server address you typed before should already be there.

    4. Click Connect

Method 5 - iPad and iPhone

Use your work supplied iPhone and iPad to do basic tasks like look up contact information, responding to email, and reading and basic drafting of documents.


While you can use Word and Excel on your iPad and iPhone they are currently VERY limited with the functionality they are capable of. For example it is not really possible to create a fully formatted document from scratch on an iPad. Though you can effectively draft a document and then copy and paste the information into a fully formatted document on your desktop computer.