How to login on my corporate network using a personal device

Question

In my company we're under a domain name, everytime you boot windows you have to login.

Therefore when you try to get the Ethernet and connect it to a personal device, you can't.

We don't have wifi (yet) so I was wondering if there's a way to overcome this limitation and get internet on my Laptop.

The reason is I have a Linux-based machine with which I'd like to develop, and having internet would be helpful (going to github or finding solutions online etc)

I guess one solution would be using a usb2usb cable to share internet - kind of like a tethering thing? This way there would be also no risk for the corporate network, and I could get internet access to my personal device.

Answer 1

If your network is locked down to prevent unknown devices accessing it - which is what you describe - it is extremely unlikely that you will be allowed to tether another PC to your corporate PC!

Unfortunately, many organisations still persist in configuring networks so that only authorised computers can access them. By the way, this has nothing to do with having to log in to a Windows domain. It is down to the network infrastructure.

You could approach your IT department and ask them to set up an "Untrusted VLAN".

VLAN's are "Virtual LANS" and require smart switches that support them. Once configured, trusted, known computers will connect to a "trusted VLAN" and potentially get access to corporate services including print and file shares. Unknown devices would automatically go onto the untrusted VLAN and get all of their traffic routed straight to a network edge component - generally a filter or firewall - and then straight out to the Internet.

This does, of course, require some reasonable kit and configuration so many organisations don't bother.

As you've intimated, the alternative is to provide a "Guest Wi-Fi" to achieve a similar effect. Though this can also cause the organisation issues around corporate responsibility, especially in some countries that demand auditing and control of all Internet access.

A final alternative these days is to provide your own mobile Internet connection by tethering your mobile phone, 3G "dongle" or getting a "My-Fi" style device.

Answer 2

First, I'm providing this answer because it amuses me to do so, not because you should use it. In fact, doing what I mention here would, in many companies, get you fired or possibly criminally prosecuted, so please treat this as an exercise in theory only.

With that out of the way... find an unused but active network port. Plug in your linux machine, then set the network card to promiscuous mode to capture traffic. You're just looking for network level information here, not actual contents of traffic - figure out the network layout on that VLAN. That will give you a network address and subnet mask, then you can pick an IP in that subnet. You may have to try a few different IPs, as your first choice may already be in use. Or you could just ping the other machine off the network if you're feeling especially impatient. You may also need to take over an existing (read: pre-authorized) MAC address, if there is any MAC filtering going on. You'll most likely also need to set up the appropriate proxy information and authentication bits to actually get out past your web content filter, but by the time you get to that point, either you've proven it can be done and you're in the clear, or the IT manager is looking for you with a rather fierce scowl in his/her face.