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VPN problem

Discussion in 'Hobbies and special interests' started by Notmyrealname, Dec 26, 2020.

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  1. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I have been having problems with vpn - I use NORD and am wondering if anyone else has recent issues.

    About 3 weeks ago a laptop stopped connecting to my router - I use wifi but tried a cable as well. I had problems with this old laptop a few months ago (as some may remember) and so decided it was time to move stuff over to another laptop and use the old one only as a backup storage device.

    Yesterday my new laptop suddenly showed a screen fading to white and ending up as pure white. I restarted it and it failed to connect to my router. I uninstalled NORDvpn and re-installed it - it worked fine again.

    That started me thinking about my old laptop's wifi issue and so I re-installed NORDvpn on that one also - the very moment I started the uninstall process, my internet connection came back.

    These are two separate devices, one with the problem 3 weeks ago and the other one only yesterday - if this is a NORD problem then it seems to have been of long-standing and perhaps not, as I wondered, an update issue. All this time the mobiles connected to the same NORDvpn account continued working.

    Today both laptops were again unable to connect - one not to my router and one to my router but not after that. Again I re-installed the vpn and they work fine. Also, after yesterday's re-installations the taskbar icon on both laptops was just a generic white rectangle but today both are now the NORD icon - not sure if that has much relevance.

    What confuses me, and the tech experts here maybe can answer this, is why would a vpn stop connection to a router? I thought the connection process was router > computer > vpn > web and, therefore, a problem with the vpn would not halt the first connection as it is prior to the vpn's involvement. It appears as if the vpn sends a signal from itself back to the computer hardware responsible for connecting to a router.

    I have wondered about a virus, as have I transferred items from my old laptop (the first one with the vpn problem) to the new one and we all know how transmissible viruses are! On my old one I use a firewall and malwarebytes and avast and the same on the new one, plus spybot. (Neither laptop has been wearing a mask or face-shield).

    Any thoughts?
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2020
  2. Jens K

    Jens K DI Senior Member

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    VPN clients may have some functionality to prevent “unsafe” connections that do not go through the VPN. Possible that this somehow interferes with your wifi setup.
     
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  3. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Check in the settings to see if you have an option called "kill switch" turned on.
     
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  4. OP
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    Thank you both.

    I do have 'kill switch' on but it seems to have no effect if off/on for this problem.

    What I am suspecting is the new (I think) 'Cybersec' button. The new laptop is okay since I re-installed NORD and both 'Kill switch' and 'Cybersec' are on. The older laptop loses connection at times but restarting the laptop and (still having problems) then turning 'Cybersec' off helps - but is no guarantee it will not lose connection again later.

    Seems odd that two laptops in the same household are having problems but no one else reports similar issues. Could be that the old one is suffering from 'old age' (I know, Mr R, time for it to be put down :smile: ) and the newer one's problem was a co-incidental 'one-off'.

    Happy New Year and Christmas 2021 to you both.
     
  5. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Of course not. We'll just take you out to "the farm" to let you roam free with all your elderly friends.
     
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  6. charlyB

    charlyB DI Senior Member

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    I have used Express VPN for a long time and have no connection problems, i first started to use it when i worked in China as a lot of things are blocked there.
    The problem i have had over the last few months is that both BBC and ITV seem to be putting a lot of effort into blocking people who use VPN's, the technical help people keep telling me they are aware of the problem and working on finding a solution but...
    I can understand BBC doing this as i am not paying the £174 :greedy: or whatever it is now license fee but ITV is free anyway and even with a VPN you still have to watch the adverts, you can't even fast forward them on ITV hub.
    Can anyone recommend a VPN that can get round the BBC and ITV blocking ?
     
  7. OP
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    After all I wrote about my problem with NORD, that is actually an excellent choice for getting around iPlayer (not that I would ever use a vpn for that reason :smile:). If you are on the iPlayer page and then switch from another country on your vpn to a UK server it will tell you that you need to be in the UK - so just click off the tab on your browser and reload the iPlayer page. It always works fine for someone I know ( :smile: ) who does that.

    I have now found that when my internet is not connected (on my old laptop) I simply turn the 'Cybersec' button on and then off and it reconnects. Don't know why but don't care as it solves the problem.
     
  8. OP
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    The old gits' farm or the funny farm? I am sure I qualify for both. :smile:
     
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  9. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I find that sometimes with Nord I need to disconnect and then reconnect every now and then. Maybe once every 2-6 hours.

    I'm not sure but it's connected to the same farm my parents used to take our sick or misbehaved dogs and cats when I was a child.
     
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    When switching 'Cybersec' on and then off it both times says I have to reconnect - it is only a matter of clicking the 'reconnect' button they show there and takes only 5 seconds. So it seems NORD does have some form of connection issue. For the first few months of using NORD I had no problem - this is now recurring on my older laptop but not the newer one, both use Windows 10. I am wondering if the recently-introduced 'cybersec' is the cause. It is perhaps 'over-protecting'.

    Second item: Yes, I know that type of place - my parents took me there when I misbehaved. I wondered why there were so many dogs and cats there doing gym work and counting their nutrients.
     
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