OVPN (VPN) issues...

[jkroll]

Is the VPN currently down? I ask because when I disconnect from it, I can see the internet just fine, but when I connect, I'm blind. Is there any way to check the official status of the VPN on my own or raise a ticket about it? I just called tech support and they said they had no way to check on the VPN and to post here instead.
Cheers,
Jeff

[miken]

How are you connecting? Are you getting any errors? I'm not having any problems connecting and surfing over VPN myself.

[jkroll]

Thanks for responding. I have tried my regular Asus RT-N66U based connection (it supports the ovpn certificate) and when that wasn't working I disabled it and tried the OpenVPN Connect client on my desktop. Both connect (to the VPN Server I presume) without error, but do not let me see the internet at all.

[jkroll]

Just for grins I uninstalled OpenVPN Connect (the Static Client Profile one) and reinstalled the Server-Locked Client. Same result. No internet when connected to ovpn.sonic.net.

My VPN problems started sometime last night while I was sleeping. No updates have occurred to either my Router firmware nor my desktop OS or apps in that window (nor for the last several days for what it's worth).

[jkroll]

I don't know if it's related or not, but I have another VPN thread going about how the old client-locked profile (client.ovpn) works (well, used to) in the router, but not the new one (the new client.ovpn came out several weeks ago, yes?). For the record, I'm using the current client.ovpn and software on my desktop, which has always worked before last night. I have redownloaded it and reinstalled it, but same failure to see the internet after connecting to ovpn.sonic.net

[forest]

This probably isn't the cause of the problem described above, but just in case someone else finds their way to this topic because of vpn problems today, the beta vpn server apparently changed IP address a few hours ago. Some client installations were broken by this unannounced change.

[miken]

There is a new client for the desktop version - so I would double check you are on the most current version. If that doesn't work, I'd look into troubleshooting DNS since you are able to login and get an IP.

As a side note - I don't fully understand why you are using the VPN as you don't have Fusion FTTN - unless you are talking about your connection at another address. Connecting over VPN on a Sonic IP is only going to add latency and won't offer any of the benefits as you're already on our network.

[jkroll]

Hi Forest & Mike,
Thanks for the replies and questions.

I was using the most recent versions as of the day that I posted. Just for good measure I downloaded and reinstalled again, and found the same behavior, however... this time I ran the Windows Diagnostics and it revealed a problem with an MWAC Filter... Turns out that MalwareBytes' Real-Time Web Protection was causing the problem. SO... let users of MalwareBytes Premium be warned! Simply disable the MalwareBytes' Real-Time Web Protection and everything is fine. BTW I have reported this incompatibility to MalwareBytes as well.

As for your question, Mike, I am planning for an upgrade to Fusion FTTN and was testing out the VPN over the last couple of weeks. I'll be honest, I'm not brimming with confidence in it, and having read elsewhere in this forum, people seem to have had a lot more problems with it than I have, so I'll keep using it over the next few weeks before I pull the trigger on FTTN.

Thanks all.

Cheers,
Jeff

[miken]

That makes sense. Glad you were able to find the problem - thanks for posting the update!

[jkroll]

Oh, one more update... I was using MalwareBytes 3.4.5, which is NOT the latest. Turns out clicking the update button on MalwareBytes only updates the database, not the app. If you update the MalwareBytes app to the latest (3.5.1) then it plays nice with OpenVPN!