topic Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop in Everything else

VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:36:14 GMT

When I try and open my documents I get an error message saying the network path was not found error code 0x80070035.

However, when i connect to personal hotspot - the documents open just fine! This is the same for every alternative WiFi I have tried, only does not work on PlusNet broadband.

I have spoke to customer service and they said it was an issue with my work, but they have provided multiple evidence for it being the broadband, I have had a new laptop and still the same issue. It only doesn't work at home suggesting it is the broadband. The customer service said they don't deal with VPN issues but if PlusNet is not blocking the VPN why are my documents still not loading?

This is affecting my situation quite severely as I cannot currently work from home. I am considering changing providers if the problem continues.

If anyone can please help

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:48:01 GMT

Some VPN servers have problems with certain of the PlusNet IP ranges. A solution that usually works is to request a static IP, since these are allocated from completely different ranges. There's a one-off charge of £5 for a static IP.

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:50:39 GMT

thanks for your reply. i inquired about this earlier today, i already have a static IP. we also tried port clamping and still got the same issue

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

dvorak — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 13:12:59 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Chat to Everything Else

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:25:43 GMT

@JessHazell there's not usually any problems with the static IP ranges, are you sure you have a static IP ? Have you disconnected and reconnected since the static Ip was applied ?

You can confirm you have a static IP by doing an nslookup on your IP , it should return <accountname>.plus.com

You said earlier but they have provided multiple evidence for it being the broadband,

what evidence have they provided ?

I and a lot of other people regularly use a VPN to connect to the office

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:29:26 GMT

Yes, i spoke to 2 plusnet team members and they said we already had a static IP in place so there was no need to buy one. This was confirmed several times

So my IT department has proved that the laptop and VPN works everywhere else, be that in the office, personal hotspot, even in a random cafe & on other wifi connections (and so the documents open fine), but just not when connected to my home plusnet broadband. Ethernet cable doesn’t make a difference either suggesting it’s not to do with the speed / connection.

i have had a new laptop and had it rebuilt and still the same issue suggesting it’s not a fault with the laptop.

Also until 5 days ago, my laptop worked just fine which is very strange

really struggling to know what to do as both IT and plusnet blame each other but nothing more can be done on ITs end

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:47:01 GMT

@JessHazell Also until 5 days ago, my laptop worked just fine which is very strange

That sounds like you got a different IP 5 days ago, which tends to confirm that you're not on a static IP.

As I said earlier, absolute confirmation of a static IP is the result of an nslookup. If its not static it will return something like ...dyn.plus.net whereas a static will return your accountname.plus.com

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:55:27 GMT

might be a silly question but where on the website do i find this? i’ve put in my IP address but not sure where to look

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

dvorak — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:01:43 GMT

@MisterW - seeing an <accountname>.force9.co.uk

Not sure if being F9 makes a difference

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:17:54 GMT

@JessHazell might be a silly question but where on the website do i find this?

Its not on the website.

If youre running windows , then open a cmd window and type

nslookup <ip address>

@dvorak I hadnt considered f9 accounts , but that still fits with <accountname>.<isp>

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:33:22 GMT

I did that and it says DHCP not enabled - does this mean dynamic?
I spoke to several plusnet guys yesterday and the first one told me i had a static IP. Hence why I didn’t chase it up. Last one told me I didn’t so he added it on for me, but this could take up to 72 hours apparently. Still having the same issues this morning
Do you think a static IP will solve it?

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:59:56 GMT

@JessHazell I did that and it says DHCP not enabled - does this mean dynamic?

That doesnt make sense, I dont think youve run nslookup correctly

The output should look something like

C:\Users\xxx>nslookup <ip_address>
Server: dns.opendns.com
Address: 208.67.222.222

Name: <accountname>.plus.com
Address: <ip_address>

C:\Users\xxx>

Obviously the <ip_address> in brackets will be your ip address. The DNS server in your case will likely be different and probably 192.168.1.254

Do you think a static IP will solve it? It usually does, and the fact that your VPN has worked previosusly does suggest an IP related issue

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

Dan_the_Van — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 11:12:41 GMT

Hi @JessHazell

Use this site https://ipchicken.com/ to find the information being asked of you by @MisterW

I've had a static IP address for years and never had any issues with VPN.

Dan.

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

LaurenB — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 15:20:07 GMT

Hiya @JessHazell, I am sorry for the issues you are having with your VPN.

From what I can see you do have a static IP and I can't see that anything has changed in the last 5 days.

If not already done so, I would check your firewall settings in the router to rule out this blocking anything, should the issue still persist I'd advise to go back to your IT guys for further information on what they are seeing on their logs.

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:40:15 GMT

thanks all for your help. unfortunately i’m still having the same issue. i don’t think the static IP worked and now i’m even more confused whether i have one or not!!

i can’t use the command prompt as it says the command is incorrect.

not sure what else to do ?

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:41:58 GMT

on my wifi under ‘IP assignment’ it Automatic DHCP which isn’t static?

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 11:46:56 GMT

It will do, that is your internal private ip.

we are talking about your public IP, the one allocated to your braodband connection by PlusNet.

Try the link that @Dan_the_Van referred to above , that should report the IP address and the name

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:04:56 GMT

I have tried it but can’t get any results. It says on the command prompt there’s an input error but I’m just typing it as you suggested above.

I’m very confused as to how and what I’m meant to be checking I’m sorry. Taken all advice and can’t figure anything out!

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

MisterW — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:34:03 GMT

Just click the link https://ipchicken.com/ , it should give you a page with your current public IP address close to the top and the reverse lookup as the Name further down the page

Here's an example from my connection , a static IP . NB like me, you might want to redact some part of the IP address and accountname if it appears in the Name field ( since this is a public forum )

Re: VPN not working and disconnected. Cannot open any documents on laptop

JessHazell — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:32:58 GMT

thanks. what is the reverse lookup?