topic Re: VPN not working in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

VPN not working

thisandthat — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 07:46:20 GMT

I have recently moved to PlusNet (and are using the Plusnet router) and have had a working VPN up until the the SafeGuard software kicked in.

I have switched off Safeguard and rebooted the router and now I can access sites that SafeGuard blocked, however my VPN still will not work!!

Any clues on how to get this working via the router?

Cheers.

Re: VPN not working

shutter — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:08:48 GMT

Try "Windscribe" either as a Firefox add-on.... or you can download it.

There is an initial limit of 2GB usage per month .... or if you "register" ( it`s free ) .. they give you 10GB per month.. and renew it automatically at the end of the period..

If that works... then maybe it is a setting in you existing VPN. conflicting with the router settings.

Re: VPN not working

7up — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:59:52 GMT

Plusnet have several routers in use. I have the "Hub One" which I think is their current offering... so if you've got the same one then:

You MUST have both ports - PPTP and the shiva VPN. I did try with just just PPTP but it didn't work until i set Shiva (and didn't work without PPTP).

You'll need to set the IP address of the device you want to set the VPN to - obviously unless it's the same as mine don't use 192.168.1.2 lol but the IP of the device you are targeting.

Also log into your plusnet control panel - http://portal.plus.net the last time i checked and disable the firewall on your account (they kinda forget to tell you about that - was chaos when they randomly turned it on years ago)

Re: VPN not working

thisandthat — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 07:43:49 GMT

Thank you @7up that is something that I can look at, as I have the same router I believe.

The thing that I am struggling with (due to my limited knowledge) is how to get on to the router to see those settings.

I have the admin password but I am not sure of the IP address of the router or how to find this out. I have checked my documentation but cannot find this.

Doing an ipconfig I can see the default gateway, that is not the same thing?

Sorry for being a bit dense on this!!

Re: VPN not working

7up — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 09:18:24 GMT

Unless you've changed it manually, then the router your default gateway address.

In our case it's http://192.168.1.254 for our hub one - I'm assuming others will be the same too.

Re: VPN not working

MisterW — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 10:16:21 GMT

@thisandthat are you just using a VPN client or are you trying to run a VPN server ?

The details that @7up posted are ONLY needed if you are trying to run a VPN server on your local network

If it's just a VPN client , then which client is it and to which server are you trying to connect ?

Re: VPN not working

thisandthat — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 15:25:46 GMT

Hi @MisterW and @7up

I believe that I am using a client.

I am using a VPN provided by "Private Internet Access" which I downloaded and installed when I purchased the service from them.

When the software starts normally it usually connects to a London server, although there is one in Southampton as well as others around Europe, the Americas etc.

In Program Data I found a JSON file with all the server IP addresses and ports for many countries.

Re: VPN not working

7up — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 11:59:32 GMT

Ah so you're making an OUTBOUND connection from your computer to an external VPN server... In that case ignore my previous advice - I thought you were running a VPN server and trying to connect into your home network - sorry!

Re: VPN not working

thisandthat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 18:10:09 GMT

@7up appreciate you coming back.

I have however fixed it last night!!!

Last weekend I switched off the firewall on the router - no joy

I then switched on port clamping - no joy

So I went for the nuclear option and uninstalled the software from my laptop last night.

I then re-installed the software and hey presto it started to work.

So this weekend I will turn off port clamping and switch on the firewall and see if it will work after that.

Thanks to you and @MisterW for taking the time to help.