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Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Liamh
Dabbler
Posts: 13
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Got a strange recurring problem with my FTTC briadbroadbandband, my phone frequently (twice a week) tells me that the internet may not be available. However, the VPN to my company stays connected, although other non-VPN devices lose internet access.
I have to reboot the router to clear the problem. Does anyone else have the same issue?
26 REPLIES 26
Gel
Aspiring Champion
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Assuming you don't have a PN supplied router, why not try changing your DNS settings?
Google's are fast, ie,:
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
Liamh
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Thanks, I am using a Plusnet Hub One. Are DNS issues common then?
TheMightyAJ
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Hi @Liamh,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue. To clarify, are all of your devices losing their connection to the internet when this occurs, or only certain ones? I ask as, upon reviewing your account, the connection itself has only dropped twice in the last couple of weeks and has otherwise appeared to run as we'd expect. I would also ask if this has only started happening once the VPN was introduced into the setup, or if it may be related to any other occurrences or changes to the setup in the property?

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
Liamh
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Hi, it's started happening in the last couple of weeks, all devices not on a VPN lose connectivity (laptops, phones, smart TV) bit my work PC and my partner's (and she works for a different company, using a different VPN) don't lose connectivity, which suggests it could be DNS is then VPNs are using IP addresses....maybe?

No changes to the property or setup or phones.
EmilyD
Plusnet Help Team
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Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Hi @Liamh,

 

Thank you for providing that information. This is quite an unusual problem so it may take some time to narrow down the cause of this.

I've tested your line but the test isn't picking up any connection issues from here. Are the devices that you lose connection on all connected wirelessly or are any of them on wired connections?

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Emily D
 Plusnet Help Team
dvorak
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

I had this exact issue with a failing hub one.

when it happens change the dns settings on one of your devices to point to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as Gel said above.

If that device starts to work narrows the issue down greatly.
Customer / Moderator
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If it fixed it click 'This fixed my problem'
Liamh
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

All wireless, apart from the TV that is wired, and that couldn't connect when the issue occurred.

OskarPapa
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Thanks for your post @Liamh.

 

We're sorry to hear of this.

 

I believe (with you saying the VPN works fine) that it may be a routing issue and so have just applied a Static IP to the line to see if it resolves the issue.

 

Please reboot the router and keep an eye over it for the next couple of days, letting us know how it goes.

Liamh
Dabbler
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Just had the issue again, contacted PlusNet and the static IP is still applied, so that's not fixed it.

following advice above, tried changing the DNS settings on one of my phones to use OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220) and connection restored, while other phones couldn't connect.
 
Rebooting the router allowed all devices to connect to the Internet again.
 
Looks like it's a DNS issue on the router then! Pity it's not configurable on the router, I've raised it as a fault.
RandallFlagg
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

 

Thanks for the update, @Liamh - our faults team will pick this up accordingly.

 

I've taken the liberty of sending you a replacement router as well just to cover all bases.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

Liamh
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

I've been running on the replacement router for a couple of weeks, and just had a repetition of the issue.
Switching to another DNS server (208.67.222.222) on the phone fixed the issue, changed back to the router DNS 192.168.1.254 makes the internet unavailable again. VPN on the PC remains connected without having to fiddle with DNS.
JOLO
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

Hi @Liamh,

 

Just to clarify the address 192.168.1.254 isn't a DNS server, but the router's internal IP address. Our DNS servers can be found here

 

 

 

Liamh
Dabbler
Posts: 13
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Registered: ‎05-11-2019

Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

The router is the DNS entry on my phone, presumably the router forwards the DNS request to your DNS servers. However, I believe that I can't change the DNS server config on the hub, so I've changed it on the phone.
MisterW
Superuser
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Re: Internet may not be available, but VPN works?

@JOLO  you are correct, those are the PN dns servers, however , the router will give it's own address, to dhcp clients, as the dns server. The router acts as a dns proxy ( and cache ) and forwards requests to the Pn dns servers.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.