This topic

VPN will not connect

Knoll2021 — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 12:03:15 GMT

Hello,

I have a BT FTTP Home Wi-Fi setup. Previously I could connect to my office VPN but since 5 days ago, it will no longer connect.

I can connect to the VPN if I use a mobile hotspot from my mobile phone (Vodafone network).

Other people from the office can connect to the VPN with no problems from their own home Wi-Fis.

I called BT, but they said it must be to do with the VPN, however this doesn't make sense considering I can connect via my mobile hotspot and others can connect with their setups.

I've looked this up before and see others have had issues so I've gone ahead and turned on Port Clamping and turned off Smart Setup. But it still doesn't let me connect. I've turned the router off for 12 hours in order to reset the IP but this didn't work.

We've done a trace cert to the IP address and I think it's something to do with how BT route the connection between my laptop and the office.

Unfortunately BT were unable to help over the phone so I'm hoping someone else out there has solved this problem. I'm having to travel into my office at the moment in order to work. At the moment it looks like I'll have to continue to travel into work, where I would rather not given the current situation.

Re: VPN will not connect

Keith_Beddoe — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 12:09:26 GMT

@Knoll2021

Try the usual fixes for the home hub.

Factory reset of the home hub.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11386/%7E/how-do-i-reset-my-bt-hub-to-its-factory-settings%3F

Then turn off smart setup.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44328/~/switching-smart-setup-on-and-off-on-the-bt-ho...

Also check on MyBT, that BT Web Protect is turned off, as BT are in the process of enabling them by default, on all connections.

Re: VPN will not connect

Knoll2021 — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 13:37:07 GMT

Hi @Keith_Beddoe

Thanks for replying.

I have now factory reset my router. Then switched off the Smart Setup and confirmed that the BT Web Protect is off. Then I restarted the router for good measure.

Unfortunately the VPN still won't connect.

Anything else I could try?

Thanks in advance.

Re: VPN will not connect

Keith_Beddoe — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 14:09:16 GMT

@Knoll2021 wrote:

Hi @Keith_Beddoe

Thanks for replying.

I have now factory reset my router. Then switched off the Smart Setup and confirmed that the BT Web Protect is off. Then I restarted the router for good measure.

Unfortunately the VPN still won't connect.

Anything else I could try?

Thanks in advance.

Not really, its possible that a recent firmware update to the home hub has caused the issue.

Do you have another router you can try?

Re: VPN will not connect

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 15:08:40 GMT

You can tell when the firmware was last update from the technical log, does this coincide with the beginning of the problem.

Re: VPN will not connect

Knoll2021 — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 18:39:07 GMT

Hi @Keith_Beddoe , sadly I don't have another router but I'm considering buying one to try to get to the route (pun) of the problem.

Hi @Anonymous

I'll have a look through the log and see if I can find a firmware update. If there is one, do you know if you can revert back to the previous?

Thanks

Re: VPN will not connect

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 18:44:14 GMT

No way that I'm aware of.

The question has been asked before and I'm pretty sure the answer was no

Re: VPN will not connect

Keith_Beddoe — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 18:59:04 GMT

@Knoll2021 wrote:

Hi @Keith_Beddoe , sadly I don't have another router but I'm considering buying one to try to get to the route (pun) of the problem.

Thanks

As you have FTTP, you might like to connect your laptop/computer directly to the Openreach modem and then setup a new PPPoE connection via Windows.

You will need to enter the PPPoE login details to get an Internet connection to BT.

username of bthomehub@btbroadband.com

Password BT

That would only allow the computer to be connected, but if your VPN works, then you will know its a router issue, and you can try a different router.

Is that something you can try?

As for another router, this is a possibility https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/wifi-router/tl-wr940n/

Re: VPN will not connect

Knoll2021 — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 22:00:39 GMT

Hi @Keith_Beddoe

That sounds like something I can try tomorrow evening. If the PPPoE it doesn't work, I'll just get the new router and try that as well. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this to go back to working from home.

Appreciate your help.

Thanks

Re: VPN will not connect

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 06:43:51 GMT

If a direct PPPoE connection allows the VPN to work, then its worth trying a different router.

My daughter`s partner who works from home and is on the ISP ZEN, (VDSL) has the same problem with the VPN not connecting with the router supplied by ZEN.

Changing the router for a TP Link W9970 fixed the problem.

That router will also work on a modem connection, but as you have FTTP, the modem part of the router would be wasted. It does however have a 3G backup feature and is not expensive.

If you have a fast FTTP connection, then many of the cheaper routers only have a 100Mb WAN connection, which would restrict your speed to 100Mbs, although i doubt that speed is an issue anyway.

Re: VPN will not connect

Knoll2021 — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:20:48 GMT

Hi @Keith_Beddoe

So the problem has been solved. I did not try the PPPoE connection as I didn't need to in the end.

I got in contact with the IT company managing the internet connection in the office building I use. It turned out that another company in the building was having the same problem as me - specifically unable to connect to their VPN using a BT home broadband connection.

In the end there was a hardware fault at a third party location between my connection and my office.

The exact description (which is not very detailed) was "The issue was due to a faulty device in the datacentre and have temporally rerouted traffic until they can resolve."

In the end the issue was not at my end or BT at all.

Thank you for your help though I really appreciate it.

Re: VPN will not connect

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:34:47 GMT

Simple in the end 😀