VPN not allowed on VM!!

[chicken_curry]

I've just moved from TalkTalk to VM last week. I used VPN on TT without any problem but I'm not able to even access VPN web sites let alone use VPN. 

I've seen many suggestions on the forums, and few seem to work for some but not others, so it seems a hit and miss. I've seen one suggestion to disable PPTP and I did notice this setting when I logged onto the Hub 3 router, but I note now it's gone. It was under security/firewall. I think VM have done firmware upgrade since I install it just last week and removed this option. I've done the 90 seconds pin reset, no different, PPTP still missing. I've set the Hub3 to modem mode and connected my TT WiFi router and this has made no difference, still no VPN or access to VPN web sites. I think possibly VM have blocked access at a higher level on the network. 

(Reason I moved away from TT was 4 engineers, 4 routers and 7 months later they cannot fix an intermittent fault so before someone suggest I move back to TT, no chance I’ll put up with VM without VPN first.) 

Any experts out there? 

[jem101]

No VPN is absolutely not blocked because I use many of them every day, as do many other VM users on this forum. PPTP has been deprecated a long time ago, it absolutely isn’t secure and really should never be used.

The fact that you say you can’t access VPN websites, would point to your account having websafe or childsafe or whatever it’s called today, enabled. You can go into the Myvirginmedia.com website, log in and disable it from there. 

Lastly, when you refer to VPN, what exactly do you mean? VPN connection to your work network or something else?

[legacy1]

Change your DNS to 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8 or 9.9.9.9 and reboot your PC also this fix
https://thegeekpage.com/fix-vpn-error-a-connection-to-the-remote-computer-could-not-be-established-i...

[Steven_L · Accepted solution]

Hey @chicken_curry,

Welcome to the community and thanks for taking the time to post here on our forums.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having issues using a VPN over our network.

Have you been able to access this with the help offered by the community members?

Regards,

Steven_L

[chicken_curry]

Update; I’ve disabled the Childsafe and websafe, suggested by Jem101, thanks jem 101, this did allow me to access VPN websites and use VPN from my phone and Tablet but I'm still unable to use VPN from my PC which is both hard wired and WiFi. This would prove jem101 point that VM haven't restricted access. 

I then followed legacy1 advice and changed the DNS to 1.1.1.1 and alternative DNS to 8.8.8.8. and rebooted, however this made no difference, I’m still unable to use VPN from my PC on VM but it did work on TalkTalk.  

So it looks like some setup within Windows which specifically VM doesn't like.  

Final update. 

VPN issue now sorted. Thanks to all for your help. I installed VPN on wife's PC and that worked fine. I compared settings on her PC to mine, could not see any discrepancies. In the end I uninstalled VPN and reinstalled it on my PC and it now works fine and no throttling back. 

In brief here is what I did. 

Changed Hub 3 to modem mode 
Connected TalkTalk router to give me back WiFi 
Disabled childsafe and websafe on my VM account 
Uninstalled VPN and reinstalled it. 

P.S. To moderator, I want to reply to all on this thread but replies only seem to go to you if I click on your reply. How do I reply to all? 

Could you post this so all can see it. Thanks. 

[chicken_curry]

Ok I can see that I have replied to all.

Thanks everyone..

[Tudor]

Unless you explicitly use the VM DNS servers on your own router there is no need to disable websafe and childsafe.

[legacy1]

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@Tudor wrote:

Unless you explicitly use the VM DNS servers on your own router there is no need to disable websafe and childsafe.

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Unless....VM have another system for give areas they are not telling us about where they look in the TCP packet (even HTTPS) as to the site your going too.

[andybundy]

We can speculate for weeks on any causes, but I think that ultimately it comes down to a combination of settings on the account (and implicit restrictions that follow) coupled with the usual nightmare that is Windows networking stack.  Even after all these years, I don't think Microsoft properly understand how to build proper network support into their products!

Some points I note:

• The OP never identified the type of VPN in use, which way it was operating and the purpose of it. 
• The VPN protocols were never identified
• The basic setup of equipment (Superhub in router or bridge mode, the inclusion of previous suppliers' router, etc)
• The actual problems experienced... unable to connect, connected but not working?  Any error mesages?

My experience has been that VM do not restrict the usage of VPN tunnels in any direction on their network, provided that child protective measures are not in place (after all, most computer literate children know that basic vpn usage can circumvent most controls). 

Virgin do restrict access to illegal sharing sites and other questionable destinations (and quite right) through use of DNS filtering and redirection -  which can be annoying if you receive results that are unexpected.

I do question whether there is a feature for this board software to provide for some basic question and answer templates to OPs who are experiencing common problems, eg VPN usage, slow responses, wifi problems, etc.   When I was working for a certain three letter company (according to Arthur C Clarke, one step ahead of HAL) our ticketing system had built in templates which generated based on categorisation choices in ticket creation.  These provided for a minimum amount of information to be provided.

The usage of these templates served to get problems resolved far quicker and without too many bounces!