VPN been working fine for years, suddenly stopped working this week

[#1]

I have been with plusnet for many years and all has generally been fine. I connect to work through a VPN using some software called Pulse Secure, this was working fine last week, tonight for some reason it is failing.  It seems it is unable to resolve the dnss for the url to connect.

Any suggestions for what could be the reason, Ive rebooted the router, disabled the firewall all to no avail, there is nothing on the router event log to suggest an issue, yet I can connect using my mobile phone as a hot spot so definitely something with my home network.

I can ping bbc.co.uk ok from a cmd prompt

Thanks

[#2]

I have the same issue. Can't log onto VPN despite using for years. Currently on hold to Plusnet. Also using Pulse Secure.

[#3]

Same problem for me.  Unable to connect through Pulse Secure VPN today - "host not found" is the status message.  I've followed exactly the same steps as jasemet details.  Router and laptop reboots, hotspot connection fine through personal mobile, bbc.co.uk ping in cmd prompt works.

The connection on all my personal devices on the home network is strong, no issues on them.

EDIT: Literally been fixed right this second!

[#4]

Same problem for me - I reported it in another VPN thread (https://community.plus.net/t5/Broadband/VPN-connection-lost-today/td-p/1483172), but also trying to access through Pulse Secure, DNS issues (error is "host not found"), works fine with tethered mobile. Have gone through all suggested reboots of everything - no difference. 

[#5]

Like the poster earlier, tried mine last night when I got home from work and connecting fine again now, presumably some issue at plusnets end somewhere?

[#6]

has anyone tried changing their DNS provider in TCP/IP v4 settings? - try using Google (8.8.8.8 - 8.8.4.4) or another DNS provider

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using

[#7]

It was all sorted that day before your post.  Thanks for your advice though.  I appreciate the offer of help.

[#8]

And mine is also now working - didn't change anything at my end.

[#9]

Would help to know what corporation people are trying to connect to, and what version of the client is in use?

[#10]

Sorry bobpullen, that's not something I can disclose.  Thanks though.  Everything has been working fine since.

[#11]

There are known organisations using known VPN software which is out of date and said organisations are not inclined to rectify the issues by cleaning up their act.  In such situations it is possible to for Plusnet to negate the issue by other means ... but Bob needs to know what he is dealing with.

Depending on how your "resolution" was facilitated ... if your organisation is guilty of the above, then there is a fair chance that you could encounter the issue again, as IIRC it is related to dynamic IP address ranges.

[#12]

Hi, I hope someone can help. 

I've been connecting quite happily using my work VPN connection over Plusnet broadband. In the last 5-10 days, I've found that I'm no longer able to connect. What used to be an immediate process now seems to error out 95% of the time, usually with a timeout alert.

What I know so far:

* Nothing has changed on my home network;

* VPN is fine if I tether my computer to my phone;

* Other people can connect to the same VPN without problem. 

I'm using SonicWall Mobile Connect from a Mac.

Looking at the forum, I've seen reports of similar issues on Plusnet (and I'm shamelessly borrowing the wording here from one of them), and BT IP addressing is mentioned (see link below). In the thread below Plusnet employees were able to apply changes to the connection routing, and I hope that might be possible here too. I'd be grateful of any guidance.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Broadband/VPN-fine-for-9-months-stopped-working-Jan/td-p/1301062/highl...

Thank you!

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat) Post merged with existing VPN thread.

[#13]

Welcome to the community forums @anywhere-else,

Please could you confirm where (Or rather what company) you're trying to connect to so we can try and look in to this further.

Feel free to PM Me if you prefer.

Thanks.

[#14]

Thanks Townman, I appreciate that.  I am however unable to disclose my place of work in a public forum.  For now the issue has been resolved.  Many thanks to everyone for their suggestions and support.

[#15]

Thanks, @HarryB.

Actually, a slightly embarrassed update in case it helps anyone...

One of the final troubleshooting steps involved stripping my home network right back and plugging my laptop directly into the modem (via ethernet, which with a modern Mac laptop is... a pain). Voila! Instant VPN connection.

After some digging, it looks like there was a not very well known incompatibility between particular firmware versions of Sonicwall firewalls and connections that have an Apple Airport basestation in the mix. And while I'd swore blind that nothing had changed in either home or destination network, it looks likely that our IT department have recently updated to that firmware.

It has yet to confirm that this is exactly what's going on, but the link is https://www.sonicwall.com/en-us/support/knowledge-base/170505502013976 for anyone who's interested.

So I guess the lesson learned is that it's worth running fundamental tests on your home network even if you know for a fact that nothing has changed in it - that may provide a differential for figuring out what's going on elsewhere.

Best, Jeremy