Downloading does not work without VPN. Help!

VPN
1

Hi, I have just reinstalled Windows 10 and now whenever I download anything, it just fails or does not finish. I installed a VPN (Surfshark) and found that I can download fine when on VPN. Is there something I need to do to get it working again without VPN or anything I should be worried about?

I have checked for malware and viruses using Malwarebytes, Bitdefender and Kaspersky and found nothing. I have also tried different browsers, same thing.

First post. Please let me know if I am on the wrong section and where I should post. Thank you!

2

Normal Web browsing okay when not on VPN?

3

Can you try a traceroute with cmd.exe (Commane Line Console) with the command:

tracert google.com

Also try to use a different DNS server (IPv4)

4

Did you ever resolve this?

5

Yes. It seems okay without VPN. Downloading on browsers even on clients like Battle.net nor GOG does not work, it just says failed network connection error.

6

Here’s what I got –

​

C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert google.com

​

Tracing route to google.com [172.217.25.174]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

​

1 23 ms 23 ms 23 ms 144.48.39.11

2 23 ms 23 ms 23 ms 144.48.39.9

3 25 ms 23 ms 22 ms 45.248.77.240

4 41 ms 39 ms 39 ms 144.48.36.90

5 42 ms 40 ms 40 ms as15169.sydney.megaport.com [103.26.68.6]

6 46 ms 40 ms 40 ms 108.170.247.65

7 42 ms 42 ms 40 ms 108.170.235.195

8 43 ms 40 ms 40 ms syd09s13-in-f174.1e100.net [172.217.25.174]

​

Trace complete.

7

EDIT 4/15/2024:
I am still getting the issue on occasion…

I fixed this. I had to make sure my date and time and time zone were all automatically synced. In addition, my “Set time zone automatically” was grayed out, so I had to enable location services. However, this meant reinstalling the “Maps” windows 10 app and enabling location for it. Hope this helps someone in the future.

8

There may be something from the installed VPN or a recent update causing issues with your TCP/IP Protocol stack in Windows. This is essentially the code which was written to tell your Network Adapter how to behave in Windows. Follow this:

  1. Uninstall your VPN application from Programs and Features
  2. Click start, type Command Prompt, then right-click and ‘Run As Administrator’
  3. Type in netsh int ip reset and hit Enter
  4. Reboot your PC and try to download again

Note: It is possible when resetting the protocol stack that your network settings will be reset. If this happens, check it by:

  1. Press WinKey + R to bring up Run
  2. Type in control netconnections and hit OK
  3. Right click on your Local Area Connection (or WiFi connection) and click on Properties
  4. Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click the Properties button
  5. Ensure both radio buttons for ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’ and ‘Obtain DNS server address automatically’ are selected
  6. Click OK and then click Close
  7. Try to download again
9

After doing netsh int ip reset, here’s what I got –

C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh int ip reset

Resetting Compartment Forwarding, OK!

Resetting Compartment, OK!

Resetting Control Protocol, OK!

Resetting Echo Sequence Request, OK!

Resetting Global, OK!

Resetting Interface, OK!

Resetting Anycast Address, OK!

Resetting Multicast Address, OK!

Resetting Unicast Address, OK!

Resetting Neighbor, OK!

Resetting Path, OK!

Resetting Potential, OK!

Resetting Prefix Policy, OK!

Resetting Proxy Neighbor, OK!

Resetting Route, OK!

Resetting Site Prefix, OK!

Resetting Subinterface, OK!

Resetting Wakeup Pattern, OK!

Resetting Resolve Neighbor, OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , failed.

Access is denied.

​

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Resetting , OK!

Restart the computer to complete this action.

​

-- i noticed I got a reset failed, access denied. Was that normal? I ran cmd as administrator as you instructed.

​

Thanks for your help btw.

​

Edit: I have checked the DNS Server after following all instructions. Found a DNS Server which I know nothing of. I removed it and changed it to the OpenDNS servers, downloaded something and still getting errors “Failed - Network Error”.

10

Also try:
netsh winsock reset
And reboot again.
Try Google dns, 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Failing that I have a feeling there is an issue with your tcpip.sys in system32. Is there a restore point or previous windows version you can roll back to? Other than that you could try the ‘reset Windows’ option which should replace the entire installation, but keep your files.

11

Thank you. I will try that and if it still does not work I will try resetting Windows because I have no restore point :frowning:

12

you’re welcome, good luck