VPN not working: common causes and fixes by service
Each service has its own checklist built from what the provider publishes: status page, support channels that work when the VPN is blocked, protocols and obfuscation.
Troubleshooting by service
| Service | Status page | Live chat | Telegram | Obfuscation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CitadelVPN | — | Yes | No in development | Yes VLESS/Hysteria2 for… |
| Proton VPN | Yes System status | Yes paid, priority | Yes channel | Yes Stealth; alternative… |
| X-VPN | — | Yes | — | Yes obfuscation |
| IVPN | Yes /en/status/ | — | — | Yes V2Ray, obfs4 |
| NordVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes obfuscated servers; … |
| LunoVPN | — | — | — | Yes obfuscation mimics HTTPS |
| PureVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes obfuscated servers… |
| Surfshark | — | Yes | — | Yes NoBorders; Android, iOS,… |
| Private Internet Access | — | Yes Deskpro | — | — |
| NymVPN | Yes status.nymtech.net | Yes website chatbot… | Yes community | censorship resistance listed |
| LightningX VPN | — | Yes | — | China-focused GFW bypass; IP… |
| DuneVPN | — | No email + contact… | — | Yes claim: V2Ray… |
| Mullvad | — | No | No | Yes obfuscation methods,… |
| ExpressVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes obfuscation |
| FastestVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| BTC VPN | — | Yes Capterra | TG Group; TG Channel | obfuscation (claim) |
| VMP VPN (VPN Master Pro) | — | Yes in-app Intercom | — | Yes obfuscated servers |
| Symlex VPN | — | Yes Facebook Messenger | — | — |
| AirVPN | Yes live server status | No | No | Yes SSH/SSL/Tor tunnels |
| ZoogVPN | — | — | Yes | — |
| Ninja VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| FinchVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes claims… |
| BelkaVPN | — | Yes Capterra | https://t.me/belkavpn_ch… | Yes stealth technology claim |
| CyberGhost VPN | — | Yes Zendesk | — | — |
| CactusVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes obfsproxy, VPN over… |
| Xeovo VPN | Yes status.xeovo.com | No | Yes channel | Yes Stealth Proxies |
| TorGuard | — | Yes | — | Yes |
| AzireVPN | https://www.azirevpn.com… | — | — | — |
| Canada VPN | — | Yes chat widget; … | Yes | — |
| IPVanish | Yes | Yes | — | Yes Obfuscation |
| CometVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes Obfuscated VPN:… |
| Windscribe | — | — | Yes channel | — |
| Cryptostorm | — | Yes | — | Yes obfs4, Xray, stunnel |
| HiroVPN | — | Yes in-app chat | Yes @hirovpnbot | Yes VLESS |
| Turbo VPN | — | Yes Zendesk | Yes channel | — |
| Malloc VPN | — | — | — | claims traffic looks normal… |
| Mysterium Network | stats.mysterium.network… | Yes Intercom | Yes community | residential IPs avoid VPN… |
| OllaVPN | https://status.ollavpn.c… | No | — | Partial MASQUE-over-port-443… |
| UFO VPN | — | No (email only) (review) | Yes channel | Partial Protocol C bypasses… |
| Fexyn | — | Yes Capterra | https://t.me/FexynVPN… | Yes VLESS Reality, auto… |
| Trust.Zone | — | — | — | — |
| Hide.me | — | Yes | Yes social | Yes StealthGuard; SoftEther… |
| Malwarebytes Privacy VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Hotspot Shield | — | Yes paid; 24/7 chat… | — | Yes Traffic Obfuscation… |
| VPN Secure | — | Yes mentioned in ToS | — | Yes Stealth Mode, DPI… |
| iProVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| FreeVPN.com | — | Yes paid plans | — | — |
| VeePN | — | Yes Tidio/Zendesk | — | — |
| AtmosVPN | Yes | No | — | Yes Stealth Mode… |
| PandaVPN Pro | — | no live chat mentioned… | — | — |
| StelsVPN | — | Yes Jivo | Yes bot | — |
| WireDog VPN | — | No | — | Yes AmneziaWG disguises… |
| VPNEU | — | mentioned | @vpneusupport; bot… | Yes Reality/Trojan |
| VPNUK | — | Yes | @chat2vpnuk; @VPNUKBot | — |
| Mysterium VPN | — | — | — | camouflage mode (claimed) |
| RocketVPN | — | Yes website chat with… | Yes t.me/rvpn_chat +… | Yes V2Ray TLS camouflage,… |
| VPN Proxy Master | — | Yes | — | Partial V2Ray offered for… |
| Enova VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| VPN Proxy Master - Safer Vpn (SecureGuard) | — | Yes | — | — |
| BearVPN | No | Yes Crisp help/chat | Yes | Yes obfuscation claim |
| VPN Unlimited (KeepSolid) | Yes | site claims live chat; … | Yes bot, social | Yes KeepSolid Wise |
| TunnelBear | — | — | social channel listed… | Yes GhostBear |
| iTop VPN | — | No review 2021 | — | — |
| HidzoVPN | No | No help center +… | — | Yes claims DPI bypass /… |
| Nyx VPN | — | — | — | Yes on-device DPI/DNS/TLS… |
| DOG VPN - Game Booster (AshX) | No | Yes in-app Customer… | Yes t.me/ashsupporter | — |
| Norse Labs DVPN | — | — | DVPN Bot | Yes obfuscation |
| Pro Gamer VPN / Gaming VPN Pro / GamerX VPN (Next Hour) | No all systems online… | — | — | Yes V2Ray |
| MonVPN | — | Yes pre-login | — | Yes OpenVPN XOR |
| CopVPN | — | Yes FAQ: 24/7 support… | — | Yes FAQ: confused or stealth… |
| LimeVPN | — | — | — | — |
| VyprVPN | — | Yes Support button on… | — | Yes Chameleon |
| Mysterium Dark | Yes | Yes only support… | announcement channel | claims unblocked internet |
| ExtremeVPN | No | Yes Tawk.to | No | — |
| PrivadoVPN | — | — | — | — |
| TikVPN | — | Yes slow, ~14 min | — | — |
| ClearVPN | server status claimed… | Yes help center Live… | No | — |
| BTGuard | — | No knowledge base +… | — | Yes Stealth: REALITY TCP 443… |
| Mena VPN (MenaVPN) | — | Yes Live, 24-hour… | — | — |
| OVPN | Yes status.ovpn.com | chatbot (Zendesk) | — | — |
| KeepSolid (VPN Unlimited) | Yes | site claims live chat; … | bot | Yes KeepSolid Wise |
| SmartyDNS | — | Yes | — | Yes Obfsproxy |
| V3VPN | — | claimed (Pro) | — | — |
| Anyone Protocol (ex-ATOR) | network explorer… | No | Yes | claimed censorship… |
| NVPN | — | No | — | sTunnel SSL over 443 |
| GhostShield VPN | — | No contact form/email… | — | — |
| SwizzVPN | — | No in-app feedback +… | — | claims automatic stealth mode |
| VPN Hero (Appwise) | — | — | No | claimed Firewall… |
| VPN 360 | — | Yes Premium | — | Yes traffic obfuscation… |
| VPNBaron | — | No | — | Yes anti-DPI, VLESS Reality… |
| HMA VPN (Hide My Ass) | — | Yes 8:00-22:00 UK… | — | — |
| Jaguar VPN | — | AI assistant chatbot on… | — | Yes Mirage protocol: does… |
| Betternet | — | — | — | Yes traffic obfuscation |
| GatewayVPN | — | — | — | — |
| VPN Fast (GREEN DYGITAL CONSULTING) | — | Yes | No | Yes Shadowsocks option for… |
| Cool VPN Pro | — | — | Yes t.me/CoolVPNPro | Yes claim: Obfuscated… |
| Namecheap FastVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes OpenVPN Scramble… |
| McAfee VPN | — | Yes review | — | No |
| ZenMate | — | Yes website Support… | — | — |
| Ghost Path | No | Yes live chat… | — | — |
| Le VPN | No | AI chat… | bot @levpn_bot | Yes Stealth WireGuard, DPI… |
| FastVPN (Namecheap) | — | Yes | — | Yes OpenVPN Scramble… |
| VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy (VPN Super Inc / Mobile Jump) | No | — | — | Yes Super Protocol; V2Ray… |
| ChibaTunnel | No | No | Yes Sentinel community… | Yes |
| JamboVPN | — | — | — | — |
| Bolehvpn | — | No tickets + social… | — | Yes obfuscation |
| 12VPN | — | Yes Capterra | — | Yes claims China operation… |
| WideVPN | — | — | Yes | — |
| MoreVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Toggle VPN | — | — | https://t.me/togglevpn | — |
| Norton VPN | — | Yes review | — | Yes Mimic protocol |
| PotatoVPN | No | — | — | No review |
| IceVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| Guardian Firewall + VPN | Yes | No | No | — |
| ZenVPN | — | Yes website customer… | — | — |
| VPN One Click | — | Yes | — | No |
| StarVPN | — | No | — | Yes obfuscation, AmneziaWG; … |
| kemangVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Safing SPN (Portmaster) | — | No | No | — |
| Novix VPN | — | No not offered; email… | — | — |
| Teleport VPN (DIGITAL HERO) | — | Yes claimed in App… | — | — |
| Sentinel dVPN | — | No | Yes t.me/sentinelp2p | Yes V2Ray for… |
| Avast SecureLine VPN | — | — | — | Yes proprietary protocol… |
| WorldVPN | — | — | Yes bot | No |
| SharkVPN | — | Yes claim on contact… | — | — |
| FineVPN | — | — | Yes bot | implicit (Xray VLESS/VMess) |
| Melon VPN (Wildlook Tech) | — | No email support only | — | — |
| VirtualShield | — | — | — | — |
| uncensore.net | — | No Telegram + email… | Yes @uncensore_net; … | Yes traffic obfuscation,… |
| VpnHood! | — | — | — | Yes Cloak Mode; resembles… |
| Solo VPN | — | No | — | No review: no features… |
| VPN Jantit | Yes servers-status | No | No | Yes Reality, SSH WS/CDN,… |
| Riseup VPN | Yes riseupstatus.net | — | — | Yes obfs4 bridge transport |
| Float VPN | — | No email… | — | — |
| Bitdefender VPN | — | Yes review | — | No |
| AVG Secure VPN | — | — | — | Yes Mimic protocol, for… |
| 7VPN | No | Yes | No | Yes V2Ray |
| FoolVPN | — | Yes Tidio | — | Yes claim: alternative… |
| OysterVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes Camouflage Mode… |
| PortalsVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| TipTop VPN | — | claimed (24/7 online… | — | — |
| GNUVPN | — | No | — | — |
| StreamVPN | — | No | — | Yes Stealth Mode |
| URnetwork | Yes status.ur.io | No email only | — | — |
| CruxVPN | — | No email/form,… | — | No plain WireGuard configs |
| SlingshotVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Ciphra VPN | — | No email support only | Yes bot | Yes claim: Undetectable VPN… |
| Rethink DNS + Firewall | — | — | Yes | no dedicated mode; encrypted… |
| Avast Free VPN | — | — | No | — |
| Cloudbric VPN | — | No | No | — |
| VPNServerHub | — | — | — | — |
| Mozilla VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Witopia | — | Yes chatbot/live chat | — | Yes stealth modes |
| VPN Asia | — | claimed 24/7… | — | Yes stealth protocol |
| Seed4.me | — | No | — | — |
| OnionHop | — | No Discord, GitHub… | — | Yes bridges for restricted… |
| Astrill VPN | — | — | — | Yes StealthVPN |
| Morocco VPN (Quantux Labs) | — | No email… | — | Yes MASQUE disguises VPN… |
| Psiphon | — | No (email only) (review) | No | Yes designed for censorship… |
| IPBurger VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| Incognet VPN | Yes portal… | No | Yes social | — |
| VPN.ac | — | — | — | Yes obfuscation / TCP 443 |
| Stash | — | No email… | https://t.me/StashFans | — |
| TrueVPN | — | claimed 24/7; … | — | — |
| My Private VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| NorexVPN | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Bolt VPN (Galixo.AI) | — | — | — | — |
| vpnify - Unlimited VPN Proxy | Yes | No | Yes Telegram group | — |
| Hello VPN | — | in-app, after purchase | — | — |
| 1VPN | — | — | — | VLESS Reality on Android… |
| VPNCity | — | — | — | Yes (Easy Firewall Traversal)… |
| Speedy Quark VPN | — | claimed 24/7 live chat… | Yes Telegram group | — |
| MASQ Network | — | No community… | Yes | No README: not clandestine,… |
| 12VPX | — | No | — | Yes OpenVPN Stealth,… |
| BlinkVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Meile dVPN (MathNodes) | — | No community channels… | Yes MathNodes Telegram | Yes V2Ray/XRay, Hysteria2,… |
| VPN for iPhone - Proxy Server | — | — | — | — |
| Ryn VPN | — | — | — | — |
| GhostVPN | — | Yes | — | Yes Stealth VPN + proxy |
| Mix VPN | — | No email only on… | — | — |
| VPN Nederland | — | — | — | — |
| SwitchVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| UltraVPN | — | Yes chat mentioned | — | — |
| Cure VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| Trickbyte | — | claimed (24/7 Live… | — | — |
| 5 Euro VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Shellfire VPN | — | No contact form, email… | — | No review |
| Goose VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Anonine | — | — | No | Stunnel |
| OkayFreedom | — | No | — | No not claimed; reviews list… |
| Urban VPN | No | No | No | — |
| PrivateVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| Hide Expert VPN (4K-SOFT) | — | No contact form on… | — | Yes customized VLESS Reality… |
| Systweak VPN | — | No email… | — | No |
| playmoTV | — | Yes Help Scout Beacon | — | — |
| SecretsLine VPN | — | — | Yes @secretsline | — |
| Hide All IP | — | No | No | — |
| ShadowSwitch VPN | — | No email + Telegram… | Yes notice channel | — |
| iFlip VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Securezone VPN | — | — | — | — |
| UpVPN | Yes upvpn.instatus.com | No | — | — |
| Webroot WiFi Security | — | only for Best Buy… | — | — |
| CloudVPN Pro | — | No | — | No |
| RayaVPN | — | Yes | — | claims DPI/throttling bypass |
| FlyVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| JungleVPN | — | Yes paid plans, most… | Yes | — |
| SkyVPN | No | Yes Premium | Yes social channel | No (no obfuscation) (review) |
| Wing VPN | — | Yes Capterra | — | Yes VLESS+REALITY disguised… |
| FreeVPN.us | Yes server status page | widget linking to… | Yes | — |
| Pangeo VPN | — | No | — | — |
| VPN UAE: Unlimited VPN in UAE (Local networks) | — | — | contact via Telegram… | — |
| Presto VPN | No | No | No | — |
| Hotspot VPN | — | No | — | — |
| ESET VPN | — | — | — | Yes Stealth/Stunnel,… |
| Kiwi VPN | — | Yes claimed | — | — |
| Ultrasurf | — | No email only:… | — | Yes traffic looks like… |
| Identity Cloaker | — | No | — | — |
| Slick VPN | — | No | — | — |
| VuzeVPN | — | No | — | — |
| FrootVPN | — | — | — | No |
| HotVPN | — | No | — | — |
| VPNTunnel | — | Yes | No | Stunnel+OpenVPN option… |
| VPN for iPhone (Brain Craft) | — | No | No | — |
| Speedify | Yes | Yes | No | — |
| HideIPVPN | — | — | No | — |
| Blokada | — | No | — | — |
| nadanada (ex-LNVPN) | Yes server status page | No Telegram support… | Yes | No not offered; plain… |
| RitaVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| Lokinet (Oxen/Session) | — | No contact by email… | Yes Oxen_Community | — |
| StrongVPN | — | Yes Zendesk live chat; … | — | — |
| NovaVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Aura VPN | — | Yes bot first, live… | No | — |
| Orchid | — | No email… | — | — |
| SmartDNS Proxy | Yes | Yes cancellation via… | — | — |
| MyVPN | — | No | — | obfuscation via protocols… |
| UK Expat VPN | — | help widget on site… | — | — |
| Web-Leader.net VPN | — | Yes patchy, Russian | — | — |
| Steganos VPN Online Protection | — | No web form +… | — | — |
| Celo VPN | — | Yes cookies for live… | — | — |
| B VPN (bVPN) | — | Yes | — | Yes SmokeV2 |
| Snap VPN | — | No | — | — |
| OctoVPN | — | No | — | — |
| VPN-Cheap | — | Yes | No | — |
| BypassON | — | No | — | claims DNS traffic spoofing /… |
| uVPN | No | Yes | — | — |
| MacKeeper Private Connect | — | Yes in-app | — | no advanced options (review,… |
| FlowVPN | No | — | — | Yes TLS/SSH tunnels |
| Borderless VPN | — | No | — | — |
| Getbehind.me | — | Yes response <5 min… | — | — |
| OurVPN | — | No | Yes @ThisOurVpn | Yes VLESS+REALITY claimed |
| CoverMeVPN | — | Yes work hours | — | — |
| NetShade | — | No email… | — | Yes Scrambler; OpenVPN… |
| QubitVPN | Yes health status page… | Yes Chat with us… | — | — |
| Easy Hide IP | No | No contact form/email; … | No | — |
| Getflix | — | Yes review | — | — |
| VPN99 | — | No | — | Yes Stealth protocol, did… |
| PlexVPN | No | No | — | — |
| Unlocator VPN | — | Yes checkout page:… | — | — |
| Hideman | — | — | — | — |
| iWASEL | — | Yes | — | No only OpenVPN/L2TP stated; … |
| Anonymous VPN | — | No | — | — |
| VPN Point | — | No email/contact form… | — | — |
| Sonics VPN | — | No email, Facebook,… | — | — |
| Zyra VPN | — | No | No | No |
| VikingVPN | — | No contact form/email… | — | claims constant false traffic… |
| Avira | — | Yes (premium users)… | No | — |
| SmartVPN | — | No contact form +… | — | No FAQ suggests OpenVPN if… |
| Cloudflare WARP (1.1.1.1) | cloudflarestatus.com… | No | No | No |
| SafeShell VPN | — | — | Yes t.me/safeshellvpn | Yes Stealth VPN Protocol,… |
| TotalVPN (Total AV) | — | — | — | — |
| GIPVPN | — | No | — | — |
| Boxpn | No | No | — | No |
| Vpn.ht | — | No review | — | — |
| GLOBEX VPN | — | No email… | — | — |
| Super VPN Unblock Master | — | No email only | — | claims obfuscation methods |
| MEGA VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Wachee VPN | — | No review: FAQ,… | — | No review: no additional… |
| Avira Phantom VPN | — | Yes for Pro users… | — | — |
| MacSentry VPN | — | No | — | — |
| Ostrich VPN | — | No | — | Partial V2Ray VMess +… |
| Vpn4u | — | — | — | — |
| JumpJumpVPN | — | No email… | — | No review |
| Leaf VPN | — | No email support only | — | — |
| Reindeer VPN | — | No in-app Support +… | — | — |
| aSocket | — | No | — | No |
| S6N (Arethusa) | — | No | No | — |
| VPNBook | — | No email… | — | — |
| VPN cat | — | No | No | claimed (premium: stay… |
| DigibitVPN | — | No unavailable | — | — |
| VALT | — | — | — | — |
| NetflixVPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| F-Secure Freedome / F-Secure VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Private WiFi | — | No | — | — |
| OLOW VPN | — | Yes claim 24/7 Live… | — | — |
| VPN Panther | — | No | — | — |
| Hola VPN | No | — | No | No |
| Internxt VPN | — | Yes chat widget on… | — | — |
| F-Secure VPN (Freedome) | — | — | No | — |
| Touch VPN | No | No | No | — |
| Gear VPN | — | — | — | — |
| Savage VPN | — | No | — | — |
| LibertyShield VPN | — | sales only | — | — |
| CiberProtector VPN | — | No | — | — |
| Lamnia | — | Yes | — | — |
| HotVPN.io | — | No | — | — |
| Trend Micro VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| G DATA VPN | — | — | — | No |
| Mars VPN | — | No | No | — |
| AethoVPN | — | No help center Submit… | — | — |
| VPNEER | — | No email only seen | — | — |
| Stream Via | — | No | Yes | OpenVPN XOR on request… |
| Secure Signal Inc. (Thunder VPN / Secure VPN publisher) | — | No (email only) (review) | — | — |
| DroidVPN | Yes | No | No | claims bypass of ISP… |
| NoPing | — | Yes | — | — |
| Swisscows VPN | Yes | No | — | — |
| ZorroVPN | — | No email + social… | — | — |
| KeepSolid VPN Lite | — | — | — | — |
| Fast VPN Proxy - Super Server (HOMINYX) | — | No email… | — | — |
| RelyVPN | — | No email + in-app… | — | Yes claims traffic… |
| Super Free VPN | — | No | — | Yes Stealth Mode, DPI bypass… |
| GamersVPN | — | No contact form +… | Yes t.me/gamersvpn | — |
| Clario | — | Yes in-app chat with… | No | — |
| SurfBouncer Personal VPN | — | No | — | — |
| Independent dVPN | — | — | — | — |
| VPNfacile | — | No | No | — |
| JumpJump VPN | — | No (email only) (review) | — | No no obfuscation; failed in… |
| Intego Privacy Protection VPN | — | — | — | — |
| USip VPN | — | Yes | — | — |
| PhantomPeer | — | Yes | — | — |
| Defend VPN (UAE VPN) | — | No | — | — |
| YogaVPN | — | No email only, review | — | No review |
| BullVPN | — | No | — | — |
| LagoFast | — | not confirmed; … | — | — |
| Hidden24 | — | No | — | — |
| Panda VPN | — | — | No | — |
| SPL VPN | — | No email / web form… | — | — |
| SaturnVPN | — | Yes review | — | — |
| GoTrusted | — | No | No | Yes custom protocol connects… |
| ioloVPN | — | Yes online chat | — | — |
| Shecan | — | No ticket via user… | Yes @shecan_ir,… | No |
| VPNBoy | — | No contact page +… | — | Yes VLESS+REALITY for… |
| ActiVPN | — | No | — | — |
| MyIP.io Static VPN | — | Yes Tawk | — | — |
| Bright VPN | No | No | No | No |
| dns4me | notifications page | No | — | — |
| Trend Micro VPN Proxy One | — | Yes online chat… | — | — |
| Leigod (雷神加速器) | — | Yes 9:00-24:00 daily | — | — |
| VPN Gate | No server list shows… | No | No | No |
| MediaHint | — | No help center +… | — | — |
| CrypticVPN | — | No | — | — |
| FeatherVPN | — | No | — | — |
| 24vc | — | No | — | — |
| ExitLag | — | Yes website chat +… | — | — |
| WTFast | Yes WTFast Alerts on… | No | — | — |
| DNSFlex | — | No | No | No |
| TVWhenAway VPN | — | No | — | — |
| Pingzapper | — | — | — | Partial claim encrypted… |
| Sixfast | — | Yes human support… | — | — |
| VPN4Games | — | LINE official account… | — | — |
| SecureVPN.com | — | No email/support forms… | — | — |
| Gambit Gaming VPN | Yes status.gambit.im | No real-time support… | — | — |
| iNinja VPN | — | No | — | — |
| SwissVPN | — | No | No | No OpenVPN/SSTP over TCP 443… |
| Begzar | — | No | — | No plain DNS |
| Bitmask | — | No | — | Yes obfs4/Snowflake/hopping |
| Edoztunnel | — | No contact via… | Yes t.me/chrisrepairs | SNI/payload tunneling (bypass) |
| FreeVPN.me | — | No contact form only | — | No |
| Npv Tunnel (NapsternetV) | — | No | Yes | Yes V2Ray/SSH/DNSTT… |
| Phone Guardian VPN | — | No email… | — | — |
| QAL VPN | — | — | — | — |
| VIP DNS Club | — | Yes chat widget on… | — | — |
| VPN Gates | — | Yes | No | — |
A VPN that refuses to connect almost always traces back to one of five things: a dead or overloaded server, a blocked protocol, interference from a firewall or a second VPN app, a wrong system clock, or an outage on the provider's side. Checking them in that order usually exposes the fault within minutes. Once you know your symptom, the checklist for your specific provider supplies the details: status page, protocols, obfuscation options and support channels.
First checks: is it the VPN or your connection?
Disconnect the tunnel and load any website. If nothing opens without the VPN either, the fault sits with the network or the ISP, and no app setting will help. If browsing works normally, restart the client, install updates and confirm the subscription has not expired. Also verify the system date: a clock a few days off breaks the TLS certificate check, and the app hides this behind a vague sign-in failure.
VPN won't connect: causes in order of likelihood
Server, protocol and port
Switch location first, since providers take individual servers down for maintenance. When several locations all time out, try another protocol. WireGuard and OpenVPN over UDP are quick but easy to filter, while OpenVPN over TCP 443 resembles ordinary HTTPS and passes through far more networks. Protocol counts differ across services: 215 of the 372 list OpenVPN, 168 WireGuard and 116 IKEv2, so anyone whose app offers more than one protocol has something to switch to.
Firewall, antivirus and other VPN apps
Security suites sometimes flag the tunnel as traffic worth blocking, so add the client to exceptions instead of disabling protection for good. Old clients and leftover profiles clash with the active one; remove anything unused and restart.
Connected but no websites load
A green status with dead pages points at DNS, the kill switch or stale network settings. Reset DNS to the provider's default and reconnect. If traffic still refuses to move, a device network reset clears the leftovers. A kill switch engaged after a drop mimics a broken connection, and reconnecting to a nearby server clears it. Turning the switch off restores traffic but exposes your real IP, so treat that as temporary.
VPN blocked on hotel, school or office Wi-Fi and by country-level DPI
Managed networks typically allow only web traffic, and national DPI systems hunt for VPN handshake signatures. Obfuscation hides that handshake from the filter. Of the 372 services in the table, 141 list a stealth or obfuscation mode. Another 219 publish nothing on the subject; that silence says nothing about whether the feature exists.
VPN not working with Netflix and other streaming services
Streaming platforms block IP ranges known to belong to VPNs. Move to a different server in that country, wipe cache and cookies, and install the full desktop or mobile app: a browser extension routes only browser traffic, leaving the streaming app on your real address.
When the problem is on the provider's side
A status page settles "is it my side or theirs" within a minute, yet among 372 services just 35 publish one; another 23 state they have none. Support access matters more when the provider's own website is blocked where you are: a Telegram channel or mirror site keeps help reachable, but only 57 and 39 of the services respectively publish those. Manual configuration on 91 services lets you connect without the provider's app, through a router or the system's built-in client, when that app is broken or blocked.
| What the provider publishes | Services (of 372) |
|---|---|
| Public status page | 35 |
| Live chat | 140 |
| Telegram support channel | 57 |
| Obfuscation or stealth mode | 141 |
| Mirror site or backup channel | 39 |
| Manual configuration (router, native client) | 91 |
Live chat leads among channels; mirrors are the rarest.
Troubleshooting by service
Each of the 372 services has its own checklist, either a separate page or a section of its review, built only from what the provider publishes: status page, protocols, obfuscation and support channels. VPNRadarLab does not test connections itself. Two examples: the Proton VPN checklist covers its status page, WireGuard and OpenVPN support, Stealth obfuscation and live chat, while the NordVPN checklist lists WireGuard and OpenVPN, obfuscated servers with NordWhisper, and support by chat and email.
Troubleshooting by symptom
| Symptom | Likely cause | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Timeout on every server | UDP ports blocked | TCP 443 or obfuscation |
| One location fails | Server maintenance | Another server |
| Connected, no pages load | DNS or kill switch | Default DNS, reconnect |
| Streaming proxy error | Known VPN IP range | Another server, clear cache |
| Sign-in fails | Wrong clock or expired plan | Fix the time, check the account |
FAQ
Why did my VPN suddenly stop working?
Most often an app or OS update, a lapsed plan, or a server swap on the provider's end.
Why is the VPN not working on my phone?
Battery saver can suspend the app in the background; allow its VPN profile and exempt it from battery optimisation. Apple documents the same pattern for iPhone and Mac: wrong time, other VPN profiles and network resets all matter.
Short answer
Test the connection without the VPN, fix the system clock, change server, then change protocol. For hostile networks, obfuscation (documented by 141 of the 372 services) or TCP 443 gets you through, and a status page, published by 35 providers, tells you whose side the fault is on.