VPN not working and certain websites not opening - probably related

HaroldZed

HaroldZed

My free VPN stopped working a couple of years back but I figured it was just dropped as a service. However, looks like I am incorrect I just cannot get the free VPN to work. It is selected yet the box remains yellow and cannot use Opera until it is turned off.

In a possibly related issue (obviously with VPN disabled) , I can no longer use autotrader.co.uk The homepage loads up, I can enter searches

and the results splash for a microsecond

and then the page goes blank.

I have tried to add it to the adblocker settings but that has not worked. I have added it to the Windows Defender firewall (along with the opera.exe and launcher.exe in both incoming and outgoing) and nothing works.

I was going to add I have a similar issue trying to get onto NordVPN but, miraculously, that now works. However, none of the other sites on this Techradar list work. None! Except for the aforementioned NordVPN which had not worked previously. FYI, AVAST blocked Proton VPN saying it it infected with "URL:Blacklist" so avoid that one.

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/best-vpn

All the others say:

Whilst initially I thought it was an AVAST/Windows Defender issue, seeing as everything works in Edge, it must be an Opera issue. At this point, I am considering just moving over to Edge as everything works there (well, no VPN but doesn't work in Opera anyway).

Does anyone have any insghts?

TIA