VPN no longer connects!

A Former User

Just in the last week, I have noticed that Opera VPN has stopped working.

I have it enabled in settings and the bypass feature which allows search engines to override it, is not checked, either.

I searched for posts in Opera forums and elsewhere prior to posting this, hoping to find solutions, but on all the post results I found, I was unable to find a resolution.

Do Opera employees even read these posts and ever give helpful replies??
Is Opera aware of this issue ( I would assume that they are - too many people have posted with the same issue as me for them to not be. However, I am baffled as to why I have yet to find a real solution to fix this VPN issue.

Is anyone else experiencing the same problem and/or can give me the proper information to resolve this, once and for all?

Before this last week, the VPN was working just fine. Now, when I switch it on, it remains in a "connecting" mode and also prevents loading of any urls I try to visit (when I turn off the VPN the pages resume loading as usual. This never occurred previously!).

Why is it that all of a sudden it has just stopped working?? This is in Windows 10, btw.

Please help, someone!

leocg

leocg Moderator Volunteer @Guest

I've used the VPN a day or two ago and it was working.

Check if there isn't anything blocking the access.

s390g2

s390g2

This one is adequate and is worth a try:
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/browsec/

blackbird71

blackbird71 @s390g2

@s390g2 said in VPN no longer connects!:

This one is adequate and is worth a try:
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/browsec/

FWIW, however, there are a pair of comments at the app download site indicating that it's no longer working for at least some users running Opera, though it does with Chrome.

s390g2

s390g2

Thanks @blackbird71, that could be. I use it on a v57 opera, and it didn't work immediately on first run because of a promo that only occurs once. Other than that it is good. I think it uses a pptp tunnel.

hugheffo

hugheffo

Is anybody from Opera going to respond to this issue. Has been 4 weeks since my VPN has worked, when I try to connect just turn orange and says "connecting"

This seems to be an issue for Users in the UK. Also can no longer choose which server to connect to,. only have "optimal" as an option, where before If one server did not work, I could always choose another in a different country.

I love using Opera, but will be forced to change if this issue is not resolved.

rtomasz

rtomasz @hugheffo

@hugheffo VPN service seems to work, also from UK locations. Is there anything that can block VPN from the other apps, on OS level or local infrastructure?

blackbird71

blackbird71 @hugheffo

@hugheffo There is this quote from 2013 (https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-secretly-start-blocking-torrent-site-proxies-130611/ ) :
"Following in the footsteps of Sky, the first ISP to initiate a proxy blockade, Virgin, BT and several other providers now restrict access to several torrent site proxies. The surprise isn't really that proxies have been added to the blocklist, but that the music industry and ISPs are failing to disclose which sites are being banned."
Also, this quote from 2016 (https://www.blandy.co.uk/blog/proxies-and-how-the-law-deals-with-circumvention ) :
Q: "Is it legal in the UK to use proxy servers to access content from different countries? Is it legal to host a proxy server?
A: "...To say then that running a proxy server in the UK is illegal is not correct. What is clear though is that operating a proxy server to circumvent copyright and similar rights is most definitely considered unlawful. ... Proxy servers and virtual private networks can be used to get around blocks put on ripping and counterfeiting download sites by constantly updating code to make the blocks placed on use by ISPs ineffective. Although having websites blocked at the ISP level is becoming easier, the cost to the ISP of placing the blocks on these [proxy] sites is large and requires constant monitoring—not least because the result can take from a few days to a few weeks to filter through and block the sites..." (my [clarification note])

Whether or not a proxy is Tor-related or not, the point of this is to note that in the UK, ISPs have been known to block IP addresses, including proxy IPs if they have reason to think there are copyright violations occurring over those channels. Whether such blocking is widespread or not, whether it's effective or not, or whether proxy IPs are mis-characterized is not the key issue... it's to highlight that blocking of a proxy IP in the UK, either intentionally or accidentally, by a local or regional ISP, is a definite possible cause for a proxy not to work. A proxy user must first contact his proxy's IP to establish the data link, and Opera's VPN is essentially a proxy connection. Unfortunately, it also appears that an ISP is not necessarily obligated to disclose the IPs it blocks. Bottom line: it's possible that such blocking could be a factor for persistent VPN/proxy blocking of users in one region of the UK, but not for users in another locale.

passegua

passegua

I noticed another VPN related problem:
https://forums.opera.com/topic/29948/vpn-confusing-and-wrong-settings

blackbird71

blackbird71 @passegua

@passegua said in VPN no longer connects!:

I noticed another VPN related problem: ...

Which has nothing to do with a user not being able to connect to Opera's VPN in the UK...

hugheffo

hugheffo

Just checked this morning, and still cannot connect using Opera built in VPN. Tried both Browsec and Pure VPN clients, and both work fine, so the issue has to be with Opera.

blackbird71

blackbird71 @hugheffo

@hugheffo You could be dealing with: a defective Opera installation, a defective user profile, some kind of problem authenticating your particular system's https connection handshaking and transactions with Opera's VPN server, or some kind of connection interference by an over-zealous, onboard antivirus program (including some update made to it). If it were a universal problem caused by Opera's VPN mechanism, these forums by now would be flooded with complaints. There are the occasional 'issue' reports here, but nothing like what would result from a complete, universal VPN failure (plus there's @rtomasz 's earlier report that it's working for him in the UK).

Or... it could involve your local ISP blocking either Opera's VPN IP or an entire block of IPs of which Opera is a part. Sometimes that's done either in error or if there's been formal complaints of copyright violations being routed via those IPs.

There are some things to try in isolating possible "local system" causes. First, with all your antivirus/antimalware programs turned off, try to connect via Opera VPN to a known-safe, low/no-ad website (a speed-test site like https://speedof.me/ or similar should suffice) to see if that affects things. Second, with Opera off, you could backup your profile and try resetting (renaming) it to see if Opera can access its VPN when turned back on. Third, you could try a parallel, portable install of Opera to see if that allows VPN access. Last, if you know somebody in your locale using both Opera and the same ISP, ask them to try the VPN and see what their results are.