I’ve had a very difficult time of it lately with both ProtonVPN and Mullvad VPN, where I’ve just constantly had to disable it in order for basic things to work, no matter how many exceptions I make in split tunneling. Brave Search sends me captchas. Phone reports “not connected to a network.” Costco’s regular search works great, but their warehouse search, completely broken with a VPN enabled.
These are just a few of the absolutely colossal amount of hiccups I’ve ran into while using a VPN. I figured I’d use one 24/7 to try and promote as good of privacy practices as possible while also not making it obvious that I only enable a VPN when searching for Linux ISOs. But this is just frustrating. I spend so much time troubleshooting things and fighting things, just to realize, over and over and over again, that I need to disable the VPN, perform my action, and then go back and re-enable it.
I’m tempted to just use Tailscale with NextDNS at this point exclusively, because it’s just such a hassle to use any device with a VPN on all the time. Is this a common thread of thought? Or is it my battle alone?
This has never happened to me. All I have to deal with is YouTube CAPTCHA’s and that’s it. I never get blocked anywhere or face issues anywhere.
First, you need to share some more specific details other than just your warranted frustration. What OS are you on? What’s your set up like? Are there any other apps that are interfering with your VPN or has the potential to? Have you flushed your computer’s DNS before setting up the always on VPN connection? Do you have multiple VPNs installed? Have you rebooted your system after installing your VPN for the first time? What are your browser privacy & security settings like? What browser are you using? Is your browser trying to use a different DNS than your VPN DNS? Are you using a custom DNS with your VPN? If you used to use a different VPN and now have installed an other one, are you sure you deleted the first one properly per the right instructions?
There are so many things you have not clarified so please do. I literally have no idea why you’re going through this unnecessary issue.
This issue you’re facing is not common but I also won’t say others have not expressed it. I don’t know why this only tends t affect select groups of people and I’m inclined to believe it has to do something with and about their set up on their computers. There’s no reason for one to face the number of issues you are other than the CAPTCHA issue which again, depending on your browser privacy & security settings, may not even be that common.
So, take a breath and explain it all in detail so we understand what’s what and how to begin diagnosing the issue first. We can find the prognosis after.
These are issues that primarily happen on my phones, both personal and work, Samsung and iPhone. I originally had these issues with Mullvad VPN installed. I already paid for ProtonMail, so I figured I might as well stop paying for two services and just utilize Proton VPN. The issue persisted there as well.
The problems I have with phone calls dropping are exclusive to my two Samsung devices. I have tried to set up split tunneling for every possible phone service I’ve found in the the options, including the system apps relating to phone services, cellular services, etc. The iPhone has zero issue with call dropping with the VPN enabled.
The issue I mentioned with Costco’s warehouse search was in the Costco app. This time, it works neither on the Samsungs or the iPhone.
The issue with Brave Search sending me captchas happens infrequently, but it happens on every device at some point, whether it’s my phones, Mac computer, Linux computer, or Windows computer (as a software engineer, I have a lot of devices for testing). If I have to use a Google search for local businesses, the captcha is a guarantee.
I also have issues getting my printer to work over WiFi, but only on Android, Linux, and Windows. It works fine on MacOS and the iPhone even with ProtonVPN running.
I’m sure I’ll think of more issues I’m running into throughout the day as they occur. But here is the list of details requested:
OS: Windows, MacOS, Linux (Fedora), Android, iOS
Setup: I have Tailscale and ProtonVPN currently installed on all of these. Only one is active at a time.
Other Apps: No other apps should be interfering with my VPN, especially not ones that are across all five platforms I use.
Flushing DNS: No, I have not done this, but again, the issues I’m having are across so many different systems, I strongly believe it’s external.
Rebooted: Yes, I reboot my devices consistently. In fact, it’s the ONLY way to restore cell service to my Samsung after the VPN breaks it.
Multiple VPNs Installed: I do have Tailscale installed alongside Proton VPN, but only on iOS.
Browser Privacy and Security Settings: Set up to match the recommendations on Privacy Guides. I use Brave everywhere.
Custom DNS: No, I am not. I tried using NextDNS with ProtonVPN, but it did not work properly, so I went back to the default with Netshield handling tracker blocking.
Deleting Other VPN: Yes, I deleted it properly. In fact, there was a fresh Windows install and a fresh Linux install between Mullvad and Proton, and the issues still persist.
This is expected and inevitable.
There is no solution currently.
I can’t recommend disabling it constantly like you do, that is ungood.
Instead just keep a separate system for such problem services.
Or better yet, avoid them entirely.
And when I said “this”, I meant it only to the extent to which OP has described. Not that such issues were absolutely never experienced by me at some point.
I can’t seem to think of an exact solution to your issues. All I can say is ask Mullvad for server override IPs for a few locations for you to use. Perhaps the constant blocking is because all major entities know public VPN IPs they may be blocking or causing issues to. This is not the use case for server override that Mullvad provides but it does appear to solve this issue in my experience.
No harm in trying this out. Also, don’t split tunnel anything and stop using Tails if you can to see if the consistency of the connection improves with server override location/server selection.
I guess what I could do is run Tailscale during the day and the VPN in the evening. At work, I cannot be missing calls from customers or struggling to look something up in the middle of a meeting with a customer. At home, if I need to disable to look something up and then re-enable later, I can, as I have more time.
Tailscale isn’t running simultaneously on my devices. In fact, I don’t think it even can on mobile devices. The issues go away entirely with Tailscale running. If I run into something that my DNS blocklist is blocking, it’s pretty obvious. The VPN is what is heavily breaking lots of things without explanation, and without me really knowing if it’s the VPN or something else.
I’m getting pretty good at just going “This isn’t working….probably the stupid VPN again. Yup. It was the VPN.” But my family members that I’m trying to encourage into better cybersecurity are NOT going to put up with that crap. Period.
Try the server override option. Ask Mullvad for them. Not every location you ask for will it be available for so give them a few options when/if asking. And they’ll send you a JSON file for you to use. The only drawback is that you can’t keep changing locations or servers. You’ll have to stick with that particular server always.
That’s all I have for you. I’m curious so please let me know how it goes if you do this.
Yes, you’re right. Like I said, what I am saying here is not the use case for which Mullvad has developed this feature but it does work for this use case nonetheless in my experience.
I should have said cybersecurity and privacy…they are doing good so far on the password safe front. I’ve only had one person forget their master password and swear off listening to me forever for tech advice.
Don’t think it’s additional servers, you usually select a server that’s already available so its additional IP addresses of the same server from what I understand.
Where I am right now, this is needed so that’s why I say this could be the solution, however unusual.
This is a recent addition. So, I have not tested QUIC to a great extent. That’s why I’m still using “older” solution.
QUIC also reduces your bandwidth to peanuts so not ideal for everyday browsing and YouTube streaming use case but only for accessing important info on the open web.
