Can't get internet working after PC turned off with VPN kill switch on

[t99]

I keep getting DNS not responded and have tried everything I can think of. Ipv4 was set to automatic and also went thru some troubleshooting setting it to Google DNS with the below commands.

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset

I restart then a webpage loads up to the same website each time which is humblebundle.com. I'm not sure if this is the last place I was, but I am here often. I can replicate it, but the connection won't stick. I tried several combinations of things and this is the closest to a connection I can get. It wants to connect so bad during each winsock reset. If I log in really fast and open 5 tabs you can see the site logo in the top left corner of the tab which won't show up once the connection blocks again.

There is a short connection and it feels like there is something kicking in to block it. I also did a restore point from 2 days ago after these other steps and it did nothing. It reinstalled the VPN and put the DNS to automatic, but still does not connect.

I uninstalled the VPN and TAP adapter. Something like this happened once before and I try to make sure I never turn the computer off with the VPN on, but it happened. Last time I was trying various things and I remember it just kind of fixed itself. I think it was something simple like turning off and back on automatic DNS

Before uninstalling I tried and cant open the VPN because it says failed DNS resolution check settings. The VPN has never turned on with windows. It was always manual and it would never cause issues like this unless the PC turned off with the lock on.

After I get that short connection the error turns into a "cant communicate with device or resource". From this point I followed several guides on how to fix this and nothing works. A few fixes result in the last step of winsock reset, I restart PC and once again a brief connection. I'm really close to just doing a fresh install and make sure I never turn PC off with VPN on again.

Any ideas would be great.

 

[bill001g]

I had a similar issue when I uninstalled a VPN and the last time it was so bad I resorted to a os reinstall which luckily is pretty easy and you don't lose your files. That was the very last time I ever installed a vpn client I only run vpn from routers.

Make sure when you are using the VPN you do not use the names for the server use the IP addresses. The DNS gets confused sometimes thinks it must send the dns requests via the vpn before it is up. This is part of the leak prevention stuff in the clients but they do not always get it correct.

In many cases you can use the route command to override things. If you do a route print you might see the 0.0.0.0 router set to a VPN. You can delete this and add another. Mostly I would only do this to get the vpn uninstalled doing it every-time you boot is going to get tedious.

 

[t99]

Looks like it might be a bigger problem. I didn't think to check the router side since everytime in the past If the issue is on the router side I get a completely different error. Turned mobile data off and there is no connection. Had to leave for a job before I could test the other devices.

Maybe it's something deeper, I'll have to check more when I get back home later. Does it make sense that I would get these DNS errors if the signal at the router is having issues and other devices won't get online via wifi? Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Yeah, reinstalling the OS is actually fairly quick and can keep the files, plus I have multiple drives to move things too.

 

[t99]

Ok, so it looks like a really bad coincidence. I'm still not sure why I was getting all the DNS errors earlier, but there is something up for sure either with the signal coming into the house or at the router. Checked several devices that use wifi and none of them are working. Looks like it might be an outage in the area and going to call them in the morning.

The strangest thing is that that webpage still loads up. Turned the pc on, opened up the browser and the humblebundle page loaded up. I'm starting to think maybe it's just loading off the cache or something if that's possible that the entire page could load and look right even w/o a connection. If it is connecting that loading then that's even more confusing because there should be no incoming signal at all since smart TV's, tablets, etc don't connect. So glad I have an android phone and pdanet+ app on it. Don't have to deal with it right at this moment, tethers from my unlimited plan via usb.

 

[bill001g]

It does load off the cache which sometimes makes it hard when the internet is being flacky