VPN stopped working in Iran, any ideas why?

[unreal1357]

Hello,

So my gf just moved to iran for 3 months for studying purposes, she pre installed nordvpn and had it working before she left (in estonia) however since getting to Iran and connecting to the wifi at the place she staying (uni dorm) the VPN is just stuck endlessly on connecting, Now to get the wifi working there she had to go so the "IT" guy who supposedly made some changes to wifi advanced settings.

What I believe to be the problem is that he set it to use a proxy adress and its conflicting with the VPN, does that sound plausible? If so do you have any idea how she can get around this to get it working?

The VPN she is NordVPN and she is using a MAC.

Thanks in advance

 

[COLGeek]

VPN use in Iran may be the issue. It could be illegal or frowned upon and likely there are government rules restricting VPN use. Does she have any issues with connectivity when not using the VPN?

 

[unreal1357]

We are aware that most people in Iran use VPN's over there to gain access to the internet, basically when trying to connect to a VPN Server is is getting stuck on connecting.

 

[COLGeek]

I understand what you are saying, that still doesn't answer the question regarding whether she can connect when not using the VPN. Can she?

The VPN could be blocked by the university admins. This is not unheard of.

 

[unreal1357]

apologies i read your answer wrong, no she is able to get internet access with the proxy that is in place with restricted access, i think if replacing the proxy that is currently setup with the vpn server it should in theory?

 

[COLGeek]

apologies i read your answer wrong, no she is able to get internet access with the proxy that is in place with restricted access, i think if replacing the proxy that is currently setup with the vpn server it should in theory?

Not if the VPN services are blocked at the firewall or if the proxy is required for all access. Has she tried using the VPN access via any other network (other than the one at the uni) just to see if it will work?

From here: https://thebestvpn.com/are-vpns-legal-banned-countries/

3. Iran: Only government approved VPNs are allowed to use

When: 2013

Why: To prosecute users who are violating state laws and take offenders to national courts under supervision of judiciary service. Use of VPNs approved by the government reportedly led to surveillance and inspection of private data. (source)

What does it mean: Using non-government sanctioned VPNs are not allowed. Using a VPN that is not compliant with Iranian law can cause 91 days up to 1 year of incarceration.

However, despite the vast amount of illegal VPN users in Iran, actual arrests are extremely rare. Why? Because, just like we have explained earlier, Iranian government only uses this law to prosecute its opposers, not regular netizens for, say, browsing Facebook. (source)

And here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN_blocking#Iran