PureVPN works through public wifi, but not through wired connection in building

charlemagne-is-my-son · 03-13-2014, 08:56 AM

So I'm trying to use PureVPN to skate a firewall. It works brilliantly in public places with wifi, but no dice with a wired connection. The same happens with freevpn.com

I had a friend bring his Windows machine to my apartment, and Astrill worked for him.

I am assuming that there is a problem with a setting in Ubuntu 12.04

Please help!

shaunkevin340 · 03-13-2014, 10:47 AM

It is to inform you that VPN works within internet connection using different protocols but as the main carrier is your internet connection so your ISP may block the VPN or protocols causing this issue. As you described that it is working on public places but not on your wired connection then you are suggested to swiitch your internet connection then recheck

jefro · 03-13-2014, 07:37 PM

Not sure we should tell you have to skate a firewall. Pretty sure it is the linux config.

sundialsvcs · 03-14-2014, 01:43 PM

A tool like Wireshark can also help. It (of course) won't be able to decrypt the packets, but it should be able to tell you what's happening to the VPN packets as they make a hop out of your machine ... or, exactly why they die trying. You can also tell if packets are going out.

I'm not familiar with PureVPN, but does it have a command-line interface and if so does that interface have a parameter such as -v ? Traditionally, that means, "verbose."

Does the program create any system logs? Is there anything of interest in the system's error logs or console logs?

Now, by design, VPN-like things are notoriously unhelpful in their diagnostic messages. They don't trust you. They don't believe you. They don't trust or believe anybody. (Of course not.) If you have everything set up just right, the lock quietly clicks open. If not, obfuscatory messages are thrown in your face, because you are presumed (of course) to be an evil intruder. You're never "Alice," nor "Bob." You're always "Eve," or Satan Himself, until you can prove otherwise.

Among other things, VPNs can be set up to listen only to certain interfaces: most often it's a wired interface that's listened to and wireless need not apply, but it could be the other way around. Once again, it's all about security and control in what is presumed to be a hostile world.

charlemagne-is-my-son · 03-17-2014, 05:16 PM

My machine is dual boot. I tried PureVPN with Windows, and I got Error 806: problem with GRE protocol packets.

This seems strange, since my friend was able to get into his Astrill VPN without any problem in my apartment.

By the way, I just want private browsing. I've read up about the lingo and I used firewall as a catch-all. I understand why there might be hesitation to help me now.

Thx

sundialsvcs · 03-18-2014, 05:57 PM

There's no "hesitation" here. Happy to help you ... but, VPN debugging is hard.

I'll assume that the error being reported by the Windows installation is precisely the same one that's causing problems for Linux. An idle search ("VPN error 806") led me first to http://www.howtonetworking.com/vpnissues/error806.htm
where I read the following:

Quote:

Error 806: a connection between your computer and the VPN server has been established but the VPN connection cannot be completed.

The most common cause for this is that there is at least one internet device between your computer and the VPN server is not configured to allow GRE protocol packets. Verify that protocol 47 GRE is allowed on all personal firewall devices or routers. if the problem persists, contact your administrator.

Resolutions:
1) if you have a router/firewall, make sure you open TCP Port 1723, IP Protocol 47 (GRE).
2) make sure you can reach the VPN server by using ping. Sometimes, poor connection can cause this issue too.
3) You may need to updated firmware on a router or firewall.
4) The VPN server may not be able to get IP from DHCP for the VPN client. So, you may want to re-configure VPN host networking settings. For XP pro VPN host, go to the Properties of the VPN>Network, check Specify TCP/IP address and Allow calling computer to specify its own IP address, and uncheck Assign TCP/IP addresses automatically using DHCP.
5) Make sure other secure software blocks your access, for example, if you use Norton secure software, you may need to add the remote client's IP so that the client can access.
6) If your VPN running on a Windows RRAS with NAT enabled, you may want to check the NAT settings.