Work VPN dropping connection

[peajonesy]

Failing to connect VPN using work laptop.  This happens frequently but usually works after a router restart and a change over to hotspot or ethernet cable, sign-out and back in to work laptop, forget the Sky network and re connect to Sky wifi.  Today none of that is working.  I have logged the VPN config form (twice today).  The hotspot works fine and connecting direct to the ethernet cable works fine.  but connecting wifi through router is not allowing me to access any S: drive work content, just sign in to laptop and connect to internet (Teams and Outlook works but not to download anything).  Multiple calls to my IT dept over the years always result in 'Change your broadband provider'.  After today (3 hours is worst it's ever been) I'm afraid that's what I'll have to do.  I unfortunatley can't seem to find a phone number to speak to a person at Sky.  Other people at my office have had to change provider as a result of a similar issue.

[GD1]

@peajonesy  Your post has been moved from thr Sky Q board, Sky Q is a Satelite TV box and your broadband is not delivered via this route.

[peajonesy]

thanks, but it says above I am in the Community / Discussions / Broadband & Talk / Broadband section not Sky Q board?

[jamesn123]

Hi @peajonesy 

If it works fine over ethernet, this suggests the connection itself is working over the Sky network. This would then be a question for your IT department as to why its not working when on WiFi. The fact that it sometimes works after lots of reboots and network changes also backs up the fact its likely to be a laptop or IT issue on their end. 

[peajonesy]

thanks James, that fact that it works fine over ethernet and hotspot is why my IT team say it's a problem with the router (not the laptop) and I need to switch from Sky.  I could for examample go work in Costa as far as IT are concerned.  

[jamesn123]

@peajonesy 

I dont really follow their logic, the ethernet connection goes to the same network its just a different form of connecting. 

Which Sky hub do you have currently? Do you have any boosters?

[peajonesy]

thanks, it's the black box (circa 2022) model: SR203

[GD1]

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@peajonesy wrote:

thanks, but it says above I am in the Community / Discussions / Broadband & Talk / Broadband section not Sky Q board?

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Becauyse your post has now been moved as I posted.

[Tumber]

Same issue applies to my home set up, definitely a issue on the Sky broadband/wifi connection 

[jamesn123]

@peajonesy 

It really should not be an issue on that hub if any. Is broadband shield disabled for your account?

[peajonesy]

yes broadband shield disabled for last two weeks (it had previously been set to Over 18) and today I tried resetting it to O18 and then back to disabled shield.. along with the various other troubleshoots.  fyi my vpn connection came back on when I came back to it after a break at 1pm today. 

[Me134]

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@peajonesy wrote:

yes broadband shield disabled for last two weeks (it had previously been set to Over 18) and today I tried resetting it to O18 and then back to disabled shield.. along with the various other troubleshoots.  fyi my vpn connection came back on when I came back to it after a break at 1pm today. 

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Multiple possibilities googling this but maybe when it next happens try setting a static IP address (for both ethernet and wifi, different IP addresses) in case it's a clash of your works IP address range and Skys. I'd also change the DNS settings to use Cloudflare as primary and Google as alternate.

This forum software makes it simpler for you to google itself yourself rather than me putting it in 😞

This is presuming it's not a locked down works laptop.

[peajonesy]

I use AlwaysOnVPN

fed up of logging into work laptop finding no access to s: drive knowing I'll spend my morning doing multiple resets , hotspot connection tests (which always work btw), forgetting network and re logging into WiFi.

i can see other similar posts in this forum appear unresolved (going back to 2024)

the randomness of the dropped connection and unable to speak with someone at Sky willing to help leaves me with little option other than change provider - that's what others at my workplace have done (Cheshire West area) and what my IT department have instructed me to do. It's actually less stressful to change than having to troubleshoot so many things when I should be working

[Chrisee]

@peajonesy there was an issue that affected some Sky customers use of company VPNs but that was retricted to the Sky Max hub SR213 which allows use of an IP sharing system called MAP-T which have largely been sorted but did gennersteca lot of forum posts I know I have answered many myself.. Given you have a SR203 hub that cannot be a factor in your problem as that hub cannot support MAP-T. Unfortunately a good few company IT support teams jump to the conclusion that must be the cause of any VPN issues suffered by  their  staff using Sky broadband and look no further.. 

There must be several million Sky customers working from home using a variety of VPNs perfectly happily. As @jamesn123 points out that implies a local issue. OpenVPN sends periodic pings which if not responeded to drops the connection. WiFi can be affected by interference which can cause packets to be lost and while this can cause delays with most as in most cases the packet can be resent but if the keep alive packet is not responded to within the time limit the connection drops. You can apparently configure OpenVPN to be more resiliant by configuring the time to respond to be 60 seconds rather than 10 but by far the best sokution is not to use WiFi when working from home if Ethernet is possible.

There could be other issues especially if other household members are using the connection at the sametimee but dodgy WiFi interference is the most likely.

[peajonesy · Accepted solution]

No other users. Just me in the house. Laptop placed right next to router to test , restart, try the Ethernet instead etc.

my interim workaround now, in case it helps someone else, was to get a 30m Ethernet cable (off Amazon) run that up the stairs to my work setup. When it doesn't connect in future I have a 2 min problem of running the cable instead of a morning of troubleshooting and resets