After connecting to VPN client can't browse any site but can chat & call on Skype

Question

My problem is that I am able to chat, call and screen-share via skype but not able to browse any site when connected through my Windows VPN (say, VPN-W).

For https sites it gives SSL Connection Error and for http it gives web-page not found in Chrome browser.

My VPN-W was working nicely till last week.

I suppose since we had installed a few softwares like Sonic Wall Global VPN client, VMware client 5.5, handbrake DVD ripper, Mediacoder and VLC 64-bit, that might have caused the problem (it seems unlikely but still). So I

1. uninstalled all of these softwares
2. restarted PC after each uninstall
3. Ran CCleaner
4. deleted my VPN-W from Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections
5. reconfigured VPN-W.

But all this didn't work.

I thought may be there are some rules which might have been set-up on the VPN so I asked my colleagues to connect through my credentials and they were all able to do that without any issues. And all of them have all the softwares which I have installed except Sonic Wall Global VPN client.

So in conclusion it is my system which is behaving weirdly. I am not able to figure out exactly what is wrong with my system.

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Here is how I configured my VPN:

1. Click on network icon in taskbar
2. Click on Open Network and Sharing Center.
3. Click on the Setup a new connection or network link in Change your Network Settings on the center of the window.
4. In the window that pops up, click Connect to a workplace, then click Next.
5. Select the Use my Internet connection (VPN) option.
6. In the window that appears, type the Internet Address and Destination Name, then click Next.
7. In the next window that comes enter Username and Password and click Connect.

Any pointers will help. Thanks.

Solution

With a VPN the first things I think about are routing issues related to the creation of the the new "virtual" network interface (i.e. default route, netmask, NAT) - these are usually dealt with automatically. A related issue is DNS lookup. Can you still access your nameserver? Are you able to use Google's public nameserver as a substitute? (8.8.8.8)

I think you have the key to your answer in something you said: "all of [my colleagues] have the softwares (sic) which I have installed except Sonic Wall Global VPN client". It certainly sounds like a firewall issue - since Skype is able to find its way through firewalls you are able to continue using it; whereas client software expecting to be able to access a port in a "normal" fashion in order connect to external services are blocked by the firewall. Have you checked your firewall settings to be sure they are properly handling the VPN connection?

Comments

[Admin]

Have you checked for faulty proxy settings on your system? How to: kb.linksys.com/Linksys/…

[Prakash K]

I have uninstalled Sonic Wall Global VPN client and have tried with disabling my firewall as well. May be I will check once again to be sure. Thanks for the quick reply.