PIA keeps dropping my connection and only works briefly after a restart

plutonic

I'm a new customer and I'm becoming very frustrated with this service. I originally just used the Chrome extension, but found certain websites would not function unless I was in Incognito Mode. 

I moved to using the Windows 10 desktop app instead, and found it would claim to be connected but gave me a DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET error on Chrome.  I switched both my Ethernet and TAP adapters to use PIA's DNS, which solved this issue at first. Now I can use the VPN for perhaps 30 minutes while connected to UK Manchester,  but then eventually (often after a period of inactivity) it will drop the connection. After this, I cannot connect again by changing servers, or closing and re-opening the client. My internet connection is absolutely fine if I disconnect from the servers, but there is no connection otherwise.

It's at the point now where I have to restart my PC every time I want to connect to the VPN, and it will only remain connected for a matter of minutes.

I have tried changing from UDP to TCP and using different remote ports. I use DNS and IPv6 leak protection. What is going on here?

Harry2

IMO Google Chrome is spyware "they" do not like VPN.
Try Opera as your main browser, ideally un-install chrome

piaabo

From previous posts, antivirus issue is usually ruled out first. Defender or 3rd party, try following:
https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/hc/en-us/articles/219455127-Antivirus-File-Exclusions-for-the-PIA-App

plutonic

piaabo said:

From previous posts, antivirus issue is usually ruled out first. Defender or 3rd party, try following:
https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/hc/en-us/articles/219455127-Antivirus-File-Exclusions-for-the-PIA-App

Adding the following to my firewall seems to have fixed the issue.

• C:/Program Files/pia_manager/openVPN.exe
• C:/Program Files/pia_manager/pia_manager.exe
• C:/Program Files/pia_manager/tapinstall.exe
• C:/Program files/pia_manager/nwjs/pia_nw.exe

Thanks!

plutonic

Update: Stayed connected longer, but after being AFK for a while (PC not on sleep) my Chrome started reporting DNS errors again, reconnecting doesn't help. Ideas?

[Deleted User]

@plutonic, at this point, it sounds like taking a look at a debug log would be wise. Let me know what your log ID is, and I'll gladly take a deeper look at what the app is doing on your system.

plutonic

PIAColleen said:

@plutonic, at this point, it sounds like taking a look at a debug log would be wise. Let me know what your log ID is, and I'll gladly take a deeper look at what the app is doing on your system.

Hi Colleen,

My Debug ID is 4FDB2.

Please let me know what I can do to get this resolved.

[Deleted User]

@plutonic, I'm seeing a few issues in your log. First, it looks like you may have an MTU issue, so it's a good idea to enable Use small packets in the apps's Advanced Settings. It also looks like you have this issue, which means you'll want to perform TCP repair.

If the issue returns after you've done that, you'll likely need to set up your service manually so that OpenVPN can be configured to wait a few seconds before adding routes.

plutonic

PIAColleen said:

@plutonic, I'm seeing a few issues in your log. First, it looks like you may have an MTU issue, so it's a good idea to enable Use small packets in the apps's Advanced Settings. It also looks like you have this issue, which means you'll want to perform TCP repair.

If the issue returns after you've done that, you'll likely need to set up your service manually so that OpenVPN can be configured to wait a few seconds before adding routes.

Hi Colleen,

I switched my DNS back to PIA's servers, switched on small packets and followed the TCP repair. I've been connected without issue for a few hours with no connection issues (usually stopped after around 15-30 minutes), so I think we can go ahead and call this one fixed.

Thanks for the assistance.