📡 Updated 10 September. What we are seeing right now: with some operators, connections on the classic protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN) are unstable; connections with traffic masking are working normally. If your VPN stopped working today specifically, start with the protocol section below.
In short: when a VPN is not working, the cause is almost always in one of four places - the app, the subscription, the network or the protocol. There is no need to guess: the symptom finds the cause in a couple of minutes. Below is a “what you see → what broke” table, breakdowns of the common cases from “connects but there is no internet” to “disconnects on its own”, separate sections per device, and an honest answer for what to do when no VPN works at all.
The first check: 2 minutes, and it closes half the cases
- Is there internet without the VPN? Turn the VPN off and open any site. It does not open - the problem is the internet, not the VPN: the router, the Wi-Fi, the operator.
- Is the subscription alive? Open the bot or your account with the service: an expired subscription is the least dramatic and the most frequent reason for “everything broke”.
- Restart. Close the VPN app completely - not minimise, close - and start it again. On a phone, together with flight mode for 10 seconds.
- A different server. Switch to any other server on the list. It works - the problem was that particular server.
- Refresh the subscription in the app. The refresh button next to the subscription name reloads the server list - it cures the cases where the configuration went stale.
- Check the date and time on the device. A non-obvious but real cause: if the clock is off, a secure connection cannot be established because certificates fail validation. Set date and time to “automatic”.
The practical steps are below; if you'd rather skip the setup, Tainet connects in a couple of minutes - through the Telegram bot or in your account on this site.
What you see → what broke → what to do
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| It stopped working today, it worked yesterday | Changes on the operator’s network or an overloaded server | Change the server; switch to a protocol with masking (VLESS, Hysteria2); check the status note above |
| It hangs on connecting, cannot reach the server | The server is unreachable or the port is closed on this network | Another server → another protocol → another network |
| It connects but the internet does not work | DNS or routing | The “Connects but there is no internet” section below |
| It disconnects on its own | Battery saving, an app conflict, an unstable network | The “Disconnects on its own” section below |
| It fails on mobile data but works on Wi-Fi | The operator filters the protocol | The mobile data section below |
| One site will not open, everything else works | The problem is with the site or the route to it - the VPN has nothing to do with it | Check the site from another network; wait |
| You tried several apps and none of them works | The problem is not the apps but the protocol or the subscription | The “No VPN works at all” section below |
| Slow or dropping, but working | A distant or overloaded server, packet loss | The “Slow or dropping” section below |
The VPN connects but there is no internet
The most deceptive case: the icon is on, the connection is established - and sites will not open. It is almost always one of three things.
DNS did not go through the tunnel. The app connected, but the site-name lookups go around it. The fix is in the app settings: turn on an option along the lines of “DNS through VPN” or “Override DNS”, or simply re-add the subscription - a fresh configuration brings the right DNS settings. What DNS encryption is - we covered separately.
A conflict with another VPN, a proxy or the browser’s “secure DNS”. Two connections at once do not work: check whether a second VPN client, a browser extension or a system proxy is still on. And look in the browser settings: “secure DNS” (DoH) enabled there takes lookups around the tunnel - turn it off or set it to default.
The subscription is formally alive but the servers changed. Refresh the subscription with the button in the app and the server list will reload.
If the internet disappeared after you turned the VPN off, that is a separate classic - it is covered in the questions at the end.
The VPN disconnects on its own
This is one of the most frequent complaints, and it has three typical causes in descending order.
On a phone: the system kills the app in the background. Android saves battery aggressively and cuts the VPN app first. The fix: in the phone settings for the VPN app, turn off battery optimisation (Settings → Apps → your client → Battery → “Unrestricted”) and allow background work. Samsung and Huawei have their own extra “sleeping apps” lists - check those too. How a VPN on a phone is set up sensibly, with background, battery and data and no surprises, is in the full guide to VPN on a smartphone.
The connection drops when the network changes. Moving from Wi-Fi to mobile data breaks the tunnel, and not every app reconnects on its own. Turn on automatic reconnection in the client settings; if it has none, that is a reason to change client - the roundup of VPN clients notes which ones can.
The protocol is unstable on that particular network. If the disconnections happen on the same network - the office Wi-Fi, one operator - the network is getting in the protocol’s way. Switch to VLESS or Hysteria2: protocols with masking hold up where the classic ones break. If it disconnects during a game, see the breakdown on VPN for gaming: it covers picking a protocol and a server for a gaming load.
It fails on mobile data but works on Wi-Fi
A frequent and understandable case: at home everything flies, on mobile data it will not connect. The reason: mobile operators filter traffic more noticeably, and the classic VPN protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN) are less stable on their networks because their connections are recognisable.
The fix, step by step: switch the protocol to VLESS or Hysteria2 - their traffic looks like ordinary HTTPS and works where the classics stumble (what VLESS is, we covered separately). If the client cannot do these protocols, change the client: a Tainet subscription works in several apps at once.
By device
Before the breakdowns, one point of reference on time: on a phone a connection takes half a minute, on a computer a couple of minutes, and a router is the longest route (there is a guide to installing a VPN on a router for all the main brands). If your case is “I need it on every device at once”, one subscription covers phone, PC, TV and router together.
iPhone
The most frequent causes on iPhone specifically: the VPN profile is stuck in the system settings (Settings → VPN - turn it off there, then switch on from the app); iCloud Private Relay is on - by Apple’s design it yields to a VPN, but in practice it sometimes gets in the way, so turn it off temporarily while diagnosing (Settings → your name → iCloud → Private Relay) and check; the permission was lost after an iOS update - delete the profile and let the app create it again.
One general Apple caveat: if an app disappears from the App Store it keeps working for you, but you will not be able to reinstall it. Keep a backup client - setting up INCY takes a couple of minutes, it is in the Russian App Store, and the subscription is the same.
Phones in general
Three universal phone checks: flight mode for 10 seconds (it resets the network stack), the “what about another network?” check (mobile ↔ Wi-Fi: if it works on one, the problem is the network), and fully closing and reopening the app rather than minimising it.
Android
Its own specifics: the app being killed in the background - that is ninety per cent an Android thing, covered in the “Disconnects on its own” section; Private DNS being on is a frequent quiet conflict: Settings → Network and internet → Private DNS → “Off” or “Automatic”; and a conflict with another VPN app - Android allows only one active VPN connection, so check there is not a second. On Android TV there is a case of its own: setting up a VPN on a TV is covered separately.
PC
On Windows the frequent culprits are: an antivirus or firewall that does not let the tunnel through (add the client to the exceptions), a “stuck” network adapter (a reboot fixes it), and browser proxy extensions conflicting with the app (turn the extensions off). Setting up from scratch on a computer - the guide to VPN clients; client-specific details - in the breakdowns of setting up Happ and setting up v2RayTun.
Working, but slow or dropping
If the connection is alive but the quality suffers: pick a server that is geographically closer (the further away, the higher the latency), try another protocol (Hysteria2 gets more out of unstable networks), check how loaded your channel is - is someone at home downloading? - and measure at different times of day: an evening dip points at network congestion, not at the VPN. Router connections have their own diagnosis - in the hub on setting up a VPN on a router.
No VPN works at all: what that means
If you have tried several apps, paid ones included, and nothing works, the problem is not the apps. There are three real causes, by frequency.
All the apps were on one subscription or one protocol. Five clients with the same key are one attempt, not five. And five services on classic protocols on a filtering network are, in effect, also one.
The network filters classic protocols hard. The sign: on another network everything works. The answer is protocols with masking: VLESS and Hysteria2 are indistinguishable from ordinary HTTPS traffic and work where everything else has fallen over.
The problem is the internet itself. Go back to the first check: does the network work at all without the VPN?
Tainet - a stable connection with no complicated setup. Sign up through the Telegram bot or in your account on this site, support is real people, from $0.10 a day.
Try it →When it is the service’s fault and when it is the operator’s
An honest guide, so you do not look for the problem in the wrong place.
It is the service’s fault if it fails on any network, if other users have it too, or if changing the server and the protocol changes nothing.
It is the network or the operator if it works on another network, if it breaks at the same time of day, or if classic protocols fall over while masking ones work.
It is the device if it works for other people on the same network and not for you - go to your device’s section above.
Frequently asked questions
I turned the VPN off and the internet disappeared. What do I do?
A classic with two causes. The first and most frequent is that the kill switch is still on: that function deliberately cuts the internet outside the tunnel so that traffic cannot leak - you turned off the VPN and the guard is still working. Go into the VPN app settings and turn the kill switch off, or reconnect and turn the switch off first and the connection second. The second cause is that the app did not restore the network settings, usually DNS: toggle flight mode; on Windows open the command line and run ipconfig /flushdns; if that does not help, set “Obtain DNS automatically” in the network settings. Rebooting the device fixes both.
Why does no VPN work at all? See the section of the same name above: it is almost always one subscription across every app, one class of protocol on a filtering network - or an internet connection that is down.
My paid VPN does not work either - what did I pay for? Price does not guarantee stability: what matters is the protocol, not the plan. A paid service on a classic protocol will lose on a filtering network to any connection with masking. Check which protocols your service offers and whether VLESS and Hysteria2 are among them. Free or paid VPN - we covered honestly how they differ in practice.
My VPN stopped working today specifically - what happened? See the status note at the start of the article, we update it from our own observations. The general advice for “today” failures: change the server and the protocol, since classic protocols are more sensitive to changes on operator networks.
How do I tell whether the subscription ran out? Open the bot or your account with your service - the status and the expiry date are on the first screen. A frequent sign of an expired subscription: everything looks connected but pages will not open - exactly the “connects but does not work” case. That is why checking the subscription is the second item of the first check.
Is using a VPN in Russia legal at all? Yes, there is no liability for using the technology. A detailed breakdown with figures and dates is in the separate article on the legislation.
In summary
If you did not find your case or reached the end without a result, open the connection guides in your account first: they have step-by-step settings for your subscription and your device. If that did not help, write to support: real people answer, and we will work through your case with your network and your device.
An honest caveat: we help only with a Tainet subscription - other people’s services and apps we cannot fix from our side. If you do not have a subscription yet, you can get one in the Telegram bot or in your account: the first 7 days free, then from 8 roubles a day.
