Yesterday it connected in a second. Today the app hangs on "Connecting" forever, drops out after a minute, or says it's connected while nothing loads. Often the picture is stranger still: fine on home Wi-Fi, dead on mobile data; working on the PC, not on the iPhone; everything loads except Netflix, which insists you're using a proxy.

The good news is that these symptoms have a short list of causes, and most of them are fixable in five minutes without contacting anyone. Below: the five-minute checklist, then separate sections for Netflix and streaming, for X and other apps, for iPhone, Android and PC, a dedicated section on mobile data — where power saving and packet size cause problems that don't exist on Wi-Fi — and what it means when the connection keeps disconnecting.

Why is my VPN not working? The most common causes

Ranked roughly by how often they turn out to be the answer:

  1. The clock on your device is wrong. Modern protocols use precise timestamps when they set up a secure connection. Two minutes of drift and the handshake fails silently, with no useful error.
  2. A stale subscription in the client. Providers rotate servers; your app is still holding last month's list, and half those addresses no longer answer.
  3. An overloaded or retired server. Especially common with free services and configurations handed out in public channels.
  4. An older protocol on a busy network. OpenVPN and similar solutions carry a recognisable traffic signature, which makes them easy to identify and deprioritise on congested links — mobile networks most of all.
  5. Mobile network specifics: battery optimisation suspending the app, and a carrier packet size (MTU) smaller than the standard.
  6. A conflict with other network software: a second VPN client, a proxy browser extension, an antivirus with a network filter, a corporate endpoint agent.
  7. An outdated app version.

VPN not connecting: the five-minute checklist

Work top to bottom without skipping. The order matters, because each step rules out the one above.

  1. Turn on automatic date, time and time zone. iPhone: Settings → General → Date & Time. Android: Settings → System → Date & time. Windows: Settings → Time & language → Set time automatically, then Sync now.
  2. Refresh the subscription in the app. Look for "Update subscription" or a circular arrow next to your profile.
  3. Change server — first to another one in the same country, then to a neighbouring country.
  4. Update the app to the latest version from the store or the project page.
  5. Switch networks: Wi-Fi ↔ mobile data. If one works and the other doesn't, the cause is the network, not your subscription.
  6. Turn off everything else on the network path: a second VPN client, browser proxy extensions, the antivirus firewall module.
  7. Reboot the device, and the router too.

If none of that changes anything, the situation-specific sections below will.

VPN not working on Netflix and other streaming apps

This is the most-searched version of the problem, and it deserves a straight answer: this usually isn't your VPN failing. Streaming platforms license content region by region, and they actively detect connections coming from data centres. When Netflix shows a proxy or streaming-error message, it has recognised the address range, not lost the connection — every other site in your browser will keep working perfectly.

What actually helps:

  • Switch to a different server in the same country. Detection works address by address, not country by country.
  • Clear the app's cache and cookies, or sign out and back in — a stale session token carries the old region with it.
  • Turn off IPv6 on the device or in the client. An IPv6 leak outside the tunnel is one of the most common ways a platform still sees your real location, and a DNS request resolving outside the tunnel does the same thing.
  • Try the app instead of the browser, or the other way round — they don't always behave identically.

And the honest part: no VPN can promise access to a particular country's catalogue. Any service claiming otherwise is selling you something it doesn't control. What a good one does provide is enough bandwidth that streaming doesn't buffer, and servers outside the ranges everyone has already burned through.

VPN not working on X and other apps that stay stuck

"The VPN is connected but this one app doesn't work" is a distinct problem from a dead tunnel.

  • Check the routing mode in your client. The app may have ended up on a per-app exclusion list, or the client may be in split-routing mode when you wanted everything through the tunnel.
  • Force-close the app and reopen it after connecting. Long-running apps hold their existing connections and won't move to the new route on their own.
  • Clear the app's cache, and change server — individual services perform differently through specific nodes.
  • For voice and video calls, what matters is a stable route with low packet loss. Text arrives over almost any connection; voice does not.

VPN not working on iPhone

Beyond the general checklist, check these four:

  • Settings → General → VPN & Device Management. Old configuration profiles from services you no longer use sit here quietly and conflict. Delete anything you don't recognise.
  • Date & Time → Set Automatically. On iOS this is cause number one, not number five.
  • Turn off iCloud Private Relay (Settings → your name → iCloud). It conflicts with VPN connections.
  • Reinstall the app, copying your subscription link out of your account dashboard first — on iOS that's the only way to fully clear a client's cache.

Also worth knowing: iOS drops the tunnel in deep sleep unless the client uses an on-demand profile. If your VPN is reliably off every morning, that's why, not a fault.

VPN not working on Android

Android's battery management is the main culprit, and it's aggressive by default:

  • Settings → Apps → your VPN → Battery → Unrestricted. Without this, the system suspends the client in the background and the tunnel dies quietly.
  • Always-on VPN: Settings → Network & internet → VPN → gear icon next to your client. Turn it on if the connection drops when the screen is off.
  • Clear the client's cache in its app settings.
  • Check the routing mode is "all traffic" and not a per-app allow list you set up once and forgot.
  • Private DNS (Settings → Network & internet → Private DNS) set to a specific provider can conflict with the client's own DNS. Set it to Automatic while testing.

VPN not working on PC (Windows 10 and 11)

  • Time: Settings → Time & language → Set time automatically → Sync now. Machines that dual-boot or sit switched off for weeks drift badly.
  • A second network filter: antivirus, corporate VPN client, browser proxy extension. Keep one, disable the rest.
  • A stuck system proxy. After a client crashes, the Windows proxy setting can stay pointed at a local port nothing is listening on any more — and then nothing loads at all. Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy → turn off manual setup.
  • Run as administrator. Some clients need it to write routing entries or create a TUN adapter.
  • Flush the DNS cache: run ipconfig /flushdns in Command Prompt.
  • Network reset (Settings → Network & Internet → Advanced network settings) is a last resort, but it clears a whole category of stuck network state.

VPN not working on mobile data: power saving and MTU 1280

Works at home, dead on the street — the single most common variant of this whole problem. Four causes, in the order worth checking them.

Cause What you see Fix
Battery optimisation Connects, then drops when the screen locks Set the VPN app to unrestricted background use; enable Always-on VPN on Android
MTU too large Shows connected, no data moves, or small pages load and large ones hang Set MTU manually to 1280 in the client if the option exists
Older protocol Fine on Wi-Fi, unusably slow on cellular Use a service on a modern protocol; older ones with a recognisable signature degrade first on loaded mobile networks
Weak or congested cell Intermittent everywhere, VPN or not Nothing to fix in software — the tunnel just makes it more visible

MTU is the one people never guess. Mobile carriers often use a smaller maximum packet size than home broadband; when the VPN adds its own encapsulation on top, packets exceed what the network will carry and get dropped rather than fragmented. That produces the maddening "connected but nothing loads" state, or pages that load until you hit one with large images. 1280 is the safe value that fits inside essentially every mobile network.

VPN keeps disconnecting: why it drops and how to stop it

A connection that establishes and then dies every few minutes narrows the list quickly:

  • Battery optimisation on mobile — the first thing to rule out, as above.
  • Network handover. Walking out of Wi-Fi range onto cellular breaks the tunnel unless the client reconnects automatically. Enable auto-reconnect and, on Android, Always-on VPN.
  • An unstable server. Try a different node. If several behave the same way, it's the service.
  • A per-session data or time cap, which free tiers apply and rarely advertise clearly.
  • Two tunnels fighting. A VPN on the router plus a VPN on the device produces exactly this pattern.

And if no VPN works at all — several services failing at once is almost never coincidence — check three things: the device clock (it breaks every modern protocol simultaneously), the network you're on, and the protocol generation. If every service you own runs the same older protocol, they'll degrade together on the same congested link where a service on VLESS may be fine.

How to choose a VPN you won't have to replace next month

Why free VPNs stop working first

A free service isn't charging you, so it earns elsewhere: advertising, data about its users, or the owner's patience with the server bill. The consequences follow predictably — nodes so overloaded that evening speeds collapse, servers that vanish without notice, and privacy questions that were the point of using a VPN in the first place. Configurations shared in public channels are the same story faster: addresses handed to thousands of people at once, useful life measured in weeks.

If you've already been through two or three services, the thing to look for isn't another one — it's the one you won't be back here about.

  • A modern protocol. Orris VPN runs on VLESS, which holds a connection on home broadband and mobile networks alike, on links where older protocols have already given up.
  • Headroom on speed. Up to 1 Gbit/s with unlimited data, so video, calls and downloads aren't capped by the service itself.
  • Servers in a range of countries and real support. When something does go wrong, there's someone to write to.
  • No logs. The service doesn't collect or sell user data.
  • Every platform from one subscription: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.

From ~$1.7/mo, with a free trial, paid by card or crypto. Start with the trial and test it where it actually matters — your network, your phone, at your busiest hour of the evening.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my VPN not working on Netflix? Streaming platforms detect data-centre address ranges and show a proxy error while everything else keeps working. Try another server in the same country, clear the app's cookies, and disable IPv6 so nothing leaks outside the tunnel. No service can guarantee a specific catalogue.

Why does my VPN only fail on mobile data? Three reasons: battery optimisation suspends the app, the carrier's MTU is smaller than standard, and older protocols perform worst on cellular. Allow background use, set MTU to 1280, and use a service on a modern protocol.

My VPN is not connecting at all — what do I check first? Automatic time on the device, then refresh the subscription in the app, then change server. Those three close out most cases.

It says connected but there's no internet. What's wrong? Either MTU or a conflict with other network software. Disable any second VPN, proxy and antivirus network filter, and set MTU to 1280.

Why does my VPN keep disconnecting after a few minutes? Usually battery optimisation on a phone or an unstable server. Allow the app unrestricted background use, enable auto-reconnect, and try a different node.

Why is my VPN not working on iPhone but fine on PC? iOS has its own set of causes: leftover configuration profiles under VPN & Device Management, iCloud Private Relay, deep-sleep disconnects, and a clock that isn't on automatic.

No VPN is working on any of my devices — what does that mean? Check the device clock, the network you're all connected to, and the protocol generation. If every service you use runs the same older protocol, they'll fail together on a congested network.

Does reinstalling the app help? Sometimes — it clears corrupted settings. Copy your subscription link out of your account dashboard before you do it.

Summary

"My VPN stopped working" is rarely terminal. The device clock, a refreshed subscription and a different server solve most cases inside five minutes. On mobile data, add unrestricted background use and MTU 1280. On iPhone, look for stale configuration profiles and Private Relay; on Windows, for a stuck system proxy and a second network filter. On Netflix, accept that the platform is doing the detecting and try another node rather than another app.

If none of it helps, the variable left is the service itself. Setting up fresh is quick on either platform: see the VLESS setup guide for Windows or the iPhone version. And if one specific app is the problem rather than the tunnel, why TikTok stops working with a VPN explains the signal-matching logic that applies to most mobile apps. Orris VPN is built on VLESS, runs up to 1 Gbit/s with no traffic limits, and covers every device from one subscription — with a free trial so you can test it on your own network first.