Potential Issues with Comporium and VPN use

[u/Confident-Aioli1387]

To start this off, I’m not a network or IT professional. I work in data which requires me to connect to a server when I work from home, thus requiring me to connect to my company’s VPN. Below are some of the details of the connection/issue.

At home: Comporium fiber 600/600 I have their modem but an eero router At office: AT&T fiber (unknown speed) VPN: CiscoAnyconnect (unsure what other details may be helpful)

Starting in October, any time I connect to the VPN, after about 15 minutes I am disconnected; however, it doesn’t state I’m disconnected, I can no longer reach websites or send messages or emails but I do not disconnection from calls and I can still receive messages. This happened regardless if I am on wifi or connected via ethernet cable. I can have another computer connected to the internet and playing a live stream with no interruptions.

I have reached out to my company’s IT team and they have done a number of things including updating the network drivers but beyond that I don’t know. They blame Comporium.

I have called Comporium and they said they have had this happen with customers before but it tends to be on the VPN side of things.

So right now it’s kind of a standoff where no one is willing to do anything but point fingers at the other. I am unwilling to accept there’s no way to fix this issue so I am open to any suggestions. Also if there’s a subreddit you think I would be better off posting this to, lmk.

Thanks in advance.

[u/bulbousaur]

You may want to have Comporium send a tech to check your signal. Mine was really bad and they had to run a new line from pole to house, and that fixed various connection issues.

[u/Ill-Error-9962]

I’ve seen similar complaints and it turned out to be the ISPs router. As for a truck roll and Comporium will take care of you.

[u/LeFukTu → u/Ill-Error-9962]

My coworker (in FL) had a network change three months ago and was unable to connect to the VPN reliably. After goign back and forth, she told us all yesterday that the router was the issue that Verizon provided her and they had to replace it.

[u/AndStillShePersisted]

Get Comporium to send a tech out; once he gets there call your Co IT support put it on speaker phone & let them figure it out.

[u/Hagostaeldmann]

I use a VPN around 6 hours a day, with Comporium and have never had a problem. They did however heavily throttle my upload for 3 months and only stopped when I threatened to cancel my service, so they're definitely not above scummy behaviour.

[u/Jedi3975]

I’m a network engineer with a local organization. About 10 of my users have Comporium and connect to our VPN with no issues. Any time there’s a problem, it’s with our VPN.

From a troubleshooting standpoint, if there’s no issue until the VPN is connected, it’s the VPN. Also if it started in October, that could indicate your firewall at work needs a firmware update. The specific symptoms sound like DNS may not be functioning over the VPN. Hope this is useful.

[u/MastroGeppetto80]

I'm on team Comporium on this one. It's very unlikely that once VPN leave your house they would block your traffic, or even more unlikely only the VPN traffic?

My call is something more "consumer related". VPN are one of the recent scary boogeyman for home security products.

It still could actually be the "Comporium" modem but if the manufacter don't allow to control that specific configuration from remote they are powerless.

If you want roleplay the little investigator google the actual modem model to see if anybody else in the world link it to VPN disconnections. I bet it is a cheap Motorola chinese piece of equipment used by hundred of small InternerServiceProviders.

Could be a router you have between you and the modem, or even a software that run on your computer (I think unlikely at this point but "older" people still install norton, mcafee, avg crapware that would definetely block evil VPN stuff).

Maybe try to use your cellphone data as accesspoint for 30 minutes and see if you can replicate the problem or connect your pc directly to the modem.

[u/lain01001]

Start at the bottom and work your way up. First look at physical equipment, everything comporium that is providing is usually hot garbage, shell out a few buckd and get your own modem. Could be as something as sinple as a config not set correctly between your modem and router.

I will say this though, comporium does throttle traffic to certain things. Could possibly be your vpn got caught in a wide net, do you know anyone else.on comporium that uses your vpn and has had any trouble.

But really, start physical.

[u/wilmakephotos → u/lain01001]

I caught them throttling certian packet types and connections. Had to make a few changes to fix it, but now everything is fine.

[u/wilmakephotos]

Run the ookla speedtest. It will connect to Comporium’s internal server first. Then choose the next closest server and run it again. Probably will be Charlotte. My results were 819.70 DL/28.97UL ping 12/41/48 VS 446.17 DL/29.18UL ping 22/31/53

Likewise, on my VPN laptop, I had to set my settings for sleep to Never. That was what helped others at my company.

[u/Global_Cabinet_3244]

I run a VPN all the time, never had a problem.

[u/britsngrits]

I work on a different VPN and have no issues.

[u/fpsHowe8]

Thank God AT&T Fiber is otw!

[u/Confident-Aioli1387]

***update (ish): I tried using my phone hotspot and it seemed to work, I was disappointed because then it’s a Comporium problem (which imo means a more annoying, pricy issue lol) but then later my IT unlocked my VPN (I don’t know the proper terminology) to allow me to connect to other VPN connections and I used a different one than my main office and it worked on my Comporium wifi! Not exactly sure what that means the real issue is but it works and didn’t cost me anything (sending out a Comporium person or buying my own modem)

Thanks for all the suggestions and responses. I will further test if it becomes and issue again. Looking to move in the next year and we are looking for a place that has AT&T fiber for sure 😂