Error 766: Can’t Connect to VPN – What to Do?

Most of us use VPNs to keep our personal data safe from prying eyes, to give our computers a secure connection back to the internet, and to protect our devices from being infected by malware and viruses. While most VPNs are reliable and effective at doing what they are supposed to do, sometimes they malfunction. When this happens, it’s not always easy to fix. The good news is, with a little bit of patience, you can usually get back all of the data that was leaked or damaged, and restore proper functionality to your VPN. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the more common errors that you may come across when using VPNs, and what you can do to rectify the situation.

Unable To Establish Connection

When you encounter this error, it usually means that the VPN connection was unable to properly connect to the network. The most common reason for this error is if the VPN server is too far away from you, causing you to experience latency problems. Another cause could be a bad or unstable internet connection. If you suspect this is the case, try restarting your device or router, or even just testing the internet connection directly on your computer.

If you’re unsure about how to fix this issue, simply reboot your device or turn it back on after disconnecting. This will ensure that your internet connection is active and that your device is in a known good state. Once you’ve established a good connection, log back into your device and try connecting to the VPN server again.

Unable To Authenticate Identity

This error may pop up when you’re attempting to connect to a VPN server, but the web site you’re redirected to doesn’t allow you to log in. If you’ve tried connecting to various VPNs servers, with no luck, this could be a sign that you’re trying to connect to a fake or fraudulent VPN. Never, ever, ever, connect to a VPN that you don’t know and trust. A good VPN will always ask you to input your username and password before connecting you. If you don’t have a VPN account and you try to create one, but are ultimately asked to input a random string, that’s probably a sign that your login information has been stolen (it happens more than you’d think).

Thankfully, there are ways for you to prevent this from happening. One way is to use a VPN that doesn’t require any login information to be entered. Some VPNs even allow you to connect without a login, which prevents your online identity from being stolen. Make sure to look for this feature when choosing a VPN, as this could be a sign that you’re reducing your security risks by using an unauthentic VPN.

Can’t Reach DNS

DNS, short for Domain Name System, is a service that translates easy-to-remember domain names into IP addresses. If you’re having trouble reaching certain websites, due to the content being blocked by your ISP or country’s firewall, you could be experiencing issues with DNS. For example, if you try to visit a gambling website and you’re not located in the UK, chances are you’ll encounter an error message and be unable to load the page. This is usually caused by DNS servers being blocked by your ISP or government.

In these situations, you need to update your DNS settings to point to an unblocked DNS server. You can either try a free DNS service such as DNS Made Easy, Google’s public DNS, or OpenDNS, or you can download a third-party VPN app and use that to connect to a different DNS server. For OpenDNS, you can use their iPhone/iPad app to search for a server near you and connect to it using the phone’s wi-fi hotspot. You can choose to have your DNS queries performed by a server in the United States rather than the DNS server that your internet connection is currently using. Doing this ensures that you’ll always be able to access content that’s restricted in your country, as long as you have a strong enough Wi-Fi connection.

IP Address Has Changed

If you tried to download a file using the VPN, but it tells you that the download was interrupted because the IP address of the server changed, it means that the IP address of the server was actually reused by another user, and so the file you were trying to download was reassigned to another IP address. This is a major hassle if you’re still trying to download the file, so it’s best to stop the VPN and restart it once you’ve finished what you came for. If this happens frequently, the admin of the VPN may have disabled IP address reuse, so make sure you contact them if this is the case and let them know that you need this feature enabled for your safety (IP address reuse is usually disabled on free VPNs and those that are paid for).

Failed To Obtain An IP Address

If you try to download a file using the VPN and it simply times out, this could mean that you’re trying to connect to a server that’s either down or unavailable at the moment. This is most likely to happen if you’re trying to connect to a highly used or premium server. You could also be connecting to a server that’s placed in a country where personal data protection laws restrict what information can be collected and stored. In these situations, you should try a different server, or if none of the listed servers work, contact the company that provides the VPN for support.

Invalid Credentials

If you’ve tried to download a file using the VPN and get a message that your login credentials are invalid, this usually means that you’ve typed in the wrong username or password, whether in the web browser or the VPN app. If this happens frequently, consider changing your password, as someone may have been able to attack your account and obtain your login credentials, which would give them access to all your personal data. Changing your password is difficult, but taking the time to ensure that it’s not done by mistake will help you avoid any issues in the future.

As you can see, there are several different issues that you might encounter when trying to connect to a VPN. If you’re unable to connect after following the steps above, there are still several ways to rectify the situation, depending on the reason why you’re unable to connect. Make sure to check out the websites for the providers of the VPN you’re using, as they should have instructions on how to properly setup and use their service