Connection drops frequently

[manypopes 1]

My AirVPN connection will work fine for anything from 2 minutes to an hour before failing. Once it drops it will reconnect after about two minutes or can be restarted immidiately.

 

I'm running Arch Linux and using openvpn via terminal. When the connection fails nothing new is printed to the terminal window and I haven't been able to find any log files. It will reconnect automatically after 2 minutes or can be stopped/started manually.

 

What could be causing this? Is there any more relevant information I could find?

 

Also I'm at University, is there any chance the Uni network could be affecting the connection?

[Staff 10017]

Hello!

 

After the problem occurs, can you please copy the OpenVPN output in the shell window you launch OpenVPN from, and paste it in your message?

 

Kind regards

[manypopes 1]

I'm afraid that there is no additional output to the terminal window I launch openvpn from when the connection fails, are there any other log files that may contain useful info?

 

This is the initial output, all before anything goes wrong.

Wed Dec 11 00:13:31 2013 OpenVPN 2.3.2 x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu [sSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [EPOLL] [eurephia] [MH] [iPv6] built on Nov 13 2013
Wed Dec 11 00:13:31 2013 NOTE: the current --script-security setting may allow this configuration to call user-defined scripts
Wed Dec 11 00:13:31 2013 Socket Buffers: R=[87380->131072] S=[16384->131072]
Wed Dec 11 00:13:31 2013 Attempting to establish TCP connection with [AF_INET]78.129.153.40:443 [nonblock]
Wed Dec 11 00:13:32 2013 TCP connection established with [AF_INET]78.129.153.40:443
Wed Dec 11 00:13:32 2013 TCPv4_CLIENT link local: [undef]
Wed Dec 11 00:13:32 2013 TCPv4_CLIENT link remote: [AF_INET]78.129.153.40:443
Wed Dec 11 00:13:32 2013 TLS: Initial packet from [AF_INET]78.129.153.40:443, sid=5222f467 e545fc7d
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 VERIFY OK: depth=1, C=IT, ST=IT, L=Perugia, O=airvpn.org, CN=airvpn.org CA, emailAddress=info@airvpn.org
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 VERIFY OK: nsCertType=SERVER
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 VERIFY OK: depth=0, C=IT, ST=IT, L=Perugia, O=airvpn.org, CN=server, emailAddress=info@airvpn.org
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'AES-256-CBC' initialized with 256 bit key
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'AES-256-CBC' initialized with 256 bit key
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 2048 bit RSA
Wed Dec 11 00:13:33 2013 [server] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]78.129.153.40:443
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 SENT CONTROL [server]: 'PUSH_REQUEST' (status=1)
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REPLY,redirect-gateway def1,dhcp-option DNS 10.5.0.1,comp-lzo no,route 10.5.0.1,topology net30,ping 10,ping-restart 60,ifconfig 10.5.3.110 10.5.3.109'
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 OPTIONS IMPORT: timers and/or timeouts modified
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 OPTIONS IMPORT: LZO parms modified
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 OPTIONS IMPORT: --ifconfig/up options modified
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 OPTIONS IMPORT: route options modified
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 OPTIONS IMPORT: --ip-win32 and/or --dhcp-option options modified
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 ROUTE_GATEWAY xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/255.255.254.0 IFACE=eth0 HWADDR=50:e5:49:df:ad:aa
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 TUN/TAP TX queue length set to 100
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 do_ifconfig, tt->ipv6=0, tt->did_ifconfig_ipv6_setup=0
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip addr add dev tun0 local 10.5.3.110 peer 10.5.3.109
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/share/openvpn/update-resolv-conf tun0 1500 1560 10.5.3.110 10.5.3.109 init
dhcp-option DNS 10.5.0.1
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip route add 78.129.153.40/32 via xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip route add 0.0.0.0/1 via 10.5.3.109
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip route add 128.0.0.0/1 via 10.5.3.109
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 /usr/bin/ip route add 10.5.0.1/32 via 10.5.3.109
Wed Dec 11 00:13:36 2013 Initialization Sequence Completed

[Staff 10017]

Hello,

 

the logs are just fine. If OpenVPN does not display anything when you assume that the connection drops (not even after the 60 seconds ping timeout), either the connection has not really dropped, OpenVPN crashed (but you should see it) or we're missing something. When you assume that the connection drops, can you please try to ping 10.5.0.1 or 10.4.0.1?

 

Kind regards

[manypopes 1]

Ok I waited for the connection to fail and pinged 10.5.0.1.

 

PING 10.5.0.1 (10.5.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 172.22.0.1 icmp_seq=67 Destination Host Unreachable
64 bytes from 10.5.0.1: icmp_seq=74 ttl=64 time=4.76 ms
64 bytes from 10.5.0.1: icmp_seq=75 ttl=64 time=5.12 ms
64 bytes from 10.5.0.1: icmp_seq=76 ttl=64 time=4.39 ms
 

Just a long pause for about a minute until the second line, then back to working fine.

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

Did you try other servers?

[manypopes 1]

I haven't tried other servers but it seems that using UDP instead of TCP fixed the problem, I still can't use TCP but have no need to.

[Anonymous_13 32]

I just wanted to created the same thread... superb annoying. Never had this problem before but for a week or so I got constantly dropped (mostly during rush hours) for hours.

I've tried multiple servers (located in different countries) no chance. The log is fine.

 

Drop = AirClient still says connected but I have no connection anymore.

And when I reconnect, which works btw., I still don't have a connection to any website, email server or anything.

 

It's like I have no internet connection, ping to 10.5.0.1 or 10.4.0.1 failed. Websites won't open.

Then I'm resetting my DNS servers I had changed to 10.5.0.1 and 10.4.0.1 to the standard values, wait a moment, and I don't have any problems anymore but I'm not a paid customer for being able to use the internet without VPN, lol.

 

Additional information:

Windows 8 64 Bit

AirClient (no idea about the version number)

OpenVPN 2.3.2-1003

Nothing was changed and it was working before.

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

//edit: Here is a part of the log (tired to replace all IP addresses), it looks like this 'SIGTERM(hard,)' appears very often:

23.12.2013 - 00:54    ROUTE: CreateIpForwardEntry succeeded with dwForwardMetric1=25 and dwForwardType=4    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Route addition via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe ADD 0.0.0.0 MASK *.*.*.* *.*.*.*   
23.12.2013 - 00:54    ROUTE: CreateIpForwardEntry succeeded with dwForwardMetric1=30 and dwForwardType=4    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Route addition via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe ADD 128.0.0.0 MASK *.*.*.* *.*.*.* 
23.12.2013 - 00:54    ROUTE: CreateIpForwardEntry succeeded with dwForwardMetric1=30 and dwForwardType=4    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Route addition via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe ADD 10.4.0.1 MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.* 
23.12.2013 - 00:54    ROUTE: CreateIpForwardEntry succeeded with dwForwardMetric1=30 and dwForwardType=4    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Route addition via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Initialization Sequence Completed    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Starting Management Interface...    
23.12.2013 - 00:54    Checking...    
23.12.2013 - 00:55    Unable to connect to the remote server    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    [server] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 10.4.0.1 MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.* 
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 46.19.137.114 MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.*
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 0.0.0.0 MASK 128.0.0.0 *.*.*.*  
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 128.0.0.0 MASK 128.0.0.0 *.*.*.*  
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Closing TUN/TAP interface    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    SIGUSR1[soft,ping-restart] received, process restarting    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Restart pause, 2 second(s)    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Socket Buffers: R=[65536->65536] S=[65536->65536]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    UDPv4 link local: [undef]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]*.*.*.*:443    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    TLS: Initial packet from [AF_INET]*.*.*.*:443, sid=********************  
23.12.2013 - 06:23    VERIFY OK: depth=1, C=IT, ST=IT, L=Perugia, O=airvpn.org, CN=airvpn.org CA, emailAddress=info@airvpn.org    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    VERIFY OK: nsCertType=SERVER    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    VERIFY OK: depth=0, C=IT, ST=IT, L=Perugia, O=airvpn.org, CN=server, emailAddress=info@airvpn.org    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'AES-256-CBC' initialized with 256 bit key    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'AES-256-CBC' initialized with 256 bit key    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 2048 bit RSA    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    [server] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]*.*.*.*:443    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    SENT CONTROL [server]: 'PUSH_REQUEST' (status=1)    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REPLY,redirect-gateway def1,dhcp-option DNS 10.4.0.1,comp-lzo no,route 10.4.0.1,topology net30,ping 10,ping-restart 60,ifconfig *.*.*.* *.*.*.*'    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    OPTIONS IMPORT: timers and/or timeouts modified    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    OPTIONS IMPORT: LZO parms modified    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    OPTIONS IMPORT: --ifconfig/up options modified    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    OPTIONS IMPORT: route options modified    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    OPTIONS IMPORT: --ip-win32 and/or --dhcp-option options modified    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    do_ifconfig, tt->ipv6=0, tt->did_ifconfig_ipv6_setup=0    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    open_tun, tt->ipv6=0    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    TAP-WIN32 device [Local Area Connection 3] opened: \\.\Global\{***********************}.tap    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    TAP-Windows Driver Version 9.9     
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Notified TAP-Windows driver to set a DHCP IP/netmask of *.*.*.*/255.255.255.252 on interface {******************************} [DHCP-serv: *.*.*.*, lease-time: 31536000]    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    Successful ARP Flush on interface [9] {****************************************}    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    TEST ROUTES: 2/2 succeeded len=1 ret=1 a=0 u/d=up    
23.12.2013 - 06:23    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe ADD 46.19.137.114 MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.*
[..........]
23.12.2013 - 07:06    Checking...    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Unable to connect to the remote server    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    SIGTERM received, sending exit notification to peer    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE *.*.*.* MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.*
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE *.*.*.* MASK 255.255.255.255 *.*.*.*
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 0.0.0.0 MASK 128.0.0.0 *.*.*.*
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    C:\WINDOWS\system32\route.exe DELETE 128.0.0.0 MASK 128.0.0.0 *.*.*.*
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Route deletion via IPAPI succeeded [adaptive]    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Closing TUN/TAP interface    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    SIGTERM[hard,] received, process exiting    
23.12.2013 - 07:07    Disconnected.    

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

I had many client-related problems in the past, that's why I think using another client could help. Could you try to establish a connection with Viscosity, please?

Sparklabs Viscosity // Download

 

Make sure to uninstall the old TAP driver just to be sure
Easy access to the windows device manager: START > type into search box: devmgmt.msc
 

[Anonymous_13 32]

Viscosity costs money. As I've already paid for the membership I think we should try to find a stable solution using the tools AirVPN team provides.

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

Viscosity is free for 30 days after installation.

[Anonymous_13 32]

My subscription last over 230 days. I'm not good at math but I think it's a bit more than 30 days.

And why should I use another VPN tool when it HAS worked for month without any issues. Just lately the connections became unstable and according to others thread I'm not the only one with this problem. So perhaps we can get a solution? I mean if we pay for a time based subscription and we cannot use the service for days I think it's a good idea to take of your customers at this point.

[amnesty 18]

I just wanted to created the same thread... superb annoying. Never had this problem before but for a week or so I got constantly dropped (mostly during rush hours) for hours.

I've tried multiple servers (located in different countries) no chance. The log is fine.

 

Drop = AirClient still says connected but I have no connection anymore.

And when I reconnect, which works btw., I still don't have a connection to any website, email server or anything.

 

It's like I have no internet connection, ping to 10.5.0.1 or 10.4.0.1 failed. Websites won't open.

Then I'm resetting my DNS servers I had changed to 10.5.0.1 and 10.4.0.1 to the standard values, wait a moment, and I don't have any problems anymore but I'm not a paid customer for being able to use the internet without VPN, lol.

 

I'm having an intermittent issue which appears to be with name resolution:

 

https://airvpn.org/topic/10667-secureservernet/?p=14503

(bottom portion of this post)

 

When this occurs I can ping 95.211.138.143 and load https://95.211.138.143

 

Could you try to see if you might be experiencing something similar? It is airvpn.org so you'd get a message in your browser like, The certificate is only valid for the following names: *.airvpn.org , airvpn.org

 

The difference with my issue is it appears to be isolated to NL. I haven't had this issue from DE or CH.