TAP Driver 9.21.0 causing a myriad of issues.

[dbsantos77 9]

NOTE FROM STAFF: THIS TOPIC IS NOW OBSOLETE. PREFER TUN/TAP DRIVER VERSION 9.21.2 INCLUDED IN EDDIE 2.11 AND HIGHER VERSIONS.

 

Hi there,

 

I'll be writing this hastily as I've spent about 6 hours diagnosing this issue. I'll revisit it later to add details if need be.

 

TL;DR: The latest TAP Windows Driver (9.21.0) is causing odd behavior when transferring data. Rolling the TAP driver back to (9.9.1) solved all my connection issues with the AirVPN client, my torrents and general web traffic.

 

THE ISSUE:

My torrent client would download/upload files correctly most of the time. Speed fluctuations are obviously normal, however I noticed a pattern where requesting ANY downstream data would essentially crash my torrents (bring them to 0 kb/s), then would skyrocket them back up to normal downloading speeds. I can reproduce this issue on the fly.

 

DESCRIPTION

1. Let's say I'm torrenting. Downloading at 1mb (or MB, I forget) per second.

2. Open Chrome, go to YouTube and watch any random video (or any webpage for that matter.)

3. Observe torrents nosedive to 0kb/s. At the same time, Chrome would constantly either crash or give a DNS error.

4. After about 5-15 seconds my torrents would start downloading/uploading correctly, while the YouTube video loads up correctly as well.

5. After the video buffers and requires more data to continue playing, the pattern repeats. This was obviously a very annoying issue and one that almost made me request a refund for my AirVPN subscription.

 

The torrents consistently nosedive to 0kb/s, and then rocket back to normal speeds when the competing data was requested/transferred.

 

I need to stress, that this is NOT limited to torrents or YouTube. It seems that any combination of (consistent transfers vs. a new transfer request) was enough to replicate this issue.

 

In other words, I was able to replicate the issue by browsing Facebook, while downloading a patch for a game on Steam. 

 

DIAGNOSIS:

1. Event viewer showed countless DNS errors (ERROR: The Peer Name Resolution Protocol service terminated with the following error: 

%%-2140993535) -> This was fixed by enabling the Peer Networking Group services inside services.msc. I may have disabled this months ago in hopes of streamlining my processes. This had no effect on fixing my main issue. However, it's nice to have less errors.

 

2. Incorrect usage of 1500 MTU. This one I suspected, but am still unsure if it caused any issues to begin with. I have since set a MTU of 1200 (until I have more time to test by xx10 values).

 

3. Basic malware testing / constant network resets and re-installing TAP and Wireless adapter drivers...this is where it gets interesting.

 

 

After hours of constant testing, I narrowed the main problem down to the TAP wireless adapter driver version that the AirVPN client is using. The current client is using (tap-windows-9.21.0 - May 2014) which technically is the most up-to-date driver. However, the previous driver (tap-windows-9.9.1) DOES NOT PRODUCE THIS ISSUE!

 

SOLUTION:

Roll-back the TAP driver to 9.9.1 (tap-windows-9.9.1.exe) using the executable from this page: http://swupdate.openvpn.org/community/releases/

 

1. Within AirVPN settings, make sure that inside (preferences -> advanced -> general -> Microsoft Windows Only (on the right) that [Disable driver upgrade] is disabled. Otherwise, the AirVPN client will always update the TAP Windows driver to 9.21.0 upon launch. Be diligent in checking the forums for when a new TAP Windows driver is provided by OpenVPN, which will hopefully fix this issue! I'm sure that being on an older TAP Windows driver for an extended time may not be the most security-conscious decision, however I couldn't deal with the connection issues anymore.

 

2. Uninstall the current TAP driver (I used Device Manager ->Network Adapters -> TAP-Windows-Adapter-> Right-click and uninstall [and delete driver software].)

 

3. Download and install the older driver (9.9.1). From the link provided above.

 

4. Run the AirVPN client

 

5. Verify that any disconnects / drops / speed issues are resolved. If not, your issue may be less complicated than this and will require more troubleshooting. However, I will say that after scouring 10-20 threads on my issues, rolling back the TAP Windows driver helps.

 

THOUGHTS / NOTES:

 

The crazy thing is that I actually experienced THIS EXACT ISSUE while I was on PIA (another VPN) before moving to AirVPN. I chalked it to maybe a declining quality of service but they are probably using the 9.21.0 TAP Windows driver as well (the behavior I experienced was literally the same.)

 

It seems that OpenVPN are aware of the quirks involving the 9.21.0 driver, so here's hoping that they're working on an update soon. 

 

Of course, this advice is at your own risk. I just wanted to share my experience after literally 5-6 hair-pulling hours trying to debug this issue. As I write this post my traffic has been uninterrupted while watching some soccer videos on YouTube. 

 

Please let me know if I can help any further! From other threads that I saw, this is a widespread issue. Many people are experiencing some sort of disconnect / dropouts / slow transfer speeds or in general weird behavior with unexplained causes. For me, the most recent 9.21.0 TAP driver was the cause.

 

I still love you, AirVPN.

[Staff 10020]

Hello!

 

We do not reproduce your issues in our Windows testing machines. Anyway this does not imply that your are not right, of course.

 

Just an important note: MTU size can not be modified on client side, because it would need to be modified on server side too. Use "mssfix" directive instead.

 

Kind regards

[dbsantos77 9]

Hello!

 

We do not reproduce your issues in our Windows testing machines. Anyway this does not imply that your are not right, of course.

 

Just an important note: MTU size can not be modified on client side, because it would need to be modified on server side too. Use "mssfix" directive instead.

 

Kind regards

 

Got it! It probably is just me. Especially since I had similar behavior with another provider. Either way, I hope it helps someone.

 

Thanks again!.

[antivpn 2]

I and many others on this forum have already reported and experienced the same problems.. It seems that Openvpn is not doing anything about. Couldn't find any active threads on them. You would expect from a security standpoint this issue would have been fixed by now.

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

I had also experienced some serious issues with TAP 9.21 in the past, including internet connection crashes and even freezes of Windows itself. I don't trust 9.21 at all, I can't leave my PC online when I use this TAP version. 9.9 does not have any of these issues and is more reliable.

[Dia 2]

Hmm I recently made a similar post about all my running torrents dying everytime I start a new torrent.  I wonder if this is the problem.  I'll have to try this later when I have time and find out.

[voddyman 5]

Yup, I concur, I was having a lot of speed problems with 9.2.1 over the last week or so , I'm on a 70 Mbps connection and i  was getting between 5-30 mbps max. So I did full uninstall using "Revo Unistaller" as that gets rid of anything that's left over from a "normal" uninstall when using the advanced option.

 

 I then installed the 9.9.1 Tap Driver and my speeds are now back to normal, I'm getting around the 60-66 Mbps when using AirVPN , just make sure you follow the instructions given above by dbsantos77  exactly.   

 

[Dia 2]

Well I was really hopeful this would solve my problem but it didn't.  Even with TAP version 9.9.1 all of my currently running torrents still die every time I start a new one.  Back to square one.

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

Well I was really hopeful this would solve my problem but it didn't.  Even with TAP version 9.9.1 all of my currently running torrents still die every time I start a new one.  Back to square one.

 

You might want to open a new topic. Just a formality, so we can avoid this topic to bloat up and help you more focused on your issue. Don't forget to provide logs in spoiler tags.

[voddyman 5]

Well I was really hopeful this would solve my problem but it didn't.  Even with TAP version 9.9.1 all of my currently running torrents still die every time I start a new one.  Back to square one.

Sorry to hear that this never worked for you Dia   I take it that you did use the Revo Uninstaller ? Only reason I'm asking is that I originally did the normal uninstall of the Tap driver through the " Device Driver "  which is accessible through the control panel, but it never worked, i was still getting terrible speeds, but when I uninstalled the Tap Driver and the Air VPN client  using Revo it seemed to made the difference. Like i say I have just been lucky, don't know 

 

As giganerd says, maybe best starting a new topic   

[negat1 3]

Just wanted to thank dbsantos77 for posting the details on what he found.  I was experiencing similar issues.  In my case, bittorrent speeds were abysmal and as soon as I had even one torrent going, pings to Google went from ~26ms to ~3 seconds or would simply time out. Revering to the 9.9.1 TAP driver completely resolved them.

 

I had just assumed that AirVPN was very bad at dealing with torrent traffic until I saw this post.

[neptr 1]

I was on the fence of asking for a refund because my speeds are intolerable regardless of the server I choose.

Then I happily saw this post and now I'm trying to get that downgrade to work for the last couple of hours, but no matter what I do, I get an error when the 9.9.1 installation finishes and the Device Manager simply lists an Unknown Device.

I'm on Win 10 64bit and am not the only one struggling with this issue, but it doesn't seem like there's a solution to this problem.

 

I've tried uninstalling through the device manager and uninstall.exe with and without reboots in between and it doesn't make any difference.

 

In case someone encounters this too and somebody knows the solution to this problem, you might think about adding a troubleshooting section in the first post.

[bobs 5]

neptr, have you tried the 9.9.2_3 drivers instead of 9.9.1? - https://swupdate.openvpn.org/community/releases/tap-windows-9.9.2_3.exe.

 

 

Massive thanks for this post, dbsantos77. Rolling back the TAP-Windows driver solved my issues with <100kbps Steam downloads that choked my whole connection.

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

you might think about adding a troubleshooting section in the first post

You are the first with your issue, but the idea is not bad.

 

Consider redownloading it, or download TAP 9.9.2 3.exe. I use the latest TAP 9.9, works as good as 9.9.1*. Then download and install Revo Uninstaller. Let Eddie upgrade again. Then disable driver update. Reboot. Use Revo to uninstall the driver. Reboot. Install TAP 9.9. Reboot. Start Eddie. Report.

 

* Apparently, 9.9.1 does not work as good as 9.9.2 3.

Edited ... by giganerd

[neptr 1]

neptr, have you tried the 9.9.2_3 drivers instead of 9.9.1? - https://swupdate.openvpn.org/community/releases/tap-windows-9.9.2_3.exe.

 

Consider redownloading it, or download TAP 9.9.2 3.exe. I use the latest TAP 9.9, works as good as 9.9.1. Then download and install Revo Uninstaller. Let Eddie upgrade again. Then disable driver update. Reboot. Use Revo to uninstall the driver. Reboot. Install TAP 9.9. Reboot. Start Eddie. Report.

 

The 9.9.2_3 driver worked immediatley and without issues. I'm running it on both of my machines now.

I did some testing over the last days (also experimenting with different protocols) and it seems, that everything is stable and fast now.

 

Thank you very much guys!

 

Edit: For reference, I was getting 2-3 MBit on most servers before changing the TAP driver. Now I am pretty much stable at 35-48 MBit (on a 50 MBit connection).

[mmorris 1]

how do I check which TAP version I'm currently using?

[voddyman 5]

how do I check which TAP version I'm currently using?

Windows control panel then device manager when that opens click on network adapters and you will see Tap Windows Adapter V9, right click on that and then click "properties" . There are four "tabs"  at the top of the box that open, click on the "driver"  tab then click on the " driver details" tab then in the box that opens up it will tell you what your driver file version is. Mine is 9.91/9 built by : WinDDK. 

 Hope that helps, also remember to use all the instructions given in this thread on how to remove your version etc.

Good Luck  

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

how do I check which TAP version I'm currently using?

 

Start up Eddie and look into the logs. It lists the TAP version in there.

[Snickers 0]

Had a problem of unstable connection since i started using Airvpn that was driving me up the wall. Would work fine then internet speeds would crawl to a stop then the client would crash. Rolling back to 9.9.2_3 fixed the problems and now everything works as it should (tested for two weeks) . Even fixed the problem were once the client disconnected it would keep saying that Airvpn was already running when i tried to re-start. This should be made a sticky or something as it seems to be a fix that works.

[applerayl 1]

I downgraded the TAP driver back to 9.9.1 as instructed in this topic and I must say that after 10 minutes of testing it looks as though the latest TAP driver was causing my disconnecting issue. I can now start a speedtest.net test (which starts immediately instead of after 20 seconds because of the connection drop), go to any website at all and play a YouTube video at the same time all whilst staying connected to the internet the whole time. Also my ping stays at a solid 12, download back at 37.31 Mb/s and upload back at 3.84 Mb/s. Seems like this was an OpenVPN driver issue, so I hope they fix that soon. My problem seems to be fixed, thanks for the help, good night!

 

Edit:

 

With settings to Automatic or TCP in the Protocol settings my TeamSpeak ping went from 10-14 to constantly spiking between 60 and 200. In game I saw my ping spike as well. I changed the protocol to UDP and now my TeamSpeak ping is a solid 14 ms, like before. Everything else I left on default.

[Flx11 10]

1)This small batch file(see below) will ensure that the TAP-adapter will not disconnect.
---------------------------------dhcp.tap.adapter.bat-------------------------------------------
@ECHO OFF
:LOOP
ECHO Waiting for 300 seconds....
timeout /t 300
netsh interface ip set address tapadapter DHCP
netsh interface ip set address tapadapter DHCP
netsh int ip set dns name = "tapadapter" source = dhcp
ipconfig /all
GOTO LOOP
---------------------------------dhcp.tap-adapter.bat-------------------------------------------

2)After the connection has been established to AirVPN(UDP/TCP or OpenVPN over SSL/SSH) run the above file dhcp.tap.adapter.bat.
Run as Admin if elevation is required.
Regards,
Flex

[quindecim 3]

 

you might think about adding a troubleshooting section in the first post

You are the first with your issue, but the idea is not bad.

 

Consider redownloading it, or download TAP 9.9.2 3.exe. I use the latest TAP 9.9, works as good as 9.9.1*. Then download and install Revo Uninstaller. Let Eddie upgrade again. Then disable driver update. Reboot. Use Revo to uninstall the driver. Reboot. Install TAP 9.9. Reboot. Start Eddie. Report.

 

* Apparently, 9.9.1 does not work as good as 9.9.2 3.

 

Hi guys,

 

Just chiming in here to confirm that this works great, and also to thank Giganerd.

I was having the same kind of issues with AirVPN / uTorrent as many others described: connect, torrent speed severely capped and cutting back to 0 repeatedly. very frustrating...

 

After a bit of googling, i did a lazy version of the info in this thread, and just uninstilled the TAP driver w/ revo, and then re-installed and tried to re-connect.

 

my UDP protocol was instantly much faster, but having the same issues of cutting back to 0 repeatedly. my TCP protocol was now steady at about 1/3rd of my normal speed.

 

It was an improvement and the first stable connection i was able to get with the TCP protocol.

 

But today i decided to give Giganerd's advice a try in the exact method he described, and things are running well now.

 

1. download revo uninstaller

2. uninstall eddie/TAP , reboot

3. install eddie, configure network lock and basic settings, connect and have the auto update.

4. disable driver update in eddies settings, reboot

5. use revo to uninstall the TAP driver, reboot

6. install TAP 9.9.2_3 , reboot

7. start Eddie and connect.

 

 

 

i also configured qbittorrent as per this guide: https://airvpn.org/topic/14454-airvpn-and-torrenting-privacy-help-needed/

 

 

ahh.. it actually seems i may have spoken too soon. as i had a period of ~10 minutes of great speeds on the UDP protocol (automatic 443) as i was typing this out, but the VPN then started again cutting back to 0 and eventually disconnected, and re-connected to a new server. qBittorrent traffic seemed to be cut during this period - which is good. i had to then restart qbittorrent for torrents to begin downloading again.

 

it's a definite improvement to my previous situation but seems like the same "cutting back to 0kbps" issue is still apparent.

 

Any help would be appreciated?

 

Thankyou

[OpenSourcerer 1442]

Mr. quindecim, thank you for your confirmation. Welcome to the TAP 9.9 club.

About your issue, seeing as this is your first post, you can just go on and open your first thread with this issue so we can help you more focused. Describe your issue and what you have tried so far and do not forget to paste your logs into spoiler tags (see my signature for a How-To) or append them to your post.

 

I will not stop dreaming of how Eddie lets you choose which version to install, though. Oops, an idea...

[quindecim 3]

Sure, i'll make my own thread.

Your method definitely works though for sure. after making the post above about the connection dropping with in 10 minutes, i reconnected and had a 5 hour connection at decent speeds. and a further 8 hour connection of good speeds too after that. I think it may be an issue with the servers/protocols i'm choosing.

But yes this TAP driver rollback is definitely something people should try. Kudos to you amigo!

[bingos 0]

Surely this should say 'enabled', not 'disabled'?

 

1. Within AirVPN settings, make sure that inside (preferences -> advanced -> general -> Microsoft Windows Only (on the right) that [Disable driver upgrade] is disabled.