Windows 11 can not work properly via PPTP/L2TP VPN connection

Question

Hi,

I got a problem that my windows 11 could not work properly when connected to my hardware VPN router.

Windows 11 could not access internal network's service via PPTP or L2TP, I tried sth as followed:

• trace route by "tracert" command worked fine, fisrt destination is the virtual IP assigned to win11, next and the final destination is the target server I traced (2 jump)
• I setup a UDP service on my server behind VPN, win11 can visit this service by udp client , seems UDP protocol worked fine.
• I can ping my internal server , ICMP seems worked fine
• I can not visit any TCP based service, like FTP, remote desktop, HTTP portal.
• windows 11 can temporary visit TCP service behind VPN if I connect to my VPN account right after a reboot, after 3-5 min, it can not visit any TCP service again.

With same connection account I tried Win 10, Win server 2019, MacOS, all of them worked fine except my win 11 mentioned above.

OS ver: windows11 21H2 22000.708
VPN server: TPLINK TL-R476G

Any solution or suggestion is highly appreciated.

Answer 1

I experienced the same error when attempting to connect to an L2TP/IPSec VPN provider. The solution that I found was that in services.msc the "Routing and Remote Access" Windows Service was Disabled for some reason. I re-enabled it and started it manually, and my VPN Connection was able to successfully connect. You should also make sure your system clock is correct so ensure the system time is properly synced to time.microsoft.com.

My guess is that this might have happened because I happen to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 11, however in my Ubuntu OS I also run a Windows 10 VM that happens to use the same Windows license key and Microsoft sign in account. I really do this more for convenience as I sometimes have to test driver compatibility between different versions of Windows, however if I was going to hypothesize on this I would guess that this service is somehow supposed to be disabled in Windows 10 (or Windows 11?) and this is causing issues when I jump back and forth?

Answer 2

ok, after a few hours later, I think I got it!

Pls try to stop your the service "DellOptimizer"
After I set it to Starttype "Manual", stopped it and reconnected the L2TP VPN from my client, the problem was solved. RDP and all other services started working again permamently

Answer 3

Try this steps to fix -

1. Update Windows 11
   Open Settings from the Start menu.
   Click the Windows Update tab on the left of Settings.
   Select the Check for updates option.
   The Check for updates option windows 11 vpn not working

Then download and install any Windows 11 patch updates available to you.

2. Reinstall WAN miniport network adapters
   First, right-click the Start taskbar button and select Device Manager.
   Double-click the Network adapters category to expand it.
   Right-click WAN Miniport (IP) and select the Uninstall device option.
   The Uninstall device option windows 11 vpn not working
   Select Uninstall on the confirmation prompt.
   The Uninstall option windows 11 vpn not working
   Repeat the previous two steps for the WAN Miniport (PPTP) and WAN Miniport(IPv6) devices.
   Thereafter, click the Action menu. Select the Scan for hardware changes option there to reinstall the adapters.
   Click Power and Restart on the Start menu.
3. Try a dedicated VPN
   A third-party VPN is oftentimes more stable with a lower error rate. We recommend you try a service that provides the perfect balance when it comes to feature set and server coverage such as Private Internet Access.

It implements powerful AES-256 encryption, secure ports, and additional security features such as a kill switch and anti-tracking options.

PIA is amongst the VPNs with the best server coverage, with over 35, 000 servers in over 70 countries around the globe.

The latest version of this VPN is fully compatible with Windows 11 and it is very easy to configure.

You just have to set up an account, install the application and then connect to a private server at the press of a button.

Expert Tip: Some PC issues are hard to tackle, especially when it comes to corrupted repositories or missing Windows files. If you are having troubles fixing an error, your system may be partially broken. We recommend installing Restoro, a tool that will scan your machine and identify what the fault is.
Click here to download and start repairing.

Regards,
Rachel Gomez

Answer 4

I have been chasing the PPTP problem with windows 11 for months. I finally fixed it.

In my case I was using PPTP support of DD-WRT and microsoft Win 7-10 clients, flawlessly for years. Could not get windows 11 to connect. I tried every suggestion (dozens of solutions out on the network all which have the same nine or ten steps which don't work).

It appears that microsoft broke the PPTP handshake They published a workaround which changes two DNS NETBIOS properties of the VPN connection object that are not exposed in the UI. To implement this work around you will need GPEDIT.MSC. If you are using a home edition of windows there are other methods to install gpedit that are not detailed in this workaround.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_web/dev-channel-build-25284-vpn-known-issue/11b04abe-2678-4498-905e-356b02811668

After you have made the two changes and rebooted the client machine you will need to create a new VPN connection object as there is no other exposed way to change the two default values that are causing the problem.

Once I did this, one combination of settings on the connection allowed me to connect to my dd-wrt PPTP vpn server for the first time in the five months since I got this windows 11 machine (previously on windows 10 several different combinations worked, now this is the only set I have gotten to complete the handshake)

Type of VPN: Point to Point

Encryption: Require Encryption

EAP: disabled

PAP: enabled

CHAP: enabled

MSCHAPV2 enabled

Answer 5