DNS is not accessible when Freedome is ON

jdmurray

Since updating to 2.34.6377.0 on Windows 10, DNS stopped being reachable when Freedome is ON. No web pages will load and nslookup only returns a "DNS request timed out." DNS is accessible immediate after Freedome is OFF. The only way I have been able to "fix" this issue is by uninstalling and reinstalling Freedome and reapplying my subscription code. However, once I exit and re-enter Freedome, the DNS issue reoccurs.

[Deleted User]

Hi @jdmurray

Have you tried to select different virtual location and check again? and did you check disable all Freedome feature and check again? i.e Browsing Protection, Tracking Protection

If yes, but the issue still remain, you can perform the following steps.

On your Windows 10, open command prompt as an administrator and type the following commands one by one:

1. ipconfig /flushdns

2. netsh winsock reset

3. netsh int ipv6 reset

After that, restart your machine.

Once your PC is rebooted, you will then clear your browser cache and check your website again.

_Nick_

Same issue for me almost every time I enable Freedome. Have opened a ticket with F-Secure but made no progress. Disappointing.

Workaround for me is to disable and re-enable the Freedome TAP adapter. A bit of a pain but does the job. Very crude batch file below. Save this as freedome.bat (or whatever), stick it on your desktop and run it when the issue happens. Will come up with a UAC prompt and then run and fix the issue.

------------------------------------------------------------------

@ECHO OFF

cls

netsh interface set interface FreedomeVPNConnection disable

timeout 2

netsh interface set interface FreedomeVPNConnection enable

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope F-Secure can address this as it's a real pain right now.

jdmurray

Yes, I have tried disabling all of Freedome's features and selecting different POPs without success. However, the reset commands you gave seem to have fixed my problem. I still maintain DNS service even after restarting Freedome. I'll let you know if DNS stops working again and what might have happened to mess up my stack.

Thank you very much!

_Nick_

Slight correction to the above...

When the batch file is created, you'll need to right-click and 'Run as Administrator'. Alternatively, create a shortcut to the batch file and in the properties of the shortcut, check the box to run as administrator

jdmurray

Yes, thanks for the non-rebooting workaround. Now I only need to disable FreedomeVPNConnection after starting Freedome and let Freedome re-enable the interface, after which DNS service connectivity is restored. This need appeared with 2.34.6377.0 and I'm hoping this issue will be fixed in the next Freedome update.

_Nick_

New version was released yesterday - v2.36.6554.0...but it looks like the same issue persists. ;-(

jdmurray

I was thinking that there must be something with the particular configuration of my Windows 10 that is causing this DNS problem in Freedome. I do use the program O&O ShutUp10 to tweak my Windows 10 configuration to disable unneeded features and keep Windows 10 from reporting metrics on everything I do--including sending my Freedome VPN IP address to Microsoft.

I used O&O ShutUp10 to revert my Windows 10 settings back to factory default, rebooted, started Freedome 2.34.6377.0, and DNS worked perfectly as it had before. (DNS also remained working with the 2.36.6554.0 update.) Now I just need to experiment with O&O ShutUp10 to determine which setting conflicts with Freedome. Stay tuned...

jdmurray

I have perform quite a bit of experimentation using O&O ShutUp10 versions 1.8.1412.246 (Jun 2020) and 1.8.1415 (Oct 2020) and using it have been unable to recreate the condition(s) that disabled DNS connectivity in Freedome  2.34.6377.0. I am now using much more restrictive settings in O&O ShutUp10 (Action = "Recommended and somewhat recommended settings") than I was previously and Freedome is working fine. It may be, rather than causing it, O&O ShutUp10 inadvertently fixed the problem in my Windows 10 that prevented Freedome from accessing DNS.

Jaims

Hi @jdmurray @_Nick_

I have tried to reproduce this issue on Freedome version 2.36.6554.0 but to no avail.

Kindly update to this version from the F-Secure Freedome VPN application by clicking on Help - About Freedome - Check for Updates and then try to reproduce this issue again?

Do let us know the outcome.

_Nick_

Jaims

You'll see from my comment on Oct 8th above that I have already done this and the issue persists.

I have opened a new ticket (first support person took down my email address incorrectly) and provided various logs. Ticket 03xxxxx

Nick

EDIT: Removed PII

_Nick_

Issue now resolved for me after working withe F-Secure support.

I had an old and known problematic version of npcap installed (v0.994). This comes bundled with Wireshark. Uninstalled it, rebooted and all the Freedome DNS issues were resolved.

jdmurray

I'm currently using Wireshark 3.2.7 with Npcap 0.9997 and my Freedome DNS is still working fine. I just updated to Npcap 1.0 and DNS connectivity broke again until I used the "netsh interface set interface FreedomeVPNConnection disable" command and Freedome re-enabled the interface. Now Freedome's DNS access is good even when I restart Freedome.

At least we know the source of this problem and how to "fix" it.

[Deleted User]

Hi @jdmurray

We have released a newer version of Freedome v2.36.6555.0, sometime the Check for Update option not get latest version, as such you need to download our latest version from here , and install it on top of existing Freedome to upgrade the latest version. You will then check if the issue still reproduce.

jdmurray

@Sethu

I downloaded and installed Freedome v2.36.6555.0 and kept Npcap 1.0 installed. The Freedome DNS connectivity still worked after (re-)starting Freedome. I'll post back here if anything breaks again.