Freedome Internet connection keeps breaking.

Metadata

• Websites not always loading and having to refresh to open it, otherwise it may take 20 sec.

• I have problems with chess.com pairing, not always working, they said connection issues. Sometimes I get disconnected mid game and have to turn freedome off.

• YouTube videos suddenly stop loading.

Everything works if I just turn it off. It has been like this for a year. Can I do anything to get it to work?

Win 10

From Finland using Finnish server.

Thank you.

Ukko

Hello,

Everything works if I just turn it off. It has been like this for a year.

A bit of a difficult discussion, as there may be many reasons and some clarifications are required.

For example, Freedome is mentioned.

But as such, this solution has reached its EoL (url: F-Secure Freedome VPN reaching end of life) and has been replaced by the current F-Secure VPN (mostly available as part of the F-Secure TOTAL app, but apparently can also only be a single option as part of a subscription; url: Switching from Freedome VPN to the new F-Secure app). However, the option to install Freedome is still available or given (according to the mentioned KB note). And, of course, users probably won't be autoforced to drop Freedome if it is already installed; but it will only be suggested to do so.

It can be assumed that Freedome no longer receives any updates (since April) and because of this there may be difficulties in use. But I don't know if this is true.

then,

Websites not always loading and having to refresh to open it, otherwise it may take 20 sec

this point may be related to a currently known limitation. Described here: Timeouts in loading web pages when using F-Secure VPN products - F-Secure Community (← url)

You could try to see if your browser is using still "experimental" TLS 1.3 options. For example, many browser developers are gradually enabling these options for some of their users. But I don't think that if it were so, it would be possible to stand it for a whole year. Although I don't quite know the reason for the current limitation of F-Secure VPN products. Whether this is on the part of the servers used by the VPN (and, accordingly, support or non-support of these TLS 1.3 options), or on the part of the websites. But this could explain the floating point like "websites not always loading" and so on.

Knowledge base article with instructions on how to disable "potentially" incompatible things. However, for example, in my Microsoft Edge browser and its "edge://flags" - I can filter it by TLS 1.3 and see two options (early data and pq key agreement). If to disable them - there are no problems or timeouts that may occur if these options are enabled.

I have problems with chess.com pairing, not always working, they said connection issues. Sometimes I get disconnected mid game and have to turn freedome off.

If this is not related to the first point, then perhaps this is explained by some mechanisms on the service side. Let's say VPN solutions are somehow considered cheats?

For example, during a session some kind of check is carried out and some signs of the VPN (or even, say, security measures on VPN servers) are interpreted as suspicious. Something similar may happen with online games and strict firewall rules (the firewall blocks some attempt, and "that" attempt disconnects the connection). Or when a game with an anticheat approach reacts to AV injection to check the processes / executable files. It turns out to be a conflict. The user did not do anything dangerous, but his security solution became a cause of suspicion for the defense mechanisms of the "service" used. But without any additional information, these are all just my guesses.

YouTube videos suddenly stop loading.

Again if this is not related to the first point, then Youtube may not react properly when using a VPN. Same as when using adblockers and as sometimes stated by some users, it causes problems with playing some videos or using the service in general.

Can I do anything to get it to work?

If you experience is only about Windows 10 (and mentioned problems are not related to TLS 1.3 options in browsers), you can try to change VPN Protocol in F-Secure Settings.

In current solution (url: Changing the VPN protocol used | Total | Latest | F-Secure User Guides), but based on this discussion (url: Freedome keeps connecting 2021 version — F-Secure Community) - should be possible with Freedome too.

For example, from OpenVPN to IKEv2 and check if it gets better.

Also, could be nice to try another server. Just for sure that it is not related to local one. It shouldn't however, although perhaps being one of the most stressed, it may be that your local/nearest server experiences more frequent overloads.

Thanks!

Metadata

Thanks Ukko.

After a week of testing, Installing the privacy VPN seems to have been the answer.