VPN not working today: outage or mass blocking
If your VPN stopped working today, the first thing to determine is whether this is a temporary outage (at the service, at your operator, or affecting a specific protocol) or a systemic block. The answer determines whether you should wait for recovery or immediately change the protocol and service.
The difference matters: during an outage, time and reconnecting can help. During a block, time does not help at all; you need to change the circumvention method. Users often wait for weeks “until it gets fixed,” even though the service is already systematically unavailable on their operator.
Below is a short checklist for telling one from the other in 5 minutes, and what to do in each case. In parallel, you can run a check through Freedom Checker — it will show who else currently cannot access this VPN or site.
In short
- An outage affects all protocols of the service and usually lasts from 30 minutes to several hours.
- A block affects a specific protocol or server, lasts for days, and is not fixed by reconnecting.
- Check whether the same VPN works on mobile internet (a different operator) and whether changing the protocol helps.
- If the same VPN works for a neighbor on another operator, this is a block by your provider.
- If it stopped working for everyone at the same time, it is either TSPU (ТСПУ) or a problem on the service side.
Why a VPN may not work today: main reasons
In most cases, it is one of four reasons, and they can be distinguished by two or three signs.
1. Outage on the VPN service side
A server node went down, the client was updated with a bug, or a specific region is overloaded. This is visible when only a certain location does not work while others do, and people in support chats report the same symptoms. It is resolved by waiting or switching location.
2. Block by a specific telecom operator
Technical means of countering threats (TSPU) are configured by different teams and at different times at different operators. Because of this, the same VPN may work on MegaFon and not work on MTS, or work at home over a wired connection and not work over LTE from the same operator.
3. Systemic block of a protocol or service
Sometimes the block is not against an IP address, but against a protocol signature (OpenVPN, WireGuard, plain VLESS without obfuscation). In this case, the whole service “drops off” for everyone at once, and only an obfuscating protocol helps: VLESS Reality, Hysteria, Shadowsocks with obfs, AmneziaWG.
4. Problem on your side
DNS broke, the subscription expired, or there is a conflict with antivirus software or a second VPN. This is visible when other users of the same service have no problems.
How to understand what exactly broke
| Symptom | Outage or block | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| One location does not work, the others do | Server outage | Change location, wait 1–2 hours |
| It does not work for you, but works for others on the same service | Local problem or a block by your operator | Change network (Wi-Fi → LTE) and protocol |
| It does not work only over LTE from one operator | Block by the operator | Switch to an obfuscating protocol |
| It does not work for everyone at the same time, all locations | Systemic protocol block or service incident | Wait 1–2 hours; if that does not help, change protocol / service |
| It connects, but there is no internet | DNS, routing, or filtering after the handshake | Change DNS, check the kill switch |
| The connection hangs for 5–30 seconds and drops | DPI cuts the handshake | Use obfuscated / Reality / Hysteria |
How to check right now
Freedom Checker shows the availability of sites and services through different operators and different connection types. If your VPN stopped working, running a check through the service will show whether the problem is local or widespread.
In parallel, it is useful to check a couple of neutral sites — this separates “the network as a whole is broken” from “the VPN specifically is broken.”
Outage or block?
The main rule: an outage is short-term, localized, and resolves on its own; a block is persistent, widespread, and requires changing the circumvention method. If you switched to an obfuscating protocol and it started working, it was a signature-based block, not an outage.
If nothing helps for several hours in a row, while other services and protocols work normally, the issue is almost certainly with the selected service or protocol, not with the infrastructure as a whole.
What to pay attention to
- Check whether the same VPN works for people you know on other operators.
- Change location inside the service — this separates “a server went down” from “the service went down.”
- Switch to an obfuscating protocol (Reality, Hysteria) — this separates “IP-based block” from “signature-based block.”
- Check whether the client was updated today — sometimes a fresh build has bugs.
- If you have several VPNs, test the second one in parallel; this is the fastest way.
- The situation may differ by operator, region, and time of the check.
Conclusion
“VPN does not work today” means either a short outage or a systemic block. You can distinguish them in 5 minutes by three signs: the reaction to changing location, the reaction to changing protocol, and the reaction to changing operator.
If nothing helped, it is worth keeping a second service on a different protocol ready so you can switch without panic.