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Forum Discussion
Can't Install Bitdefender VPN
I discovered from browsing the Bitdefender website that the version of Antivirus for Mac provided through armor.netgear.com is not the latest version so I uninstalled it and reinstalled it hoping to ...
Same problem here too. Just installed the Armor-Bitdefender (thru NETGEAR Acct) on my phones - VPN included and working, but not the same experience when downloaded to our MacBook Pro (running OS Monterey 12.4). The install VPN button is inop when I click to install. Everything else seems to be working.
The weird thing is that it worked previously but doesn't now. I don't know what changed but I'm wondering if it's because the version of Antivirus for Mac downloaded through Netgear Armor is too old. The Netgear Armor version is 8.3.0.30 while the current version directly from Bitdefender is 9.0.4.4. It's hard to figure why Netgear is still providing such an old version rather than the current version.
I've been trying to deal with this issue for weeks now, jumping between Netgear support and Bitdefender. Incredible really how poor the service is. I too was trying to force a newer version of Antivirus to install through my netgear armor account. But once I deleted, I couldn't reinstall VPN.
Let me see all the things they've told me:
It's working as intended. But it won't install? The VPN is built into the Orbi so you need to deal with Netgear. But I'm not using router level VPN service - just the client that i"m actually paying for. Oh and did I mention it did work, and is still working on another mac I have that I didn't uninstall.
Probably the worst customer support between netgear and bitdefender I've experience in the tech space. I presume it has to do with the most recent upgrade to MacOS 12.4 and a security feature that has broken part of the install function?
One person from Bitdefender told me the same thing, that since the Netgear router has a VPN the Bitdefender VPN won't install on Macs by design because they don't need it. I pointed out to them that the VPN in the router is a VPN server, not a VPN client. It has no relevance to the Bitdefender VPN. I also said that I have a paid premium VPN subscription, so telling me it won't install by design is completely unacceptable. I got a response back saying they are still investing the problem and will get back to me.
Trying to manage the Bitdefender products distributed through Netgear Armor is a nightmare. Netgear refers me to Bitdefender for support and Bitdefender seems to have no idea what Netgear is doing with them. The versions of Antivirus for Mac and Bitdefender VPN from Netgear are really old. There's no excuse for that.
I upgraded Antivirus for Mac by going to my Bitdefender Central account, selected My Devices, Add Device, and got the installation file from there. It installed the Bitdefender VPN automatically when it installed Antivirus for Mac. The problem I have now is that the Bitdefender VPN is running as the free version even though my Bitdefender account shows that I have a valid premium subscription. I have a support request in to them for that problem. Bitdefender and Netgear seem to be completely disconnected regarding the distribution and support of Bitdefender products through Netgear Armor. The Bitdefender products for Mac that are distributed through Netgear Armor are inexcusably old.