NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
RBE770/RBE771 consistent internet drops when connecting to VPN
hello,
when using my laptop to vpn remotely the connection when it is 1st being established will consistently connect, drop, reconnect at a minimum of 3 times before it becomes "stable."
this ALWAYS occurs when logging onto the vpn or reconnecting to the vpn if my laptop was asleep/etcc.
then the connection seems pretty stable throughout the day but the same issue does occur at random during the day where it will drop/lose connection and reconnect to the vpn. the consistency during this process is that the connect/drop/reconnect
i do notice that my iphone 16 pro max does a similar thing but i dont notice it as drastically when it occurs on my laptop.
my router and satellite are up to date and have been regarding firmware version (10.5.20.10).
the last firmware release was 1/28/26.
this issue has been occurring this entire year but i have just put up with it. however, it has been building and now is an issue that needs to be resolved becuase it is driving a lot of downtime and a loss of value add time when i should be working.
the router and satellite are up to date,
when loading the data on the router and satellite, i always follow the user manual instructions especially when it comes to the order of which device to update 1st and 2nd.
i have tried factory reset, loaded firmware over the wifi, loaded firmware via a CAT6 ethernet direct connection, factory reset and loading a backup profile...all had the same outcome with the inconsistent connection for the internet when using a vpn. please note the vpn is not on the router setup, my laptop has Cisco Secure Client AnyConnect VPN and my iPhone has AT&T / Microsoft Defender
Orbi 7 WiFi 7 Satellite (RBE770)
Orbi 7 WiFi 7 Router (RBE771)
Purchase Date = 1/17/2025
Please provide any feedback info tips, etc.
Greatly appreciate it !!
8 Replies
when using my laptop to vpn remotely the connection when it is 1st being established will consistently connect, drop, reconnect at a minimum of 3 times before it becomes "stable."
this ALWAYS occurs when logging onto the vpn or reconnecting to the vpn if my laptop was asleep/etcc.Are you using the Cisco VPN client on the laptop? Or are you using the OpenVPN client?
This sounds like something to take up with the people providing the VPN. (your office?)
The Orbi system is unaware of the laptop or iPhone having a VPN connection. All the Orbi sees is devices opening encrypted connections to some IP address.
when using my laptop to vpn remotely the connection when it is 1st being established will consistently connect, drop, reconnect at a minimum of 3 times before it becomes "stable."
this ALWAYS occurs when logging onto the vpn or reconnecting to the vpn if my laptop was asleep/etcc.Does this only happen on one location? Or does it happen in multiple locations? (your work building would all count as one location for this).
Also, if you are using the Cisco VPN client, then it would be useful to know if you see the same problem with the OpenVPN app.
The Orbi system is unaware of the laptop or iPhone having a VPN connection. All the Orbi sees is devices opening encrypted connections to some IP address.
Well, the default PC profile still uses TUN, while the default iPhone profile still uses TAP.
Well, the default PC profile still uses TUN, while the default iPhone profile still uses TAP.
I believe these are the default configurations for access to the OpenVPN Host feature that is available on most Netgear routers. This discussion appears to be about using the Cisco Secure Client AnyConnect VPN on a laptop connected to the Orbi 770 system. Internet search appears to support that Cisco Secure Client uses a tun connection.
This discussion appears to be about using the Cisco Secure Client AnyConnect VPN on a laptop connected to the Orbi 770 system.
Yep, However, I can't find any proof if that happens on establishing a TAP or a TUN VPN session.
The OP should evaluate the powerful Windows event log FMI on what is exactly happening while the OpenVPN session is starting.
There is a very similar thread on the Cisco Community - completely independent of Netgear and OpenVPN - where users show repeated reconnects from VPN clients. Especially those with multiple network adapters (WiFi, LAN, VPN, ...).
Pretty much convinced, there is nothing wrong with these reconnects - multiple interfaces/adapters, routing changes, ...
Yep, However, I can't find any proof if that happens on establishing a TAP or a TUN VPN session.
I just double-checked, and my memory here wasn't quite right. The default VPN profile for Windows actually is set up for TAP, while the smartphone profile is set up for TUN.
TAP is what didn't work for me on my Orbi 870. I never got a useful VPN session. Switching to TUN resolved that problem. Since elizabethmalec is already using TUN, then there is no need for her to test with TAP.
Pretty much convinced, there is nothing wrong with these reconnects - multiple interfaces/adapters, routing changes, ...
Which is why I suggested that if she is ending up with a stable connection, she might just leave well enough alone.
I believe these are the default configurations for access to the OpenVPN Host feature that is available on most Netgear routers.
Yes. But your comment was that iphone/laptop made no difference to the VPN server in the router. And that is incorrect since one device is using TAP and the other is using TUN.
Internet search appears to support that Cisco Secure Client uses a tun connection.
Many folks (including me) had quite poor results with TUN with newer Orbi products. Switching the laptop profile to TAP solved that problem for me. The easiest way to do that is just apply the Smart Phone profile on the PC instead of the Windows one. But in elizabethmalec's case, she might also need to use the OpenVPN client for home access, and not the Cisco Client (assuming it only supports TUN).
EDIT - I got this backwards. The default profile for Windows uses TAP, and the default profile for smartphones uses TUN. Since elizabethmalec is already using TUN with the Cisco client, there is no need for her to try TAP (which is what failed for me).
Cisco Secure Client AnyConnect VPN
One limitation is that you can only connect to one VPN at a time. If you already have a VPN tunnel open to your work network, then the Cisco Client will disconnect from that before it opens the tunnel to your home network. So one possibility is that you are seeing that behavior when you start up the connection. There might also be something else going on - I haven't seen any other posters here who are using that particular client with to connect to their Orbi.
If the connection works well once it stabilizes, then one option is to just live with that behavior.
Another option is to also install OpenVPN on the PC, and use that for home remote access. But if you do that, you will need to be careful to only open one tunnel at a time (disconnecting Cisco before connecting OpenVPN, and vice versa).
