> [...] when I try to access websites [...]
Which web sites, exactly, are you trying to access?
> [...] I either initially get the a pop up box asking for a user name
> and password as "Authorisation is Required: Your connection to this
> site is not private".
That looks normal, _if_ you're specifying "routerlogin.net" (or one
of its friends, all of) which should point to your modem+router. The
"not private" message depends on your web browser, which is warning you
that you have an unencrypted ("http://", not "https://") connection to
the (router's own) web site.
> Not sure what details are required here as nothing is accepted eg my
> NETGEAR password isn't accepted
Which "my NETGEAR password" is that?
> and my NETGEAR [a?]dmin password just takes me to genie.
That would be the right one, and that's where "routerlogin.net"
should take you, if by "genie" you mean the router's administrative
web-site "Genie".
Ever helpful, Netgear uses the name "Genie" for more than one thing.
Netgear routers have a web-browser interface called "Genie", and Netgear
offers application programs for various computers/pads/phones, which are
also called "Genie".
> Otherwise I get the ERR_Connection_Refused message.
"Otherwise" means something other than "routerlogin.net" (et al.)?
That might mean that your Internet connection is not so good as you
thought.
> [...] This is all on Chrome. [...]
Running on what? Some version of Windows? Something else?
> I do use a VPN provider which mean I did change my IP address and have
> a hunch this may be part of the problem but don't now how to fix this,
> any assistance is greatly appreciated. Am not that tech savvy!
Normally, I'd start by asking which "a VPN provider", and what,
exactly, did you do to "change my IP address", but I agree with your
hunch. It might make more sense to forget about the VPN for a while,
and try to get a simple Internet connection to work with all your
devices.
If you can do that, _then_ you might want to move on to wrecking
everything by trying to configure some (unspecified) VPN scheme.
If/when you have questions about that, then you can expect to need to
supply some actual information about what it is, and what you're doing
with it. As usual, showing actual actions with their actual results
(error messages, ...) can be more helpful than vague descriptions or
interpretations.
