Arlo Doorbell "You are not connected to the Internet" whenever I use NordVPN on phone

[drk123]

I was having a problem with my app getting the error message: "You are not connected to the Internet".  

I could view the doorbell from the website and I had another phone which could also view the doorbell.  This narrowed the problem down to one particular phone and since the problem was somewhat recent, the only thing I could recall doing was activating NordVPN on that phone since I was using hotel wi-fi.

That said, I disabled NordVPN for 5 minutes and was able to connect.  

So, this was definitely an issue.  It turns on and off like a switch.  

My question is how can I have BOTH working at the same time.  

I see no reason why I should have to turn off my VPN to see my doorbell since the web site on my laptop can view the doorbell with NordVPN on.

Anyway, this may be a problem other people are having when they get this message, but since I've narrowed down the issue (old retired IT guy here...)  I would appreciate a specific solution to this very specific problem.

It is clearly something particular to the VPN on my phone, since it works with NordVPN on my

laptop in the same situation.  And also works on my son's phone which is NOT using a VPN (and also on my phone when the VPN is disabled). 

Again, works like a switch to kill the connection...

Any help on getting Arlo camera to work on phone using VPN thru wifi connection?

Also, it doesn't seem to matter whether I connect to local VPN server or halfway across the world.  ANY VPN connection through my cellphone disconnects network access....

[StephenB]

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@drk123 wrote:

I was having a problem with my app getting the error message: "You are not connected to the Internet".  

I could view the doorbell from the website and I had another phone which could also view the doorbell.  This narrowed the problem down to one particular phone and since the problem was somewhat recent, the only thing I could recall doing was activating NordVPN on that phone since I was using hotel wi-fi.

That said, I disabled NordVPN for 5 minutes and was able to connect.  

Is this on an Android phone? Or is it Apple?

[drk123]

Samsung Galaxy C5 (older phone) running Android 8.0.0 

[drk123]

Also, I am fairly sure this is the latest downloadable Android, so if your suggestion is "upgrade Android", it's not going to happen.  

I may be able to get someone to test my other phone (since I don't have it with me), but anyone else who has NordVPN (or even another VPN) could, perhaps, try this or let me know if they have the same issue.

I may get a newer phone with a newer Android in a few weeks, though...

Until that time, I'm stuck in a hotel room with this one...

[drk123]

Also, as an experiment, I downloaded and ran the free version of ProtonVPN and enabled it and can see my Arlo camera.

So, perhaps, it is something more specific to NordVPN.

Since NordVPN is rather widely used, perhaps someone else can see if they have the same or a similar problem.

I may also contact NordVPN to see if they have seen this issue.

Again, just trying different possibilities in hopes of narrowing down this problem for both myself and others...

Thanks to anyone who has any ideas...

[drk123 · Accepted solution]

At this point, I am just pausing my NordVPN connection for 5 minutes whenever I want to look at my Arlo Video Doorbell.

I have found no workaround for this.

Apparently, the video just does not work through NordVPN for whatever reason.

Thanks for any reasponses...