Why does starting Google Chrome make my VPN work

[thegroupad]

I have openvpn client on Windows 11 which started to sometimes work and sometimes not (after years of working ok). Two changes I made were windows upgrade and getting a Dell docking station with UTP jack (before was always wireless). I found out if I make connection to the VPN gateway it will 95% not work, but if I then start Chrome with ~10 windows open, it will usually start to work again.

I checked route print output while it's not working, and when it is, and I see no difference. I saw no relevant lines in the windows event log nor on the gateway.

Do you think this is a hardware issue or is it something like automatic metric that can be tuned?

[Georg Pauwen]

Hello,

when you mention Windows 11, my first thought would be Windows Defender. Did you add an exception for OpenVPN ?

Check the link below:

OpenVPN not working in Windows 11? 4 ways to get things on track

https://windowsreport.com/openvpn-windows-11-not-working/#:~:text=This%20could%20be%20due%20to,try%20the%20other%20methods%20here.

[Flavio Miranda]

Hi

 It seems to me more like a software issue.  When Chrome start may some required process is starting together and making it works.

Do you receive any error message? Do you use a specific app to connect or you do it from browser?

[Giuseppe Larosa]

Hello @thegroupad ,

do you mean google chrome browser over Windows 10 /11 ?

I suspect Google Chrome makes a lot of traffic towards Google public cloud .

Compare mozilla firefox and google Chrome we never see Chrome to be updated it happens silently.

Hope to help

Giuseppe