Hi, I use a wireless router to access the internet and occasionally i have to connect to a VPN server to access other resources. However, when i disconnect from the VPN connection, i am unable to use my wireless network to access the internet. The wireless network keeps returning a DNS error. Troubleshooting the adapter does not resolve the issue. However, Resetting the wireless adapter manually through the network and sharing center seems to temporarily resolve the issue. I would like to prevent this from recurring. Please Help.

Hi, Is it possible that by connecting to your VPN your DNS server is changed? If this is the case when you disconnect from the VPN you would be unable to connect to the new DNS server if it requires being routed through your work network. To check try to run the 'ipconfig /all' command before and after you connect to your VPN and let us know if the DNS server IP address changes. CathalCathal O'Brien BSc, PgDip, PhD . Techsmart IT Support | Computer Repairs

Hi Cathal, I tried out your suggestion, this is what i got Before connecting to VPN, ipconfig returns these values: Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a075:e35e:482b:d883%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:25:04 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:25:04 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 324840524 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-6F-8B-2F-F0-4D-A2-46-38-12 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 205.152.111.23 205.152.144.23 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled After Connecting to VPN, ipconfig returns these values: PPP adapter VPN Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VPN Connection Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.228.2.243(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 128.227.128.254 128.227.128.24 Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 128.227.0.247 Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 128.227.0.248 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a075:e35e:482b:d883%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:25:04 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:25:04 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 324840524 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-14-6F-8B-2F-F0-4D-A2-46-38-12 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 205.152.111.23 205.152.144.23 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

This issue occurs if the system still use the VPN gateway as Default Gateway after you disconnect VPN. This may be caused by the driver, or background programs. Please upgrade the wireless driver. If the issue still occurs, temporarily disable antivirus and firewall and test the issue. If the above suggestions do not help, I suggest you try the step 2 to step 4 in the following article. You Cannot Connect to the Internet After You Connect to a VPN Server http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317025Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I feel their answers are pretty much right on... I have run into th is often when the connection is set to use the Gateway on the remote computer, so that Internet traffic is routed through THEIR gateway (their internet connection), rather than your local one. Try this simple command to flush the DNS Resolver cache: C:\> ipconfig /flushdns Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache. Then test if you can get online. If not, try this command: C:\> ipconfig /release *Wireless* & ipconfig /flushdns & ipconfig /registerdns & ipconfig /renew *Wireless* That will basically disconnect from your Wireless router, clear out any cached DNS entries still in memory, then reconnect to the wireless router, pulling fresh settings via DHCP. The other situation is a bit more of a headache for the average user -- messing with routing tables.... But that's another option as mentioned. At the command prompt you can at least see your routing table by typing the command "ROUTE PRINT" . Lots of scary stuff will popup that screams "I shouldn't touch this stuff!" but it's OK. Back at the command prompt, to make it easier/cleaner, just type "ROUTE PRINT -4" -- less unnecessary info will come up. Now you should see at the bottom, some lines that say this: Persistent Routes: Network Address Netmask Gateway Address Metric 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 Default Now, the 0.0.0.0 addresses just mean "anything", it doesn't matter. But a Gateway address *is* defined, and if you are not using your local network's gateway IP address (e.g. your router)... then you're not getting to the internet.... so your entry should be identical to mine right there. If not, we need to fix it. Please report back on what yours shows. The good news is that we can do a ROUTE ADD statement and test it out; if it still doesn't work, simply restarting your computer will revert and remove what you've added. Once we can confirm or get a working one, we can add the -P, which makes it persistent, aka, it sticks between restarts. It's perm (unless you remove it)! So let's go try that first, then we'll see where we're at. I had to write up a little batch file or script to click each time I used a certain VPN from my old job. At least it was just double clicking on "Before VPN..." and "After VPN..." shortcuts. One last thought. are you using the built-in Microsoft VPN connection client? Some other more complex 3rd party VPN clients such as Cisco and Watchguard have their own complex configurations, by comparison. Let's see where you've gotten, then we'll move forward. DNS is one possibility, but I'm thinking more along the lines of the Gateway is missing or wrong. The Gateway = your wireless router -- if the address is missing or wrong, your computer essentially can't find the wireless router to tell it to "hey, go retrieve this web page"... which if compared to the country's USPS, it's the equivalent to not being able to find a post office or a mailman. Without knowing where they are, mail is not gonna go anywhere... ADDENDUM: Here is where the setting is that could be causing you issues. If you go into Network and Sharing Center, then to "Change adapter settings". Find your VPN connection, right click it... properties... Networking tab... double click (or select then go to properties) on either TCP IPv4 or IPv6... then to Advanced... FINALLY. WOW. that's a lot of clicking. it's hidden deep within, never to be found by anyone, ever. http://cl.ly/3T462Q3e3g3h3S281M1c/tcpip_settings_for_vpn.jpg http://cl.ly/3R2v01343i1u422t181q/remotegateway1.JPG Sorry, the link button isn't working, nor is the HTML editor. you may have to copy and paste for those two screenshots. Ack.

Upgrading the Wireless Driver seems to resolve the issue. Thanks