If Norton Secure VPN is not opening or working, or displays connection errors on your Windows 11/10 computer, then this post is intended to help you with practical solutions you can apply to resolve the issues on your system.
Below are some of the error messages with accompanying error codes you may receive while using Norton Secure VPN on your computer.
- Connection Error: Secure VPN has experienced a connection failure. Please try again later.
- Error: VPN is currently unable to connect. Error Id: 13801
- Error: (9012, 87) An error is preventing the VPN from connecting. Reference error ID 87
- Error: (9012, 809) An error is preventing the VPN from connecting. Reference error ID 809
- Update Required: A critical update has been downloaded and must be installed before continuing to use Norton Secure VPN.
- No Network Detected
Read: Fix VPN Connection, Can’t connect to VPN connection errors
Fix Norton Secure VPN not opening, working, or connection errors
There are common VPN error codes and solutions for Windows 11/10. In the case scenario where you’re having issues specifically with Norton Secure VPN, not opening, working or connection errors on your PC, then the suggested fixes presented below in no particular order should help you easily resolve the issues. You may have to exhaust all solutions to see what works for you!
- General Troubleshooting
- Uninstall & Reinstall WAN Miniport drivers
- Reset network adapter and TCP/IP stack
- Check the Root Certificates for Norton VPN
- Connect to a different VPN region
- Configure Norton Firewall settings
- Uninstall/Reinstall Norton Secure VPN
Now, let’s see the suggested fixes in detail.
1] General Troubleshooting
- Exit all the open programs. In the Norton Secure VPN window, click the settings icon, and then click Quit Norton Secure VPN. Restart your computer and on boot start Norton Secure VPN.
- Make sure that your Windows device is connected to the Internet. Your internet connection might not be strong or stable enough to handle the encryption process of a VPN service, so you can regularly run an internet speed test to check your internet connection. Make a note of the ping, download, and upload results. If the ping is too high (more than 100ms) or if the download speed is too low (less than 1Mbps) then this could be the culprit of the issue.
- Run LiveUpdate to make sure that the Norton product has the latest protection updates and restart the computer.
- Connect to the Auto-Select region from the region list section in the Norton Secure VPN app and make sure your IP address isn’t leaking. Also, depending on your VPN software in use, enable Auto-Connect. In Norton 360, in the My Norton window, click the drop-down arrow next to Secure VPN and click Settings and move the slider to enable or disable Auto-Connect. In the Norton Secure VPN app, click the Settings icon on top of the app. Under General, move the Auto-connect VPN at Launch slider to enable or disable Auto-Connect.
- To improve your online security and speed up your Internet connection, you can change your DNS settings to any of the third-party Public DNS servers which should fix any DNS leaks or DNS resolver issues on your PC.
- Norton Secure VPN needs access to UDP ports 500 and 4500 to connect to the VPN servers. The Internet traffic on these ports can be blocked due to a software firewall that is installed on the device, your network router, your ISP blocking VPN traffic, or regional Internet access restrictions for VPN traffic that are enforced by the local authorities. In this case, you can configure your router firewall settings to ensure your firewall is not blocking the VPN and open up the required ports to see if that solves your problem. Otherwise, contact your Internet service provider to allow access to UDP ports 4500 and 500.
Read: Fix The specified port is already open VPN error on Windows
2] Uninstall & Reinstall WAN Miniport drivers
This solution requires you to uninstall/reinstall the WAN Miniport drivers (IKEv2), WAN Miniport drivers (IP), and the WAN Miniport drivers (IPv6) on your Windows 11/10 PC. You can do this by following the instructions in the guide to fix VPN problems & issues.
If you cannot find any of the drivers under the Network adapter section, then you will need to show hidden devices in Device Manager. After the device driver installation is complete, you can open your Norton device security product and turn on Secure VPN. If the problem persists, proceed with the next solution.
Read: What is TAP-Windows Adapter v9 and why does your VPN require this Driver
3] Reset network adapter and TCP/IP stack
To release TCP/IP, flush DNS, and reset Winsock and Proxy settings on your Windows 11/10 PC, you can use the Network Reset feature to reinstall Network adapters and reset networking components to default.
Read: VPN connects and then automatically disconnects on Windows
4] Check the Root Certificates for Norton VPN
Do the following:
- Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
- In the Run dialog box, type certlm.msc, and then hit Enter to open Certificates Manager.
- Next, expand the Personal folder and then click Certificates.
- In the right pane, under the Issued by category, look for the SurfEasy entries.
- Now, check “Surf Easy certificates” are installed in the Local Machine Certificate store. (Personal, Trusted Root, and Intermediate Cert).
- If you see multiple SurfEasy entries, delete the old certificates. You can find the installation date for Norton 360 or Norton Secure VPN and match the Norton product install date with the expiration date of Surfeasy certificates and delete the duplicates.
- Exit the Certificates Manager when done.
Open your Norton device security product and turn on Secure VPN. If you’re still having issues, continue with the next solution.
Read: How to manage Trusted Root Certificates in Windows
5] Connect to a different VPN region
You can connect to different VPN regions if after you wait for some time and you are still unable to connect to the preferred region. For example, if you are in the USA and the VPN region is set to Auto-Select, then you can connect to USA or Canada region manually or if you are in Germany and the VPN region is already selected to “Germany”, then connect to the closest different region “Switzerland” or “France”. In addition, if you’re using the Norton Secure VPN app, you can sign out from the app, restart your device, and then sign back into the app.
Read: Fix Can’t reach the VPN Server error on PIA on Windows
6] Configure Norton Firewall settings
To configure Norton Firewall settings, follow these steps:
- Open your Norton device security product.
- In the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.
- In the Norton product main window, click Settings.
- In the Settings window, click Firewall.
- On the General Settings tab, in the Network Trust row, click Configure.
- For your current network connection, change the Trust Level to Full Trust.
- If the Trust Level is already set to Full Trust, go to the next steps.
- Click Apply.
- Exit the Device Security settings window and then turn on Secure VPN in the My Norton window.
If the issue persists, see the General Troubleshooting section above regarding UDP ports 500 and 4500, and make sure that your network router is allowed to access traffic on these ports.
Read: How to allow VPN through Windows Firewall
7] Uninstall/Reinstall Norton Secure VPN
You can uninstall Norton Secure VPN from your device, then follow the steps below to reinstall the app.
- Sign into your account at my.norton.com/.
- In the My Norton portal, under Secure VPN, click Download.
- Click Agree & Download, and then save the installer.
- Next, double-click the installer file that you downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
Alternatively, you can use the Norton Remove and Reinstall Tool.
Hopefully, any of these solutions should work for you! Else, you can contact Norton Support or use an alternative VPN solution for Windows PC.
Now read: Cannot send Email when connected to VPN
Why does my Norton VPN say No Internet connection?
You will encounter this issue if Norton Secure VPN fails to establish a connection with the VPN gateway due to incorrect VPN settings. To fix this problem, the suggestions we have provided in this post can help you. As a quick fix, assuming every other thing is equal, you can first quit and restart Norton Secure VPN on your Windows 11/10 device.
Read: How to remove Norton Download Manager?
How do I unblock a VPN connection?
If you want to get around VPN blocks or unblock VPN connections, below are some suggestions that can help you.
- Choosing a secure and reliable VPN.
- Switching to another server or VPN.
- Using obfuscated servers.
- Changing the tunneling protocol, encryption, or port.
- Getting a dedicated/static IP address.
- Switching to mobile data.
- Changing the DNS settings.
- Setting up a manual VPN connection.
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