How do I turn off/disable VPN for an extended time?

mxtr55

Many sites do not connect because of the VPN. I disable it, but then it starts again automatically and forces me to start again and again. I want to be able to turn it off for a certain amount of time. Can that be done?

Gjoksi

Hello.
Check out these articles:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/13353/
or
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/30765/
and see if the steps in the articles will help you.
Regards.

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

To add here, the Bitdefender VPN cannot be scheduled to disable temporarily, or for a specific period of time, however judging by the symptoms you've mentioned, yours is set to connect automatically, and you can check the Auto-connect settings in this case to set your preferences:

Regarding the websites that cannot be accessed when connected to the VPN, you can follow @Gjoksi's advice and route them outside the VPN tunnel, if necessary. But make sure to check the other troubleshooting steps as well, because if we are talking about multiple websites, then the problem might be somewhere else and you may be required to change the DNS settings on your device, for example.

Kindly follow up and let us know what worked for you, if possible.

Regards,

Alex

mxtr55

Thank you all. My setup is not to auto-connect. On the split tunneling recommendation, I have added the new website, but that is not very efficient. I remember using another VPN product, I believe it was Mcafee, that it would allow to turn off for a specific amount of time.

Even with split tunneling, the site cannot be reached. The site is www.tirerack.com.

How do I just turn it off completely? Thank you

Alexandru_BD

I can access that website with no issues whatsoever. And I've tried this using a different VPN. But regardless of this, if the website cannot be accessed after adding it to the split-tunneling feature, then this means the VPN is not the culprit. Because when you add a site/app there, it bypasses the VPN connection, so you are accessing the page normally, like you would do without the VPN. Maybe something else is blocking it on your end, or there was a temporary issue with the website itself. Clear cache & cookies, try icognito mode, switch browsers and restart your device. Test how the website behaves afterwards. And if you are using the Anti-tracker extension, temporarily disable it for that website and try again.

Let us know if this helps.

Regards

mxtr55

Thank you Alex et all.

I tried both Edge and Chrome and the problem is still there. I have restarted the PC several times due to MS maintenance and nothing. I had not attempted incognito, but I just did and that works. Yeah!!!

Now, this is weird. I had another site that was blocked, www.apartments.com. I added that to the tunnel and it was not working.

However, after I had accessed both sites in incognito mode, now everything worked as it should. WTH!!!!

I appreciate everyone's suggestions and assistance here. Will see what the future holds. My subscription is set to renew in 40 days and I was thinking of going elsewhere.

Cheers, and Happy weekend. If you are in the USA, enjoy Labor Day Monday :-)

Alexandru_BD

Cheers @mxtr55,

I hope you had a good weekend.

Yes, I must say I find that behavior unusual as well. Perhaps you could clear cache & cookies beforehand, on both browsers that you are using and restart the device before accessing those pages again. Also, I think you could explore other possible causes as well, such as one of the Bitdefender modules blocking the connection for some reason. For example, try to temporarily disable the Online Threat Prevention module, or one of its components - Encrypted web scan. You can find the steps on how to temporarily disable the security modules in Bitdefender for troubleshooting purposes here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/28557/

Just make sure to re-enable your defenses once troubleshooting is done.

Regards,

Alex