VPN in Cuba

John245

I tried several times to use the Bitdefender VPN in Cuba (in March, I was at the Melia in Varadero; in May, I was at the Paradisus in Holguin). The connection could never be established. Cuba is not on the list of countries that ban VPN. Could you fix the bug that prevents us from using the VPN in Cuba please?

Gjoksi

Hello.

You should contact Bitdefender Consumer Support by chat, telephone or e-mail:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Chat is the fastest way to get in touch with Bitdefender Consumer Support.

NOTE: Bitdefender telephone support is not toll-free!

Regards.

Alexandru_BD

Hello,

I'll post the answer from the Support engineers here as well, for further reference.

Cuba has some legal restrictions and internet limitations at this point and we are not considering adding it to our VPN list for the time being.

Regards

John245

Hello,

There is a list of servers, however it is sometimes possible to use the Bitdefender VPN in a country that is not on this list.

It would be very helpful to know that the Bidefender VPN does not work in a country before you go. Could Bitdefender make a list of countries where Bitdefender VPN does not work please?

Thank you,

Alexandru_BD

Hi @John245 and thanks for getting back. I did some research on this behavior and I'll share with you my findings.

We do have a list of countries where VPNs are illegal or banned. As Bitdefender always complies with the local laws for any territory in which it is made available, the VPN feature has been geo-fenced while in use in certain countries.

The full list of regional restrictions can be found here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/8249/

However, this doesn't seem to apply for Cuba, since the country is not present in the restriction's list. It's true that additional servers are not planned for this location in the foreseeable future, but I think the issue you have encountered might be related to the Wi-Fi configuration in the hotels there.

Some hotels configure their network in such a way as not to allow the use of VPN, most likely to filter the traffic. As a workaround, you can try to change the protocol and tell us if you have the same problem on 4G, or if it's only on the WiFi in the hotel.

Regards

John245

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

The way you write, it's a bit like if a hotel in Cuba could block access and another not. I am not so sure. In the two hotels I stayed in, Bitdefender's VPN was blocked and access by a mobile service provider was also blocked. I'm just another tourist, but I probably wish I had known that before I left.

Maybe Bitdefender should consider putting Cuba in the list of countries that de facto do not allow VPN use.

Regards,

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

Well, it's part of my job as an admin to reply to you and I also enjoy the conversation 🙂

The truth is, at this stage we can only make assumptions based on the information we have so far and according to our past experiences. Some hotels may have this policy, while others may not. You could also try to connect to different networks and check if the VPN connection is possible. There are a few common causes of Bitdefender VPN connection failures, but they usually return an error code that helps identify the culprit. As with any connectivity issue, there's a checklist and multiple possible reasons behind it, among which the following are notable:

• No Internet – Make sure your device is connected to the Internet with a strong and stable connection.
• Firewall – Check that your firewall isn’t blocking the VPN. If you’re not sure, look in your router’s manual, contact the manufacturer or your Internet provider.
• Another VPN or Proxy – If you’re running another VPN or Proxy, disable it when trying to connect.
• Public Wi-Fi (like in a hotel, school, or office) – Contact the network administrator to see if they can change the firewall settings and allow the VPN connection.
• Port 443 is blocked – Port 443 UDP must be open for Bitdefender VPN to work.

If all of the above do not apply here, it's necessary to dig deeper and a proper investigation can be achieved only with the help of the Support engineers, who will require some basic information to start with, such as:

• The OS on which the vpn is running
• Whether the problem occurs on a specific location or all locations
• IP of the affected server
• If using standalone VPN or VPN in BMS
• Whether the problem occurs only on mobile data or only on wifi or present on both. Preferably try multiple networks
• App version

Armed with this information and knowing the previous steps that were taken to try to fix the problem, the Support engineers can investigate further and establish a diagnosis, after which they can provide further advice and assistance. We do our best to help here in the community, however in some cases, especially where logs from the affected device are required, it is necessary to get in touch with the engineers for advanced troubleshooting and sometimes even free of charge remote assistance.

Regards