This is a REALLY annoying problem I’ve been experiencing since the start using AVG VPN. I bought a 2 year plan using an Amazon voucher because honestly, it was a super cheap way of getting a VPN using the activation codes, but I’ve been having problems with the reliability of the VPN connection since the get-go.
It’s not the best VPN I’ve used, for sure, and there are even free VPNs that are much more reliable than this paid service, where I don’t get this problem of frequent random disconnects.
Put simply, the connection to AVG VPN servers does not seem to be very reliable at all. Whenever you connect to a server, it almost always seems to disconnect very soon after, usually between 10-20 seconds after establishing the initial connection.
Sometimes, it only disconnects once, and once you manually reconnect, it’s fine after that. But other times, it does just continually keep disconnecting all the time, and you have to keep re-establishing the VPN connection.
It’s really frustrating and means you can’t just do what you need to do online over the VPN connection, and instead waste all your time re-connecting to the servers. Initially, I just thought it was because the Wi-Fi connection where I was staying was weak, but I’ve just moved somewhere where I’m literally right next to the router, and the problem got WORSE, not better.
But thankfully, there are some ways around this issue, let’s cover the two main ones:
Try changing the VPN Protocol from Automatic to WireGuard, Mimic or OpenVPN within the Settings interface. Also, in the Network Security tab, uncheck the box that says “exclude private networks”.
Let’s cover these and some fixes for this problem in more detail.
Fix #1 – Switch VPN Protocol To WireGuard or Something Else
This is the first fix I’ve tried, and so far seems to be working – just change the VPN protocol in the Settings menu away from Automatic to something else.
Go to Settings……VPN Protocols, and manually switch from Automatic to the WireGuard, Mimic or OpenVPN protocol instead.
In the Settings interface, it tells you that for the Automatic setting: “The best protocol will be selected and will switch automatically to improve the security and stability of your connection”.
But in my experience, this isn’t true and the continual disconnects seemed to be happening when I was on the Automatic setting.
Changing to WireGuard, I’ve had no problems so far. Try switching to this first, and then the other two protocols if needed, and see if this stops the disconnects.
Fix #2 – Exclude Private Networks In The Settings
Whilst you’re in the Settings menu, there’s another small tweak you can make which some users have reported to stop these disconnects.
Switch to the Network Security tab, and make sure to uncheck the box labeled “Exclude private networks”.
This can also sometimes deliver a more stable connection.
Fix #2 – Pick a Different Server Location
Users should really not have to do this when using a Premium VPN – you should just be able to connect to any server you like, even if it’s quite far away, and have a decent connection as long as your local internet connection is also decent. That’s what your paying the VPN provider to do, after all.
Nevertheless, if you’re connecting to a server moderately or quite far away, there can be server reliability issues. If possible try switching to a different, and preferably closer, server location as this may improve reliability.
Fix #3 – Strengthen Your Wi-Fi Connection
This tip sort of combines with the last one. It does help when using a VPN if your base/local internet or Wi-Fi connection is also at least decent, preferably solid.
Try moving closer to the router if on Wi-Fi, to get the best possible signal and speeds on your local connection. Starting with the best signal/speeds possible is advised before activating any VPN, which will shave additional speed off your base connection.
In fairness though, this doesn’t seem to be the issue with the disconnects in my case. I still got them even using a very strong Wi-Fi connection in the very same room as the router (it’s switching protocols that seemed to fix it for me). But it’s a box to check if you’re a bit more distant from the router.
Fix #4 – Adjust Power Save Settings On Your Device
Lots of free VPNs are weak on this, but AVG VPN seems particularly bad. Whenever you wake up a PC/laptop from rest/sleep mode, the VPN always disconnects, and it can be a pain getting it connected again when you wake it up again, especially after a long time.
Sometimes, this is actually when the disconnect problems start when using AVG VPN. It may have been fine before, but maybe you put your laptop into rest mode while you go to the shop or run another errand, and then when you return and boot it back up, it starts disconnecting multiple times.
Firstly, give your PC/laptop 10-20 seconds after rebooting from sleep mode to reconnect to the VPN server (mostly applies to all VPNs – some are better than others at reconnecting when waking up devices from sleep mode).
But if you keep continuously running into problems with this always after rebooting/waking up your computer, you might want to adjust the sleep mode settings so it doesn’t go into this mode so quickly.
Here’s how you do this for Windows devices:
- Go to Settings…..System.
- Go to Power & Sleep settings.
- Scroll down to the Sleep setting, and adjust the time it take for your device to go into sleep mode, both on battery power and when plugged in. If you make this time longer, it won’t go into rest mode so often, and you won’t have so many of these disconnect issues.
The Screen options above the Sleep options don’t seem to be as much of an issue – the disconnects seem to happen more often when your Windows devices goes into full on Sleep/Rest mode. Lengthen these times to experience less of this problem with AVG VPN and other providers.
Fix #5 – Switch To A Reliable Free VPN
Honestly, this shouldn’t be the case, but it is true that some free VPN services sometimes deliver MORE reliable and stable connections than paid services. It’s completely the wrong way around to the way it should be, but if AVG VPN is really annoying you with these disconnects, and you can’t stop them, consider switching to a good free or budget Premium VPN service.
(Incidentally, if you’ve paid full whack for a standard AVG VPN subscription, consider asking for your money back if you’re within the refund time window)
Here are some reliable free VPNs you can switch to as alternatives:
| Provider | Free Server Locations | Data Limit | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProtonVPN | 3 (USA, Amsterdam, Japan) | Unlimited | See here |
| AtlasVPN | 3 (USA East, USA West, Amsterdam) | 5 GB/month | See here |
| TurboVPN | 4 (USA, Germany, Singapore, India). | Unlimited | See here |
| ZoogVPN | 5 (USA, UK, Netherlands) | 10 GB/month | See here |
| Hide.me | 5 (Netherlands, USA, Germany, UK, Canada) | 10 GB/month (random server selection) | See here |
| PrivadoVPN | 10 (USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand) | 10 GB/month | See here |
| Windscribe | 10 (USA, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, Denmark). | 10 GB/month | Visit site |
| Tunnelbear | 49 | 500 MB/month | Visit site |
ProtonVPN always deliver a very reliable connection, and I’ve always found PrivadoVPN to be very good as well. ZoogVPN has always done a perfectly decent job as well when I’ve tried it.
All of these provides also have good (and sometimes very cheap) unlimited Premium plans as well if you want to ditch AVG and switch to someone else.
