Office 365 cloud features do not work when using a privacy VPN

Hi, I received this reply from Nord and tried it and it worked. Note the instructions are not exact but close enough to follow.

I hope this wasn't special for me and if everybody does it, it will crash :)

Thought I should share though.

I agree we shouldn't have to do this kind of fixing like it was 1988 again, but oh well.

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Please complete the following steps to resolve the issue: 

1. Open the Network and Sharing Center by right-clicking the network icon in the system tray and selecting it.

  2. Go into Change adapter settings.

  3. Right-click the TAP-NordVPN Windows adapter V9, and open Properties.

4. Highlight the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and open its properties.

5. Click Advanced... 6. Click Add.. under Default gateways. 7. Type in 192.168.0.1 and click Add. 8. You should now see the 192.168.0.1 under your Default Gateways. Click OK to apply changes and reconnect to the VPN.

"By the way, since we've highlighted the fact that nobody "buys" a VPN and it's always strictly a "subscription" that's paid based on a period of time (albeit sometimes "for life"), I'm guessing that with the great reputation NordVPN has they would not fight very hard if a user asked for a refund on the remainder of their subscription based on the fact that it's not working properly with Office 365. They know it's a huge problem."

Do you have any evidence of the assertion that they are aware of it? It would be hugely helpful in a pending complaint.

Well, to start, there are the voluminous posts in this very long forum thread in which users ask NordVPN tech support for suggested solutions and NordVPN tech support tries to provide a range of possible solutions, and the fact that in many cases those proposed solutions didn't work.

There's also the fact that there's a page on the NordVPN support site specifically to address this:

https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Troubleshooting/1280231272/Using-Microsoft-Office-and-OneDrive-while-connected-to-NordVPN.htm

And a quick Google search on "nordvpn office 365" will reveal a lot of results as well:

https://syapps.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022506431-Office-365-No-Internet-Connection-NordVPN-and-OpenVPN

https://www.reddit.com/r/nordvpn/comments/a3b9bt/onedrive\_and\_office\_365\_not\_working\_or\_not/

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/windows-7-office-365-no-internet-connection-when/7efe18c7-c058-4dbf-82d2-c008808f9b6a

After dozens of emails between myself and NordVPN senior-level tech support, during which none of their proposed fixes worked, the tech at NordVPN finally gave up and sent me a link to an online forum similar to this one and essentially said it's a known issue and can't always be fixed.

Trust me, they know it very well. Sometimes their proposed fixes do work, as this forum thread shows, but, as it also shows, often they do not.

If you ask them for a refund based on this issue and they try to get into troubleshooting instead, my suggestions would be to tell them you've lost a lot of time researching and troubleshooting it already and are well aware that it's a widely known issue that many people cannot resolve, and explain you just want a refund.

If that doesn't work, I'd politely but firmly ask to have it escalated to "senior" or "level 2" tech support, and I’d show them the above links and this forum thread we're in (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice\_other-mso\_win10-mso\_o365b/office-365-cloud-features-do-not-work-when-using-a/b6002038-744a-4d94-a6db-89d4338e99d4).

I doubt they'll deny you a refund.

"By the way, since we've highlighted the fact that nobody "buys" a VPN and it's always strictly a "subscription" that's paid based on a period of time (albeit sometimes "for life"), I'm guessing that with the great reputation NordVPN has they would not fight very hard if a user asked for a refund on the remainder of their subscription based on the fact that it's not working properly with Office 365. They know it's a huge problem."

Do you have any evidence of the assertion that they are aware of it? It would be hugely helpful in a pending complaint.

By the way, since we've highlighted the fact that nobody "buys" a VPN and it's always strictly a "subscription" that's paid based on a period of time (albeit sometimes "for life"), I'm guessing that with the great reputation NordVPN has they would not fight very hard if a user asked for a refund on the remainder of their subscription based on the fact that it's not working properly with Office 365. They know it's a huge problem.

Yes of course they do Sir. Because all the time, people are buying VPNs, finding problems then coming to this site for help, not snarky comments. 

If ur buying a VPN there is no way on earth you woukd worry about whether it will work with One Drive (or anything else). Why would snyone. Why would anyone but an IT expert know that (and we know that even some of them have been caught out!)

People have slready bought their VPN. Let’s just try to help them indtead of giving thrm a hard time

Are you done?

This isn't YouTube where people get into parochial, contentious nonsense in the comments section. This is mainly a forum for tech professionals, although it's here to help everyone in need and anyone is welcome.

Unless you're a moderator of this forum?

The title of this thread in no way suggests that it's about NordVPN in particular, and the OP even states they've had problems with three VPNs -- PIA, NordVPN and VPNArea -- and are looking for any solution that will work regardless of whether that means going to another VPN service.

And many using NordVPN and other VPNs are on "monthly" subscription plans that max out at about $12.99/month per four or five devices on average -- not a big cost compared to losing dozens of hours over weeks, often in vain.

By the way, for all the others here, I guess my earlier comment that PIA may work fine should be qualified by the fact that OP does, in fact, state that it caused them problems. And now that I think about it, I tried it also and decided not to stay with it, which may have been due to the interface but I "think" was due to performance issues.