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

Anonymous
2016-07-27T20:31:21+00:00

When I have a privacy VPN active (such as Private Internet Access - PIA) I can't access the cloud features on Office 365 (such as online templates, OneNote sync to the cloud, Excel or Word saving to OneDrive directly, etc). I have tried 3 different VPN solutions: PIA, NordVPN and VPNArea and they all exhibit the same issue. Is there a way to solve this or to tell Office to bypass the VPN?

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-01-22T02:42:03+00:00

    My concern with adding a gateway to the TAP adapter is whether it actually has any impact on how data is routed. By adding a gateway am I directing traffic to the gateway instead of via the VPN connection?

    Also, specifying the local network gateway is kind of awkward for me, since I'm using a VPN on various untrusted networks that are probably mostly using different IP schemes.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-01-23T19:18:22+00:00

    Yes, this is kind of my concern too - I'm not an expert, and don't really understand what adding the gateway actually does in practice, and whether, as you say, it's negating the point of having a VPN, or has some other unintended security consequence etc.

    Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-01-23T21:27:36+00:00

    I've tried every fix posted. While I had some success with several, none were completely satisfying. For example, saving to OneDrive would work, but I'd have to select a Canadian server to access Amazon. I realized that I was spending time troubleshooting and trying rather then working. I ended up switching away from NordVPN to HotSpot Shield Premium (I don't have any connection to them other  than being a customer) and am very satisfied. It works. I don't think about it. And I work more efficiently. HotSpot offers a freemium service. After testing I chose Premium and "ate" my NordVPN fee. I know that's not for everyone and I felt like I had wasted money, but the gains in peace of mind and performance have been worth it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-01-25T19:46:23+00:00

    Buy a MacBook.  OneDrive connectivity with Office365 is not an issue with iOS.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-01-25T20:11:21+00:00

    Success!  Thanks for your contribution!

    After more than a year of struggling with this issue and striking out with both Microsoft Office and OneDrive support techs...I was relieved to discover Mac Wheeler's resolution to this issue

    (https://www.macwheeler.com/windows-10-office-365-cannot-connect-over-openvpn-fixed/).   Assigning a default gateway address to the IPV4 protocol works like a charm!  I used 198.162.1.1 and it immediately resolved the issue.

    I have wasted many hours of time with MS Office support techs who were absolutely clueless.  OneDrive support is not reachable by phone and they too are clueless; point the finger at their Office support colleagues.   It is amazing to me that the Sr. Software Engineer I last spoke with at Microsoft was completely unaware of the issue and any solution for it.   It causes one to ponder how internally fragmented the MS organization might be.  Frankly, it ought to be a bit embarrassing that Microsoft has allowed this issue to cause so many users so many problems for so many years.

    By the way, Office365/OneDrive connectivity through a VPN has never been an issue for iOS MacBook.

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