EE Home Hub vs VPN

[RoyNaismith]

I recently switched to EE and have a brand new router.  However, I've just noticed that it won't let me access VPN websites.  I've checked that it's not my device causing the block, but the router somehow.  I've tried switching off IPv6, switching on port clamping and changing the DNS server addresses, but to no avail.  Can anyone suggest router settings which might be causing this issue?  To be clear, I can access the web perfectly fine... just not ExpressVPN or NordVPN etc.  The VPN is not switched on (my account has expired). 

[Ewan15]

@RoyNaismith I have a EE Pro Router. I pretty much use the router as out of the box. I can access various VPN sites such as Nord and ExpressVPN without issue. Have you tried clearing your internet browser cache?

[Matt_124]

Do you know if Parental Controls are enabled on the router?

[RoyNaismith]

I've cleared cache, tried other browsers, tried other computers... same results.  

[Ewan15]

@RoyNaismith Have you gone into the EE App and checked to see if parental controls are enabled or Safe Search is switched on?

[bobpullen]

Agree with others that this smells like a Parental Controls issue. Given the mention of 'Port Clamping', I'm assuming you're using a BT Smart Hub 2 or EE Smart Hub? If so, your parental controls will probably be via the BT/EE DNS platform.

If you know how to, try configuring a machine to use third party DNS (e.g. Google - 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4) and then see if you can access the sites in question. If you can, then it's a sure fire sign it's Parental Controls.

Alternatively, from a Windows command line, try a lookup against the affected sites using both BT/EE's DNS and a third party's and see what IP addresses it returns.

To check against BT/EE: -

> nslookup nordvpn.com 81.139.57.100

To check against third party: -

> nslookup nordvpn.com 8.8.8.8