Problems accessing some web sites through VPN in Windows 8

Once I upgraded to Windows 8, I recreated a VPN network connection to access our office file shares, printers, etc.

I started to notice small issues accessing web sites such as Office 365 Web Mail and others.  At first it it was only 1 or 2 web sites, but as I kept working more from home or from hotels it seemed that I was hitting more sites that were blocked.  As soon as I disconnected from the VPN, the sites were fine.

It turns out that when I added the VPN, the default option is that it is a “Public” network instead of “Private”.

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Where it says “Private network” it used to say “Public network”

The problem is that Public networks have more Windows 8 security rules associated with it and it blocks things such as web mail or heavy scripted pages.

In Windows 7, we would change it right on the spot as there used to be hyperlink that allows you to change it right away.  In Windows 8 it is a little more more cumbersome but not terribly so…

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Access the network settings side panel (either through the “charms bar” (silliest name ever…) and then Settings then Network, right click on the VPN network connection and select “Turn Sharing on or off”.  If in Desktop mode, just click the network icon on the task bar system icons area.

Enable sharing for home or work networks so that you can access all web sites.

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Hope this helps someone.

3 thoughts on “Problems accessing some web sites through VPN in Windows 8

  1. I have the same problem, but choosing “yes turn on sharing” does not fix it. In fact, I am not sure what I did but I do not even have the option anymore when I right-click the VPN connection.

  2. I have the same experience and your fix doesn’t work for me.
    Even if I click on “turn on sharing”, the network remains private. In fact I am not sure what I did but I do not even have the option anymore when I right-click the VPN connection.

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