Adobe & other subscription software and VPNs

[DanK]

I had an issue this weekend with Photoshop that I suspect is an issue with some other subscription software as well.

Adobe goes back to the server periodically--I vaguely recall once every 30 days--to check your subscription. This weekend I got an error message saying that there was a problem with my internet connection and my subscription couldn't be verified. There was nothing wrong with my connection. It seems that the problem was that I was connected via a VPN, as I often am when away from home, and sometimes at home as well. I think this stopped Adobe from finding my IP address. I closed the VPN and tried again. This time Photoshop said it encountered an error and had to restart, and when it restarted, it was fine.

I'm posting this because there was nothing in the error message suggesting a VPN, so you might not think to try that if you encounter the same problem.

[Manfred M]

Dan - I have not had this exact same issue, but have had some VPN and connectivity issues lately that I suspect are due to the overloaded local loops from my ISP. I've checked with my brother who is a system administrator who confirmed some of this.

A lot of online activity requires a "handshake" between devices to ensure that the connectivity is working. These transactions have to occur within a specified time or the system one is trying to communicate with can time out. My VPN provider generally runs at speeds that are somewhat less responsive than connecting directly with my ISP (nicely said, it is typically about half of what I get going through my ISP directly and does vary with the VPN server I have connected through). So yes, not using the VPN is sometimes a fix.

I have been seen more of these time-out events than I used to and when I check the connectivity speed at the time (via Ookla Speedtest), the usually occurs when my internet upload speed is running slowly (right now it seems to be around 10% of what I am paying for).

I am told that the cause is likely local network traffic issue; too many people online chewing up either the WiFi channels or hard wired neighbourhood loop with Netflix and other streaming downloads. Supposedly fiber optic connections don't have this issue as they connect directly to the local distribution hub, but they can be limited by bandwidth bottlenecks at the downstream connection. My brother has fiber optics to and throughout his house and gets hit by slowdowns from time to time as well.

[DanK]

Manfred,

Under good conditions, I've found that the speed loss from using is minor. E.g., right now, on my home computer, my download speed without a VPN is 68 mb/s, and with the VPN it's 60. What takes a great deal longer, however, is the handshake. When I run a speed test with the VPN, the system sits there for quite a while looking for the 'optimal server.' This is with a fiber connection. The problem arose in a setting with a cable connection, not FIOS.

I didn't run a speed test at the time, but I was having no signs of slow speeds otherwise. So, I'm guessing that it is the handshake that's an issue. I don't usually have a VPN up when I am editing photos, but if this happens again, I'll run speed tests with and without the VPN to see.

Dan

[lunaticitizen]

Are you comfortable with troubleshooting VPN configuration? Your issue might be caused by your VPN software blocking an internet protocol called "IPv6".

[DanK]

Thanks for the suggestion. I use Cisco AnyConnect, which supports IPv6, and both IPv4 and IPv6 are both set similarly. The configuration is maintained by my university, so I have no way to see which IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are blocked, but I wouldn't know which one it has to reach for Adobe anyway. If this happened a lot, it would be worth investigating further, but given how rarely this has happened to me (once so far), it's simpler to close the VPN on the very rare instances when I have this problem. It only has to be closed until Creative Cloud has checked in to the server. It should be possible to reestablish the VPN connection after that and keep working with the Adobe app, though I didn't check this.

I just wanted to alert others because the error dialog that pops up gives no clue that a VPN might be the problem.

[lunaticitizen]

OK, but your sysadmins might want to know that their VPN machine (I'm guessing it's either a Firepower or an ASA) might be misconfigured.

Or maybe it's how the sysadmins configured it: to block access to Creative Cloud (among others).

[DanK]

OK, but your sysadmins might want to know that their VPN machine (I'm guessing it's either a Firepower or an ASA) might be misconfigured.

Or maybe it's how the sysadmins configured it: to block access to Creative Cloud (among others).

Thanks. for now, I'll just wait to see if it recurs. It's not really a problem for me. I just posted to alert people to check to see if this is the problem if they get an ambiguous message that Adobe can't reach the server to verify their subscription.

I realized this morning that the school is switching from Acrobat Pro to Acrobat DC, so if there is a general problem with blocking CC, it will show up soon enough.