"The client shows connected, the icon is green, the latency test even shows a few dozen milliseconds, but every website in my browser just spins forever" — this is one of the most common things people ask us about. It looks like a single symptom, but the underlying causes are scattered across everything from system settings to the node itself. We've put together the 8 most common real-world causes, ranked from most to least frequent — working through them usually takes just a few minutes to pinpoint the problem.
First, Check Whether It's a "Fake Connection"
"Connected" in the client's interface only means the encrypted tunnel to the node server was established successfully — it does not mean that node is actually forwarding traffic properly. This is the key to understanding everything below: the client usually isn't trying to mislead you, it just isn't checking deeply enough.
The 8 Real Causes, One by One
- The system proxy was never actually turned on. v2rayN requires you to manually enable "System Proxy" from the tray icon, and v2rayNG requires granting VPN permission on first connect — both show a clear icon or status indicator. If you don't see it, your traffic isn't going through the client at all.
- The node itself has stopped working. Free or cheap node servers often get their IPs blocked en masse, and the client's latency test sometimes only confirms a successful handshake — not that the exit is actually working. Switching to a different node and re-testing is the fastest way to rule this out.
- Bypass-Mainland detection is misclassifying a site as "local." Some clients in "Bypass Mainland" mode incorrectly classify certain services as "local" and force them to connect directly — if that particular service happens to also be restricted, it looks exactly like "the proxy isn't working." Test once in Global mode to quickly tell whether the issue is the routing rules or the node itself.
- DNS lookups aren't going through the proxy. In some setups, even if your traffic goes through the proxy, DNS queries still use your local ISP's DNS, returning a tampered or incorrect address — which shows up as a page that just won't load or loads the wrong content. Turning on "DNS via Proxy" (or a similarly named option) in the client usually fixes this.
- A separate proxy setting in your system or browser is conflicting. Windows' "system proxy" and a browser's own "independent proxy setting" are two separate switches — if your browser has its own proxy disabled or pointed at an old address, turning on the client's system proxy won't affect that browser at all. Check your browser's network settings for a leftover manual proxy configuration.
- A local firewall or security software is blocking the local port. The local proxy port the client opens can occasionally get blocked by antivirus software or firewall rules, especially the first time you run it after installing. Temporarily disabling your security software to test is a quick way to rule this out.
- The protocol or transport is being detected and blocked on your current network. Different networks (home broadband, office network, public Wi-Fi) interfere with specific protocols to different degrees — the same node might work fine on a different network. This usually requires your provider to switch transport protocols; there's only so much you can do from client settings alone.
- The subscription's node info doesn't match the actual server anymore. Sometimes a provider updates server details on their end, but your client is still using an old cached node. Running "Update Subscription" again to refresh with the latest node info often fixes this immediately.
When to Switch Nodes or Clients
If every node under the same subscription has the same problem, and you've confirmed it's not a local setting issue, the subscription itself is likely low quality or being heavily interfered with — switching providers will save more time than continuing to troubleshoot. If only one client behaves oddly on a particular OS version, try a different client from the download page to cross-check and rule out a client-specific compatibility issue.
Network troubleshooting rarely has a single universal fix — it's mostly about narrowing things down through elimination. Treat this article as a checklist and work through it from the top whenever something goes wrong, and it should cover well over 95% of the connection issues you'll run into in everyday use.