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Kudos0

Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Norton 360 and Utilities Premium are on both of my Windows PCs (old Acer laptop running Win 7 Home Premium - SP1   and  new Dell desktop running Win 10).  The browser on my Acer laptop is Google Chrome and on my Dell desktop it's Microsoft Edge (which was on it when new).

When Norton Secure VPN was turned On, I was able to browse the totalwireless.com website... but I was Not able to Login to 'my account' at totalwireless.com ___ I typed in my email address as usual, and take care of the "I'm not a Robot (reCaptcha)" thing, but when I clicked Login, it only said: "Processing. Please DO NOT refresh the page or go back." ... in white lettering... which then faded away... and it wouldn't go any further.  There were NO error messages that appeared from either Norton or from my browser or from totalwireless.com

This same inability to Login occurred with both of my Windows PCs.

However, when I Turned OFF Norton Secure VPN ... I was easily able to Login to my account at totalwireless.com without any trouble at all.

I tried changing the VPN (Region) settings from "Auto (United States of America)" to just "United States of America" and that didn't help.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?  Had Norton Tech Support hear of this problem before?  Any solutions?

(At this point, I'm reluctant to install Norton anti-virus / anti-malware OR Norton VPN on our new Android cellphones because I don't want to encounter the same problem with trying to login to my account at Total Wireless when we're out somewhere far away from our two Windows PC computers... where temporarily turning off Norton Secure VPN is our ''work around.")

Replies

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Please review: 
https://www.howtogeek.com/403771/why-do-some-websites-block-vpns/

Websites often block VPN access for legal or copyright reasons.  There is nothing a VPN provider can do to get around these blocks.  Contact the individual web sites to see if they block VPN access.  Many sites do this for legal/copyright reasons.  A VPN service does not block access to any sites.  There is no white/black lists for sites.  Web sites have the right to protect their content.  And sometimes there are legal reasons for blocking access to users from a different geographic location. (credit peterweb)


Why would you want to hide your location from a wireless carrier that knows you, that knows your phone's location?
Maybe, Total Wireless is trying to protect you from bad actors trying to access your account.  
What's Total Wireless say? 
In my experience.  Retailers want to provide localized webpage content. 
IMO Total Wireless wants to know your true location.  
Maybe, trial other VPNs if you want to hide your location from a phone carrier that knows your phone's location. 


Certain websites that depend on identifying users for legal purposes (think PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, etc.) have to be able to locate a user based on their IP address. If a user commits fraud that may be the only way to ensure a resolution can be created for the victim.

By blocking VPNs these sites can ensure that if something nefarious happens on their platform, they can try to do something about it.

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

I've been using Norton Secure VPN for privacy reasons when browsing and for visiting websites of various service providers where I have accounts so that my ISP isn't able to compile a log of my online activity.

There are a distinct minority of websites that I interact with where Secure VPN causes problems.  TotalWireless.com is apparently one of those websites that won't allow their customers to Login when the customer is using a VPN... (the site won't even allow a customer to get beyond typing their UserID; and it simply won't proceed to the next screen where the customer would type in their Password).

One concern I have about this is what would be an inability to Login to my account at TotalWireless when using Norton Secure VPN while I am away from home (and using my own laptop computer from a hotel room, over a public Wi-Fi connection).

Question: Is there some way to Add totalwireless.com to a list within the Norton Secure VPN program where it would automatically turn Off the VPN when visiting that website, and turn the VPN back on when leaving that website?

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Question: Is there some way to Add totalwireless.com to a list within the Norton Secure VPN program where it would automatically turn Off the VPN when visiting that website, and turn the VPN back on when leaving that website?

No.  You may exclude apps not websites.   


Route applications using Split Tunnel in Norton Secure VPN
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v137513095

Curious, what does Total Wireless say? 

Try other VPNs.  

I've been using Norton Secure VPN for privacy reasons when browsing and for visiting websites of various service providers where I have accounts so that my ISP isn't able to compile a log of my online activity.

Do you run Norton Security Products? Norton Security/360?
https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/privacy/product-privacy-notices/#norton-security-products
Do you run Norton browser extensions? 

Norton Secure VPN
https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/privacy/product-privacy-notices/#norton-secure-vpn

Does a VPN Really Make Your Online Activity Private?
https://www.howtogeek.com/717587/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private/

VPN Myths Debunked: What VPNs Can and Cannot Do
https://www.howtogeek.com/753661/vpn-myths-debunked-what-vpns-can-and-cannot-do/

Two key reasons to use a VPN are:

  • To help protect your online privacy by masking your IP address
  • To help secure your online activity by encrypting the data associated with it

When you browse the Web, you leave a digital footprint of your activity through your IP (Internet Protocol) address. Web browsers commonly store your browsing history, and tracking cookies & pixels are used to record various aspects of your browsing and shopping behavior for later use in advertising.

If you use public Wi-Fi, you’re on a shared network with other users who could access your browsing information through the shared connection.

A VPN helps with both of these things. When you connect to a VPN, your browsing activity appears to come from the IP address of the VPN server rather than your own. Your browsing activity is also encrypted, so the data sent and received in your online activity is encoded.

https://us.norton.com/products/norton-secure-vpn 

VPN - a Very Precarious Narrative
https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative.html

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

Thanks, bjm_ !  I appreciate that you provided all the articles (websites) where I can read more about VPN's. ___

As an aside, I too have experienced what ScottSlocum mentioned in his post "Norton VPN complicates web login"... with Amazon.com and other shopping sites.  I understand why they're requiring extra measures to login (which typically involve verfication actions sent to a user's email, such as a multi-digit Code which the user must then type-in back at the shopping site's login webpage   OR   a multi-digit Code sent as as Text message to the user's cellphone which must be typed in back at the shopping site's login page.  These extra measures are a way to provide a more secure multi-factor login authentication... and are intended to prevent a bad actor (someone other than the "real" user) from logging into the user's account via an IP address that may be used by hundreds if not thousands of people... even if the bad actor should be in possession of the user's actual login credentials (which the bad actor likely stole somehow).

P.S. --- I may have some more questions or comments after I read through those articles you provided.

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

ScJacks:

As an aside, I too have experienced what ScottSlocum mentioned in his post "Norton VPN complicates web login"... with Amazon.com and other shopping sites.  I understand why they're requiring extra measures to login (which typically involve verification actions sent to a user's email, such as a multi-digit Code which the user must then type-in back at the shopping site's login webpage   OR   a multi-digit Code sent as as Text message to the user's cellphone which must be typed in back at the shopping site's login page.  These extra measures are a way to provide a more secure multi-factor login authentication... and are intended to prevent a bad actor (someone other than the "real" user) from logging into the user's account via an IP address that may be used by hundreds if not thousands of people... even if the bad actor should be in possession of the user's actual login credentials (which the bad actor likely stole somehow).

Yes, I've experienced the extra layers to access Amazon with Norton Secure VPN on.  
When I questioned Amazon why Amazon needs more factors to know it's me beyond my login credentials.  Amazon customer representative told me that Amazon has less data to know it's me with VPN on. 

Caveat:  I seldom run Norton 360 Secure VPN on.   

Internet tracking: How and why we’re followed online
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-internet-tracking.html

The Many Ways Websites Track You Online
https://www.howtogeek.com/115483/htg-explains-learn-how-websites-are-tracking-you-online/

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

The radio ads I hear for a (competitive) VPN to Norton Secure VPN say in layman's terms what I believe all VPNs are designed to do:  they "Anonymize" you when you're browsing the web.  So, with some websites, even though a person is trying to login with their Username and Password, the website either won't let them login (e.g., TotalWireless.com) or will require an additional step to authenticating the person is who they say they are (e.g. the person will have to type in the numerical Code that's sent to them as a Text message to their cellphone (which is part of their account profile at that website) or in an Email to to their email address (which is also a part of their account profile at that website).

These are extra security measures to try and ensure that a hacker that might've stolen that person's login credentials cannot access their account at that website, because the hacker's attempt to do so is coming from an IP address that is not the legitimate person's usual IP address... (which is also what happens when using VPN software).

Incidentally, bjm_, do you know whether Norton Secure VPN uses a technique that some VPNs use called "Whack-A-Mole?" (or does Norton have a particular Fixed set of VPN servers that they use over-and-over again?)

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

ScJacks:

Incidentally, bjm_, do you know whether Norton Secure VPN uses a technique that some VPNs use called "Whack-A-Mole?" (or does Norton have a particular Fixed set of VPN servers that they use over-and-over again?)

Sorry, no idea...never heard "whack-a-mole" technique. 
Lets hear from Community
 

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

So when do I use VPN software? Honestly, it’s when I want to pretend to be located in another country to get around arbitrary geo-blocking that limits access to certain websites. (There are videos I like to watch that are blocked from the United States; when I use a VPN that broadcasts an IP address from another country, I can access the video.) But, like Consumer Reports, I’m of the opinion that a VPN does not protect my Internet surfing from prying eyes. Instead, it simply moves that risk from your ISP to the VPN vendor.  As Consumer Reports notes, instead of using VPNs, prioritize blocking ads or trackers with tools like Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin.

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3647762/vpns-and-browsers-staying-secure-while-online.html - JAN 24, 2022

Kudos0

Re: Norton Secure VPN prevents login to My account at totalwireless.com

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