Norton Hotspot Privacy has not functioned reasonably when connecting to the internet. Although the software indicates that it connects with a VPN server successfully, there appears to be a problem. No internet browser can connect to the internet through the VPN channel.
Observations:
If Norton Hotspot Privacy is disabled, then any internet browser can effectively connect to the internet.
If Norton Hotspot Privacy is uninstalled, then any internet browser can effectively connect to the internet.
If Norton Hotspot Privacy is reinstalled and active, then no internet browser can connect to the internet.
If Norton Hotspot Privacy is active, then (lately) openvpnas.exe consumes an unusual amount of CPU resources ranging from 20% to 60%, continuously.
When Norton Hotspot Privacy is active the internet just does not work.
When Norton Hotspot Privacy is trying to establish a secure connection the total data secured exponentially increases by hundreds of MBs per few seconds while the operating system adapter does not reflect such.
Observations: When Norton Hotspot Privacy eats the CPU, the ethernet adaptor data sent is about 166 Mbps. However, the ethernet adaptor indicates that the maximum capacity is 10.0 Mbps. In addition, the wireless adaptor indicates maximum capacity of 6.0 Mbps. The computer does not have a wired connection.
When analyzing the circumstances I noticed an exceptional amount of network traffic sent via Norton Hotspot Privacy IPv4 Ethernet adaptor for unknown reasons. This in turn just consumed the CPU and generated a hefty power bill, courtesy of Norton Hotspot Privacy.
Hypothesis: If Norton Hotspot Privacy is IPv4 and IPv6 compatible and if IPv4 is disabled, then the Norton Hotspot Privacy would communicate over IPv6.
To test this hypothesis I went to the Norton Hotspot Privacy Adapter 6 and disabled the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Almost immediately potential positive results were observed. First, all unknown traffic to IPv4 in the amounts of about 200 Mbps ceased, resulting in the end of the unusually high CPU consumption. Second, the internet was finally accessible under these unique circumstances.
Within two weeks if no other potentially confounding lurking variables are found this could be endorsed as the solution for these circumstances.
There appears to be an underlying cause that has yet to be identified. Could there be a compatibility issue with Windows 8 especially since Norton Hotspot Privacy was recently endorsed for Windows 8? The problem frequently occurs during the “handshaking” phase of connecting to the VPN servers.
If openvpn.exe gets caught in an error loop and one disables Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) within the Norton Hotspot Privacy Adaptor, Norton successfully connects claims to successful connect with a VPN server and then runs very smoothly.
If Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) within the Norton Hotspot Privacy Adaptor is disabled, especially on cold reboots, Norton Hotspot Privacy Adaptor is unable to establish a connection with a VPN until immediately when Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) is re-enabled.
Therefore, I am lead to the believe that there may be an error with the Norton Hotspot Privacy Adaptor for Windows 8 Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) which is beyond my scope.
Looking for a Norton Hotspot Privacy software engineer to help resolve this important matter.
I spoke with engineering team and it sounds like your machine is not assigning a default gateway. This can cause it to go into a loop of sending data through the local machine instead of out to the internet. Please see this link to find and set your gateway...
