With an explanation that says “error connecting to a VPN connection”, the VPN Error 720 might seem like something that will only take a quick fix. In truth, each of the fixes takes a bit of know-how to apply and the solutions are limited, making it one of the more complicated VPN issues that companies encounter. We’ve listed them all, however, and you can try each to find out exactly what’s going on.
Fix #1: Switch to different VPN software in case of a fresh install
Unlike the similarly-complex Error 812, which often comes up after an update to a system, the Error 720 often hits users as soon as they’ve installed a VPN. Because of this, and since there’s no telling which VPN you are using and how good it is, we tend to recommend that users try another VPN as their first solution.
Ivacy VPN has worked exceptionally well in our office from the moment we’ve had it set up, and it definitely wouldn’t hurt to try and use it as an alternative to your current software if you’re looking for an immediate fix. Reinstalling your current VPN software might also help, though it’s not as likely and you’ll probably have to get deeper into the system tweaking to resolve Error 720 once it’s come up.
Fix #2: Reset the TCP/IP Protocol on your machine
Errors that go away after unplugging and replugging a device or restarting a system is great, but Error 720 isn’t one of them. There is one thing you can do that falls just short of this when it comes to easy solutions, however.
Open the command prompt by pressing Windows Key + R, typing in “cmd” without the quotation marks and hitting enter. Once you’re in it, type in “netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt”, again without the quotation marks, and press enter. This will reset the TCP/IP Protocol, which should be followed by a reboot of your machine. If the Error 720 still hasn’t gone away, it’s time to start looking into the more in-depth fixes.
Fix #3: Change the IP address of your VPN server
This one will require you to change the adapter settings of the VPN you are using. While it’s fairly straightforward, it might require you to reach out to either your ISP or the VPN provider to find out which numbers you should have in. Still, there are a few that work in most cases.
In the Network and Sharing Center in your Windows machine, find your way to the VPN connection, go to Change Adapter Settings, then the Incoming Connection and open its Properties. Under Networking, open Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), then open its Properties and select Use the following IP address. As we mentioned above, you should know your router’s IP address, but the standard values to enter are either 255.255.255.0 or 192.168.11.XX, with the XX usually being either a “0” or a “00”. Try each of these methods by confirming with OK, restarting the VPN and reconnecting to see if Error 720 is still coming around.
Fix #4: Reinstall your WAN Miniports by letting Windows create each of them
In the Device Manager menu, open the Network adapters section. Here, you’ll find a list of your WAN Miniports. Oftentimes, there can be anywhere from 5-10 or even more listed here.
You’ll need to have each of them reinstalled, which is done by right clicking on each individual WAN Miniport and pressing Uninstall. However, you’ll need to make sure you’re uninstalling all of the old WAN Miniports and not the newly-installed ones over and over again. Once all of the WAN Miniports have been uninstalled, right click on each of them and press Scan for hardware changes, which will cause Windows to do a fresh install. If the Error 720 is still coming up after you’ve done this, restarted your VPN and tried to reconnect, talk to your network administrator to see what’s the next step.
