This guide addresses the common question, “What should I do if v2rayNG won’t connect?” It provides a checklist covering your mobile network, node details, system permissions, and client settings. It’s useful if you can’t connect after importing free nodes or a subscription, can connect but can’t open webpages, or fail latency tests.
1. Check your network environment first—don’t rush to change the configuration
Many connection failures aren’t caused by a faulty node. Instead, your phone’s current environment may not meet the requirements for running a proxy. Check the following in order to avoid repeatedly uninstalling and reinstalling the app.
- Make sure your network is working: Close v2rayNG and open a local website in your browser. If regular webpages won’t load, switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
- Check your system time: An incorrect time or time zone can cause TLS handshake failures. We recommend enabling “Set time automatically.”
- Turn off other proxy tools: Don’t run Clash, Surfboard, an accelerator, or your system VPN at the same time, as this may cause port conflicts.
- Check battery restrictions: Some Android systems kill background processes. Allow v2rayNG to run in the background in the app settings and disable battery optimization.
- Make sure Private DNS or unusual ad-blocking rules aren’t enabled. If you can’t connect, temporarily disable them and try again.
2. Check that your nodes and subscription are set up correctly
If your network environment is fine, check your nodes. Free nodes can become unavailable due to expiration, congestion, or regional network conditions. We recommend keeping several free nodes from this site on hand to test in rotation rather than relying on just one.
- If importing manually, make sure you copied the entire link, without extra spaces, line breaks, or Chinese punctuation.
- After importing a subscription, open the top-right menu and select “Update subscription” to make sure you have the latest list.
- Long-press a node and select “Test current configuration’s real connection” or “Test all configurations’ real connections.” Don’t rely on latency values alone.
- If you see timeout, EOF, or connection refused, try another node first. If all nodes fail, check your device settings.
3. Key settings in the v2rayNG client
Open v2rayNG, select a node on the left, then tap the circular button in the bottom-right corner to connect. The first time you connect, a VPN connection request will appear. You must tap “OK.” If no prompt appears or the connection drops immediately, check the VPN permissions in your system settings.
Recommended settings: Start with “Bypass LAN and mainland China addresses” for the routing mode, and avoid enabling too many custom rules while testing. If per-app proxy is enabled, make sure the apps you want to use, such as your browser, Telegram, or YouTube, are selected. If you’re not familiar with DNS settings, leave them at their defaults. If you’ve changed a lot of options, the easiest fix is to back up your nodes, clear the app data, and import them again.
4. Quickly identify the problem based on the symptoms
Connected, but can’t access overseas websites: This is usually a routing, DNS, or per-app proxy issue. Try another browser first, then turn off per-app proxy. Tests keep failing: The node may be down, your subscription may have expired, or your current network may be blocking the connection. Try a different network and node to compare. Disconnects immediately after connecting: Check battery restrictions, VPN permissions, and whether another proxy is already running.
In practice, try these steps in order: switch networks, update your subscription, try another node, and finally reset the client settings. This is the quickest way to determine whether the problem lies with your network environment, node quality, or v2rayNG itself.