What should you do if v2rayNG won’t connect? This guide walks you through checking your local network, VPN permissions, node subscriptions, and DNS in order, and helps you distinguish between issues like “the app starts but webpages won’t load” and connection timeouts. Don’t repeatedly reinstall the app or change several settings at once. After each step, reconnect and test so you can identify the cause.
1. First, make sure your phone can access the internet
- Temporarily turn off v2rayNG and open a familiar website. If it still won’t load, troubleshoot your Wi-Fi or mobile data first.
- When connected to public Wi-Fi, check whether you need to sign in through a captive portal. Complete the sign-in before starting the proxy.
- Test the same node over both Wi-Fi and mobile data. If it fails on only one network, the issue may be related to network restrictions, your router, or your carrier.
- Set your phone’s date and time to update automatically. A significant time discrepancy can cause TLS certificate verification to fail.
Change only one thing at a time. For example, switch networks first without also changing nodes or DNS settings; otherwise, it’s difficult to tell which change made a difference.
2. Check VPN permissions and background operation
In v2rayNG, select a node and tap Start. When prompted for the first time, allow Android’s VPN connection request. If the VPN does not start, search for “VPN” in your system settings and check whether another VPN, ad blocker, or firewall is using the connection. These apps may conflict with v2rayNG, so stop them temporarily and test again.
If the connection works at first but drops when the screen locks, allow the app to run in the background in its battery settings, and make sure its mobile data usage isn’t restricted. Menu names vary between phones, so refer to the options available on your device. The VPN icon indicates that a local tunnel is active; it doesn’t mean the remote node is reachable.
3. Check that your node and subscription are valid
- Make sure you’ve selected the node you want to use. Importing a node alone doesn’t switch to it.
- If you use a subscription, update it from the subscription management screen or relevant menu, and check for download errors. An update failure doesn’t necessarily mean all your existing nodes are invalid.
- When importing a link manually, make sure you copied it in full and didn’t include spaces, line breaks, or chat text. If you’re unsure about an entry, delete it and import it again from the original source.
- Try a node from another trusted source. If only certain nodes fail, the node may be invalid, the server may be unreachable, or its parameters may not match. There’s no need to change your phone settings right away.
Free nodes can stop working at any time, and the free nodes provided on this site are no exception. Check whether they connect successfully. Don’t share subscription URLs, UUIDs, or complete node links in public group chats.
4. If the app starts but webpages won’t load, keep troubleshooting
Try opening several websites in your browser so you don’t mistake an issue with a single site for a proxy problem. Then check the current routing mode and temporarily switch to Global Proxy for testing. If Global Proxy works but split routing doesn’t, check whether the routing rules or rule resources are working properly. Switch back to your usual mode after testing.
If the logs show messages such as DNS or resolve, check your DNS settings. First restore the client’s default settings, then temporarily set Android Private DNS to Automatic and try again. Don’t layer multiple DNS configurations on top of each other. A timeout usually points to an unreachable network or an unresponsive node. TLS or certificate errors warrant checking your device’s time, node parameters, and client version. An error message can point you in the right direction, but a single word isn’t enough to determine the cause.
If the issue persists, update v2rayNG through the project’s official release channel, and note the client version, network type, and a redacted error log. When asking for help, explain which network fails, whether all nodes fail, and whether Global Proxy can access websites. This makes it easier to pinpoint the problem than simply saying “it won’t connect.”