Author Topic: Avast blocking internet access?  (Read 15625 times)

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Offline S. Livermore

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Avast blocking internet access?
« on: November 30, 2018, 04:40:14 PM »
I have run Avast Free Antivirus for YEARS, on both my home computers (desktop and laptop(s)) and my computer at work.  Never had a problem with it until a couple of weeks ago.  Suddenly I had no internet access at work (home computers were just fine).  I made NO changes to any of my settings.  I could get email, I couldn't SEND email, but I could get it.  I re-booted a number of times and I'd have internet back for appx 5 minutes before it would go offline again.  I reset our modem and router, I bought a new ethernet card, nothing helped.  On advice from a friend I uninstalled Avast, and guess  what?  I had internet back!  So no I'm running without any virus protection.  I need virus protection, but I'm hesitant to reinstall Avast until I know this isn't going to happen again........  I've looked in the support section but find nothing about Avast disabling internet access.  Anyone have any ideas?

Offline Pondus

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2018, 06:48:47 PM »
Quote
I have run Avast Free Antivirus for YEARS
What Avast .... Free or one with firewall?

Latest version?
tried repair and reboot?


« Last Edit: November 30, 2018, 08:37:23 PM by Pondus »

Offline S. Livermore

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2018, 09:22:47 PM »
Yes the free version, and yes, I tried to repair and re-boot--internet worked for 5 minutes then I showed to be off-line, tried a full re-set of my network and re-booted, same thing--access for 5 minutes then off-line

Offline bob3160

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2018, 09:44:45 PM »

If Repair doesn't fix the problem, try the following:
Clean Install of Avast:
https://goo.gl/4Ptzkf
If you need additional help with the Clean Install, watch this:
https://youtu.be/p-h3myRD51A

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Offline apurohit8

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2018, 07:43:21 AM »
I'm having the same issue on my wife's computer. Bought one before, ran into some issues (possibly due to hardware defect) so now we have a replacement. The other issues are resolved, but we ran with Win-Defender for about a week. Just installed Avast, and "eventually" we saw the internet connection was killed after some time (far more than 5 minutes). How do I know it was Avast? Because I disabled it and then the connection came back...

Again, it's not frequent, but it's annoying as hell.

Please don't suggest "clean installs" or whatever, because I have tried those before with no solution. Besides, this is a brand new machine, just a basic minimal install, and nothing else. Again, the machine ran fine for a week or two without Avast, and had no issues... and the day after installing Avast this happens again. Admittedly, our general purpose machine (the one I'm typing this on now) is running fine again... don't know what fixed it on here, but it doesn't have the problem anymore. But, as posted before here https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=222690.msg1480467#msg1480467 it also had a problem.

Sounds to me like Avast is losing it's quality... very disappointing to see...

Any REAL ideas or solutions are welcome.

Offline bob3160

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2018, 01:15:08 PM »
I'm having the same issue on my wife's computer. Bought one before, ran into some issues (possibly due to hardware defect) so now we have a replacement. The other issues are resolved, but we ran with Win-Defender for about a week. Just installed Avast, and "eventually" we saw the internet connection was killed after some time (far more than 5 minutes). How do I know it was Avast? Because I disabled it and then the connection came back...

Again, it's not frequent, but it's annoying as hell.

Please don't suggest "clean installs" or whatever, because I have tried those before with no solution. Besides, this is a brand new machine, just a basic minimal install, and nothing else. Again, the machine ran fine for a week or two without Avast, and had no issues... and the day after installing Avast this happens again. Admittedly, our general purpose machine (the one I'm typing this on now) is running fine again... don't know what fixed it on here, but it doesn't have the problem anymore. But, as posted before here https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=222690.msg1480467#msg1480467 it also had a problem.

Sounds to me like Avast is losing it's quality... very disappointing to see...

Any REAL ideas or solutions are welcome.
What version of Avast ??? Free or Paid ??? What other Security software came with this new computer and how was it removed ???
You say that it happens on occasion maybe it's time to check with your ISP to make sure you aren't having problems on that end.
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Offline apurohit8

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2018, 02:41:50 AM »
Avast Free

McAfee came installed on the machine originally. I uninstalled it via Windows, then rebooted, then ran MCPR to remove all traces of it, then installed Avast.

The older laptop, our two cellphones on Wifi, and our smart TV have no issues with the network connection when this new laptop loses the connection. As I mentioned we saw a similar issue with the old laptop before... and it just "fixed itself"... presumably because of a definitions update... but the new one had it the other day, as I mentioned.

Keep in mind, this is similar to the problem reported by the OP... clearly it's not a unique issue.

Offline bob3160

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2018, 03:49:20 PM »
Avast Free

McAfee came installed on the machine originally. I uninstalled it via Windows, then rebooted, then ran MCPR to remove all traces of it, then installed Avast.

The older laptop, our two cellphones on Wifi, and our smart TV have no issues with the network connection when this new laptop loses the connection. As I mentioned we saw a similar issue with the old laptop before... and it just "fixed itself"... presumably because of a definitions update... but the new one had it the other day, as I mentioned.

Keep in mind, this is similar to the problem reported by the OP... clearly it's not a unique issue.
Since the free version doesn't contain a firewall, I highly doubt that the internet blockage is due to Avast.
It's your Firewall that controls internet access.
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Offline DavidR

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2018, 04:25:31 PM »
<snip>
Keep in mind, this is similar to the problem reported by the OP... clearly it's not a unique issue.

Bear in mind, that:
A.  This is a support forum and we get all sorts of issues reported some related to Avast other not.
B.  Unfortunately the OP hasn't got back to the forum despite suggestions in Reply #3.
C.  If there is a conflict, disabling one part of the conflict will resolve the conflict, but not 100% identify the culprit.

For sure it is frustrating as hell.
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Offline apurohit8

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2018, 02:13:32 AM »
Understood. But I'm still not getting any help to fix this... the connection dropped for my wife again today. I can't expect her to troubleshoot this herself, so I don't know how else to get this going. I'm thinking of removing Avast again, and seeing if that fixes it... that would prove that it's an interaction on Avast. And, it's frustrating to see this and not be able to troubleshoot it.

Again, I'm a LONG time user on various machines, and never had such issues... not sure what else to do. VERY disappointing.

Offline Luukjr

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2018, 10:10:03 PM »
Understood. But I'm still not getting any help to fix this... the connection dropped for my wife again today. I can't expect her to troubleshoot this herself, so I don't know how else to get this going. I'm thinking of removing Avast again, and seeing if that fixes it... that would prove that it's an interaction on Avast. And, it's frustrating to see this and not be able to troubleshoot it.

Again, I'm a LONG time user on various machines, and never had such issues... not sure what else to do. VERY disappointing.

Before you remove avast I would like to ask you if you have Malwarebytes installed on your computer.
My computer has also crashed today, after removing Malwarebytes it works fine again.
OS: Windows 10 Home
Soft: Avast Premium Security  / Avast Cleanup / Malwarebytes Premium

Offline apurohit8

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2018, 03:33:34 AM »
Before you remove avast I would like to ask you if you have Malwarebytes installed on your computer.
My computer has also crashed today, after removing Malwarebytes it works fine again.
Nope... like I said, it was a clean, brand new machine. McAfee was the only thing installed, which I removed and MCPRed as well. Nothing else on the machine.

Software-wise, it currently has a subset of the software I have on my "main" laptop, which is working normally now (it had internet issues, as I mentioned, but they are now resolved). So, at worst, the new machine has the same software... yet it's the one having issues. Of course, the hardware is different... but I need info on how to troubleshoot further to provide any real feedback. If someone can tell me what I can collect or test, I'm happy to do so...

Offline apurohit8

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2018, 12:40:11 AM »
Again just a few minutes ago - internet connection dropped out. Wifi still showed connected, but there was no actual connection (couldn't get anywhere... even to devices on the home network, as the printer app pops up to show that it lost connection too, which is a sure sign of the issue). Disabled all Avast shields, and the connection came back. Re-enabled the shields and the connection remained working.

Again, is there any way I can provide logs or whatever to prove this is happening? Otherwise, I can't imagine how Avast can fix this...

Offline bob3160

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2018, 02:19:53 PM »
Reported to Avast. Let's see if that helps.
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Offline Jiří Šembera

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Re: Avast blocking internet access?
« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2018, 04:09:55 PM »
Hi apurohit8,

does disabling only webshield help to resolve the issue? And when the connection drops, what is the CPU usage of AvastSvc.exe (in TaskManager - Details tab)? We released a defective VPS a couple of weeks ago (181113) that broke network connections and caused a high CPU usage (more info here --> https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=223203.0). Can you make sure you are running a newer one and update it if not?


Jiri