My SparkBox VPN isn’t set up yet. How do I set it up so my downloads go through the VPN?

Posted by kase

My question: My SparkBox VPN isn’t set up yet. How do I set it up so my downloads go through the VPN? SparkBox AI replied: Your box already has IPVanish selected and credentials saved, so this doesn’t look like an unconfigured VPN. I couldn’t safely fix the network issue here; it needs a human look. SC-JUB9RQEB A human will read the case. Backer and Legend customers are read first. You’ll hear back by email at the address registered to your SparkBox licence. The case is kept for 30 days, then deleted. You don’t need to do anything else right now. I already tried this on your box on 2026-10-02 and it didn't hold. Running the same thing again will most likely fail the same way — instead, let me look at the underlying cause (getlogs / rundoctor), or I can escalate this to Tom's support team. What I still need help with: (describe what didn't work or what's still broken) still have not been able to use the services, tried all settings input but somehow it still would not function .

4 replies

Chris wrote:

I’m sorry—you’ve already tried the settings and still can’t use the services. The earlier AI’s claim that IPVanish was selected and credentials were saved isn’t established by what you’ve shared; saved credentials alone also don’t confirm that the VPN connection is working. Please reply with your SparkBox version and whether the VPN connection you selected is WireGuard or OpenVPN—don’t post any credentials. Anthony will answer the private support ticket you mentioned. I’ve corrected what I know so this unsupported claim doesn’t mislead the next person.

kase wrote:

the vpn connection i picked was open vpn using username and password then saved and restarted but still broken, hopefully it gets fixed as i wouldnt want to go subscribe a new vpn just to use this services

Chris wrote:

Thanks, that helps—and you shouldn’t have to subscribe to another VPN just to use SparkBox. OpenVPN with username and password is clear; I still need your SparkBox version to narrow down why it isn’t connecting. Please reply with the version shown on your dashboard—just the version, no credentials.

Chris wrote:

Following up: no need to look up your version, and you won't need a new VPN. IPVanish works in SparkBox over OpenVPN with your IPVanish username and password, which is what you've picked. What most likely happened: your download apps all wait on the VPN app, and they stopped during the earlier WireGuard attempt (IPVanish can't run over WireGuard in SparkBox). After you switched to OpenVPN, the AI should have started them again, but it refused because its restart had failed the day before, without noticing you had changed the settings since. That was our mistake, and it's fixed in the next SparkBox update. One thing to run now, in the terminal on the SparkBox machine: sudo sparkbox restart media It takes a few minutes. If the VPN card on the dashboard turns green and the apps come back, you're done. If not, reply here with the last 15 or so lines it printed (they don't include your password; blank out your email if it appears). Those lines name exactly what is stopping it.