What kind of performance/speed issue are you experiencing?
· Other
Please try to reboot your Roon Server
· No, the issue is still the same even immediately after a reboot
Please try to reboot your networking gear (Router/Switches/etc.)
· No, the issue is still the same even after a reboot
Is there any change in behavior if you try to navigate to Roon Settings -> Library and set both Background and On-Demand Audio Analysis to Throttled or Off?
· No, the issue is still the same
Does the issue happen on multiple Roon Remotes (controllers) or just one?
· Issue happens only on one remote while others work as expected
Please try to restart your Roon Remote (controller) app
· No, the issue is still the same even after a restart
What is the operating system of your Roon Remote (controller)?
· Windows
Reinstall Windows/MacOS Roon Remote App
· No, I am still having the issue even after reinstalling
Router Domain Name System (DNS) change
· I was able to change my router's DNS servers but it did not help
What is the operating system of your Roon Server host machine?
· Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK)
Timestamp of issue occurrences
· Issue appears to have started within the last several days
Describe the issue
The Roon client has become very slow to load on my Windows 11 notebook. It attempts to launch, but takes up to 10 minutes to finish loading. It loads virtually instantaneously on two different iPads. The core is running on ROCK OS on an Intel NUC. The notebook is connected via a wired Ethernet connection. The iPads are connected wirelessly to the network. I don't know if perhaps NordVPN is in some way impacting it. The slowness occurs regardless of whether the VPN is active or inactive.
Thank you for reaching out and providing such a clear description of the issue. You have excellent instincts—your suspicion about NordVPN is almost certainly the key to what’s happening here.
I reviewed your diagnostic logs, and they show a very distinct pattern. Your Windows 11 notebook (192.168.1.239) is getting trapped in a rapid connection loop with your ROCK server. The notebook connects, the connection is immediately severed, and the notebook connects again. This loops multiple times a second, which is why the app appears to “hang” for up to 10 minutes before finally stabilizing enough to load the interface.
Because your iPads connect instantly, we know the ROCK server itself is healthy. The bottleneck is strictly on the Windows notebook.
Even when NordVPN is set to “inactive” or disconnected from a remote server, its background network services and filter drivers remain active on your PC. Features like Threat Protection, Web Protection, or a Kill Switch will aggressively intercept and inspect local network traffic. They often misidentify Roon’s constant, high-speed local communication as a threat and silently sever the connection.
To resolve this loop, please try the following steps on your Windows 11 notebook:
Disable Threat Protection: Open the NordVPN app, go to the security settings, and completely disable “Threat Protection” and/or “Web Protection”.
Check LAN Visibility: Ensure any setting within NordVPN related to “Invisibility on LAN” is turned OFF. Roon requires your PC to be fully visible on the local network.
The Ultimate Test (Uninstall): If tweaking the settings inside NordVPN doesn’t immediately fix the loading time, the most definitive test is to temporarily, completely uninstall NordVPN and reboot your PC. This completely removes their network filter drivers.
Windows Firewall: While you are testing, double-check that the standard Windows Defender Firewall isn’t also blocking Roon. Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Firewall & network protection > Allow an app through firewall and ensure Roon is checked for both Private and Public networks.
Would you mind testing these VPN adjustments and letting me know if the Roon app snaps back to its usual instant loading speed?
Thank you so very much for your detailed instructions. They were tremendously helpful.
I began by disabling Threat Protection and I confirmed the “Invisibility on LAN” was not enabled. The problem persisted. I next uninstalled NordVPN entirely, but the issue continued. It continued to take a very, very long time for Roon to load. However, while troubleshooting I believe I found the problem. While reviewing the network connections I found over 100 inactive connections for OpenVPN Data Channel. Similarly, when I looked at the Network adapters in Device Manager there were also over 100 inactive OpenVPN Data Channel Offload drivers identified. It was this posting in the community that led me to look at this.
I uninstalled each of the OpenVPN Data Channel Offload drivers. I then reinstalled NordVPN and voila! Roon is working great once again. It loads very quickly versus the 10+ minutes it was taking previously. And everything in the network connections looks clean.There is just one OpenVPN Data Channel Offload driver and network connection identified. Interestingly, other applications that were also slow to load, although nowhere near to the extent that Roon was taking, are functioning much better. This was defintely degrading performance across the spectrum. It was just the most obvious with Roon.
I’ve not yet re-enabled Threat Protection or Web Protection in NordVPN. I’m going to ensure everthing is stable and that I don’t see a recurrence of the OpenVPN Data Channel Offload drivers being created before I add any further variables into the mix.
It makes complete sense that this was the exact culprit. Windows was likely trying to cycle through or initialize that massive list of phantom network adapters every time Roon (or any other network-heavy app) attempted to establish a local connection, creating a massive system-level bottleneck.
Thank you for sharing this specific fix here in the thread. It is incredibly valuable information that will undoubtedly help other users who might run into similar VPN-related driver bloat in the future!
Please do keep us updated on how things run over the next few days, and definitely let us know if those duplicate drivers start multiplying again. For now, enjoy the newly restored speed!
I’m a couple of days post-cleanup of the phantom drivers and am pleased to report that all has been stable since. I’m monitoring the OpenVPN Data Channel Offload drivers and there remains just the one that was created with I reinstalled NordVPN. The VPN has also been much more stable and the apps that were problematic all continue to run well.
I’ve not yet enabled the Threat Protection feature, which I had been running in the past. I wanted to give it a few days to ensure all is stable before introducing a new variable to the mix. I’ll try that within the next 1-2 days and report back as to what I find. Until then, I’m enjoying having Roon back to loading quickly and functioning well!
