okay, problem solved.
I connected my router to another computer and figured
out it wasn't my router or the server.
then I realized that since the VPN was using a different
network adapter to connect, that maybe it was my network
adapter causing the problem.
Resetting the services didn't seem to matter.
So since reinstalling the network adapter didn't work,
I installed a NIC card, and that works fine.
So I'm going to file this issue as a possible corruption
of my network adapter and or the infrastructure connected
to it.
Thanks for your help khaled!