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!