Network issue while launching Free Fire after India ban: All you need to know

Free Fire, alongside 53 other applications, faced a sudden ban in India on 14 February. After more than two weeks, the ban is still active, but the popular battle royale shooter's servers are still online in the country. Hence, many players can still access their Free Fire accounts in India even after the ban.

The reason behind the accessibility of the Free Fire servers is the availability of the MAX variant in India. The Indian government excluded the former from the ban list, and therefore, players can still spot it in the Google Play Store. However, some users have started reporting network issues with Free Fire.

Users in India are facing issues whenever they launch the game on specific networks.

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Free Fire's network issue prohibits users from accessing the BR shooter

Users can still access the game on some networks (Image via Garena)

In India, certain telecom companies blocked Garena's BR shooter over their network as news of the ban came out. These companies include Airtel and BSNL, while others have also started blocking the game.

Whenever users open the game, they come across a pop-up that says "Network Connection Error" due to the blockage. Hence, the ban on Garena's flagship battle royale game is slowly taking effect.

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How to resolve the issue?

Can the Network issue be resolved? (Image via Garena)

The issue arose due to the ban on Garena's popular survival shooter by the Indian government. There is no legitimate way to access the game in India, and therefore, users are advised to shift to the MAX variant.

Some players use VPNs to access the popular game by changing their location. However, they should note that using the VPN can prove to be a threat to their data, and they can also lose access to their player IDs.

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Why was the game banned?

Why did the ban happen in India? (Image via Sportskeeda)

As mentioned earlier, the Indian government's recent ban on 54 applications included Garena's wildly popular BR game. The ban was related to security as applications (primarily Chinese or clones of previously prohibited apps) allegedly stole sensitive user data and sent it back to their servers in China.