Please forgive me if I leave out crucial information in this post - it is my first to the community.
I just upgraded to the new 14" MacBook pro (M1 Pro), which is running macOS 12.0.1. I work in education, and my employer provides a VPN server to allow off-site access to certain resources. This was working fine on my old MacBook pro using the built-in VPN client (L2TP over IPSec).
On Monterey, I am still able to authenticate with the VPN server, and it shows that I am connected. However, when I try to access or even ping a resource that should be available via the VPN, it fails (Request timeout for a ping). The rest of the internet still functions as usual.
My IT department believes that iCloud private relay could be the issue. However, I do not use iCloud, and rather than having an "options button" in System Preferences -> Apple ID -> iCloud -> Private Relay (Beta) I have an "upgrade" button. Everything is unchecked within Apple ID.
Any suggestions on how to get the built-in VPN client to function, or 3rd party alternatives that would allow me to connect via L2TP over IPSec, would be welcome.
This question has been answered here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253312106 but I do believe it means that all traffic will be sent over the VPN even if not strictly necessary?