Hotspot Shield VPN not working since AVG update

Am I being too cynical here thinking that it is because AVG is now selling a VPN service that I'm now having problems with my VPN? For the past week I've struggled with AVG using 95% of CPU and 1.25GB of memory (after recent update and reboot). Repair did not work so I had to do a full uninstall and reinstall. All went fine but since doing that if I try to use my  (Hotspot Shield) VPN, although the app shows I'm 'connected', any website I try to open, eventually times-out. Not only that; if I try to connect to help on AVG app, even that says I have no internet connection. It seems that AVG is taking exception to my VPN app. (is that because it now sells it's own VPN service?  Or is there something I can do to get my VPN working again. (paid up for 2 years anyway). I have tried to 'whitelist' the app but it still doesn't work.