It will not allow me to play without the vpn. I tried again today without it and got the same error. Unable to connect to lobby 2002. I reconnected my vpn to a usa server and logged in without any issues.
Playing with a direct connection to my router, no wifi. Windows 7 64bit. NBN max speed package with internode. All drivers up to date. not sure what other information is even valid since this seems to be location issue judging by the fact it seems to only effect australians and other Oceania players.