VPN disconnects internet when I disconnect from it

VPN
1

Every single time I disconnect from my VPN, this happens:

  1. disconnect from vpn.

  2. internet works for about 20 seconds, then my wifi completely stops working. (not connected, no connections available)

  3. after about 10-20 seconds, it finally lets me reconnect to the wifi, and i have internet.

  4. then after about 10-20 seconds later, it will again, disconnect from the internet, and then reconnect a few seconds later.

i’ve tried two different VPNs, so i don’t think its them.
running windows 10 x64

why is this happening?

2

Make sure the kill switch if turned off before turning off the VPN

3

Most likely there is some sort of killswitch that is blocking internet when the VPN client disconnects. Especially the rapid disconnecting and reconnecting suggests that its a killswitch issue. The setting to disable it should be in the VPN client.

Less frequently, I have seen some VPN clients that change the DNS address to something that is only reachable when the VPN is connected, but then fail to revert the change when the VPN disconnects. Try checking the DNS Servers listed in the network settings in Windows. When the VPN is disconnected the fields should either be blank or set to your ISP default. Try setting it to 1.1.1.1 to see if that fixes it.

4

Go to native VPN settings and see if you chose any VPN as always ON. If there’s one, turn it off. Hope it solves the issue you’re facing.

5

Killswitch seems to be the answer. I had this happen once, and then I changed servers for my VPN, and did not happens again.

6

Hi,

did you try to check for incorrect date and time settings? Sound crazy but sometimes this can have an impact on the connection as well as the Timezone. After changing those, restart your VPN and see what happens (sometimes you should also uninstall and reinstall it).

So have a look and let me know.

Cheers

7

is that the same as “stop all traffic if vpn disconnects”?
if so, it didnt work

8

I put the VPN’s DNS setting to 1.1.1.1 and it fixed the problem.
but now I have a new problem, DNS leaking…

9

I don’t have the option to turn off the killswitch in my app. changing the DNS didn’t help

10

changed servers or changed VPN service?

11

Yep… this will cause a DNS leak, you can try DNSsec, DNSCrypt, but avoid DoH (DNS over HTTPS) its useless.

But, the VPN’s dedicated DNS server should work… does the provider list their DNS server IPs? And if so, did you try them?

12

hmm, i tried changing it to their DNS, but then I get the same problem happening.

13

nevermind! i didnt hit the correct setting for wireguard. thanks! problem successfully worked around, yay. thanks everyone