Kill switch has turned out an essential security feature for VPN. If your virtual private network does not have a kill switch, internet users might have to look for a new VPN provider.
In the instance, one’s VPN connection drops for any reason, a kill switch will immediately shut down the user’s internet connection. Thus, playing the role of a crucial VPN security feature, the kill switch ensures that the user data does not leak outside the VPN tunnel or be exposed online unencrypted – that may turn dangerous in many situations.
Using a VPN, the user’s internet traffic is routed to a secure server at a location of his choice over an encrypted tunnel.
Eventually, the user’s IP address will change to that of the server he is connecting to. This process not only allows access to geo-restricted content but also hides the user’s original IP address and internet traffic from ISP, government agencies, threat actors, and anyone who might be a threat to their online data.
Why do VPN disconnections occur?
Since no technology is error-free, even the best VPNs can have connection drops time and again. VPN disconnection happens for several reasons, some of which are listed below:
• The user is using a weak or congested Wi-Fi connection — like a public Wi-Fi hotspot in a coffee shop, hotel, or airport.
• User is switching to a different Wi-Fi network or switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data.
• The computer goes to sleep.
• An antivirus program or firewall on your computer is interfering with your VPN connection (in this case, make sure to whitelist your VPN software).
• User is jumping from one VPN server to another, or they are frequently switching from one server to another, exceeding their VPN provider’s concurrent connection limit.
• They use the OpenVPN UDP protocol, which is less stable than the TCP protocol (switch to TCP if you notice your VPN dropping).
• The VPN server they are connecting to is down.
• VPN app crashes.
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