What to Do If Your VPN Disconnects?

If your VPN connection drops, your real IP address and data may become exposed. Here’s what you can do on Windows to minimize risks and protect your privacy.

Manual Steps in Windows

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Delete any default routes:
   • This removes existing default gateways that could route your traffic outside the VPN.
3. Allow internet access only to your VPN server’s address:
   • This ensures only the VPN server is reachable directly, blocking other connections.
4. Add a default route with the VPN server as the gateway:
   • For example: 192.168.0.1 is your internet gateway, 55.55.55.55 is your VPN gateway.

Automatic Protection Tools

• VPNetMon: This program constantly monitors your computer’s IP address. If your VPN IP is no longer detected, VPNetMon instantly closes specified applications. It reacts so quickly that these apps won’t establish a new connection using your real IP.
• VPNCheck: VPNCheck helps you stay secure if your VPN connection drops. It can disable your main network connection or close selected programs. VPNCheck continuously monitors your VPN adapter for changes. You can connect to any PPTP or L2TP VPN with VPNCheck (OpenVPN support is available in the paid version).

DNS Leak

When using a VPN service, you’d expect all your traffic to be routed securely. However, in rare cases, a “DNS leak” can occur. This means that instead of using the DNS servers provided by your VPN, your system might send DNS requests through your default DNS servers, potentially exposing your browsing activity.

To check if your system is vulnerable to DNS leaks, visit dnsleaktest.com.

Stay safe and make sure your VPN and DNS settings are properly configured to protect your privacy online.