Have you ever thought about why you use a VPN? Why to even pay more for using a VPN over the internet when you can do without it? Well, we all know without a doubt that the first thing that comes to mind is security when pondering over the reasons why we use a VPN. What many people have no clue about are the facts that underlie this biggest reason. Understanding a VPN is very important for a VPN user to make full use of it. First things first, it actually is a hide-out to put it very simply. The VPN cliche that Virtual Private Networks are great for security is incomprehensible without quoting the fact that it changes your original IP address and lets you access the restricted sites by spoofing your location over the internet. Quite simple? Yes, it is. But as they say that every good trickster always knows how the whole trick works, a good spoofer over the internet also knows the whole mechanism.

So, lets know a bit more about it.

Why use a VPN?

One of the most popular pseudonyms for a VPN is a ‘savior’ . Why? Because it’s that service which gives you the whole package of privacy. To quote a fact, if we sit trying to count the restricted websites, we’d sit until elephants lay eggs. But, using a VPN can unblock all restricted channels in a blink of an eye. It hides your true identity, perhaps fulfilling your teenage fantasy of taking one of the aliases of Dr.Who. You can always trick a website into thinking you are in the existing part of the world. Of course, that’s pretty illegal, but we have got no other choice. You can also get away with annoying advertisers any time who track you down. However, you do have one concern amidst this fantasy-land which is ‘IP leak’.

Well, this is why we are here, to give you some nice VPN solutions. So, here’s the solution for this problem. Test out your VPN’s IP leak and we will help you out further. Now, this is where you need to know the deeper facts that underlie which many users don’t know and get caught for being naive. You may be using the best VPN, but a new feature has come out in the market called WebRTC, Web Real Time Communication, which can reveal your real IP address. The key is not to leave that job all on just a VPN. Servers and systems do not guarantee anonymity, you can have your IP and DNS Leak anytime. It has become easy for cyber criminals and they are always on their look-out to exploit your privacy, but there is something you can do to prevent IP and DNS leak.

What’s WebRTC?

This is a newly exposed security flaw which is built in browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and such. This is what gets you in trouble. If you are using a browser that supports WebRTC, you are at a disadvantage because it reveals your true IP address, no matter you are connected to a VPN or not.

You can disable WebRTC on the browser. But, it will interrupt apps and features like chat, microphone, and your camera. To enable them again, you will have to enable WebRTC temporarily. We won’t get into the technical complications of how it works, so let’s just quickly see what else is affecting our VPN connection.

Also Read: Best VPN for Torrenting

DNS Server Leak and IPv6

One way your VPN can leak your IP address is through DNS leak. You cannot always trust the DNS server that’s given by your ISP. Therefore, it’s better to use a VPN that has its own DNS server, even then it’s not too safe. Another drawback could be because your VPN is not supporting IPv6. IPv6 is a protocol and it uses 32-bit addressing, which means there are about 32 devices with unique public IPs. However, with the change in technology and a wide usage of internet, IPv6 introduced 128-bit, so now we have about 128 available IP addresses. For websites that support these protocols, it gets easy for them to leak our information. VPNs that do not support IPv6 get you in trouble, they fail to underpass website’s request and so the browser leaks your true IP address.

Dropped Connection

Another common leak that you can face is the dropped connection. If your VPN disconnects suddenly, all of your web traffic will then be routed through your regular connection. But, this is the easiest to prevent. With a kill-switch VPN feature, you can get away easily. If you disconnect your VPN, it will instantly stop your connection and reconnect you to the VPN.

What Can You do to Avoid it?

Do not expect your VPN provider to look into this issue, because there are easy ways you can get away with this hassle. This is what you can do to fix this problem;

You can use a VPN that offers its DNS server and has built-in DNS leak protection. Disable WebRTC manually on the browser. Get a VPN that supports IPv6 or at least does some working behind the scene. Otherwise, you can just disable IPv6 manually. Look for a kill-switch feature in your VPN.

How To Know If Your IP is Leaking?

Since we have talked about the multiple reasons why we face IP and DNS leak and what is there for us to do to avoid this problem. We can now talk about the tools to test IP leak and ways to fix DNS leak.

You can find a lot of websites online that can help you test if your IP is affected by the above-mentioned issues. In less than a minute, you can find out whether there’s IP, WebRTC, or DNS leak. The steps are easy, let’s look at them.

Write down your assigned ISP IP address and DNS server address on the website, make sure you are not connected to your VPN. Now, connect your VPN and go back to the same testing website. In this test, it should display a new IP address that matches with your VPN and selected country. Similarly, do this on a WebRTC testing website and see if the address is different or not. You may also check your ip address through our very own tool.

This issue is definitely something to consider because even if you are using the right privacy tricks while using a VPN , you can still get in trouble if you’re not smart enough like a tech-savvy or at least know the tips mentioned in this post to start with. Take control of your own privacy and be safe with your online activity. We are sure now that you can easily prevent those privacy-infringing tools from getting in your way with these tips. It’s time you make sure you use the internet safe and sound.