If you’re experienced in working with the backend of computers, our favorite VPN service, ExpressVPN, has put out its testing tools on GitHub. Both do a fine job of showing you what you need to know, but since we like ’s interface a little better, we’ll be using that one for the purposes of this article. There are a number of tools to choose from: Our favorites are -owned by AirVPN-and, which is owned by VPNArea. Now that we know what we’re looking for, let’s take a look at how we can detect these three types of leaks. Changing servers should fix it, but if it happens regularly, you probably need to change VPNs. They happen when your DNS requests are sent to your standard DNS servers directly without going through the VPN and using the VPN’s DNS servers. Last but not least are DNS leaks, which are quite common, and even high-end VPNs will occasionally suffer from them. If this happens, you can disable WebRTC requests with a browser extension. As this goes on, occasionally, a browser can accidentally reveal your IPv4 address and with it, your location. WebRTC leaks are a different issue: In the words of ExpressVPN Vice President Harold Li, Web Real-Time Communication ( WebRTC) is a collection of standardized technologies that allows web browsers to communicate with each other directly without the need for an intermediate server. If your VPN has neither, then get another. The only good way to prevent this is to upgrade to a VPN that uses IPv6 protection or has the option to shut it off. With the IPv6 connection effectively unprotected, the site can see your IP address. You won’t see too many of these, if ever, as they only happen when a VPN fails.Īccording to Dimitar Dobrev, founder of VPNArea, IPv6 leaks happen if both you and the website you connect to support IPv6, but your VPN only supports IPv4. An IPv4 leak is when the VPN fails to protect your connection, pure and simple. (We have an article on the difference between IPv4 and IPv6). IP leaks come in two flavors: IPv4 and IPv6 leaks. There are three types of leaks that you can easily detect with simple tools: IP leaks, WebRTC leaks, and DNS leaks. When a VPN broadcasts your IP address instead of that of the VPN’s server, that’s called a leak. Thankfully, there are a number of free tools available on the web that can help you track down these issues and deal with them. However, VPNs aren’t bulletproof: There are some problems that can pop up in even the best of VPNs that can potentially reveal your IP address to the sites or services that you visit, thus rendering your VPN useless. If you want to keep yourself undetected while browsing, they’re an important part of your toolkit, although you’ll also need to use Incognito Mode and follow some other steps for anything resembling anonymity. In short, VPNs are services that will let you connect to the internet through their servers, effectively changing your IP address and partially protecting you from tracking by your ISP and any websites that you visit. You need no special knowledge to do so, so let’s get started.
There are several free tools that allow you to test your connection’s security and determine whether or not your VPN is doing its job.
Thanks to WebRTC, everyone can see my real IP address and I can't disable in google chrome.If you signed up to a VPN and want to make sure it’s safe to use before browsing the web, then the best way to do so is to test it yourself. The only thing that really leaks my real IP is WebRTC. It is really a shame, though, that my VPN provider does not support IPv6, yet. While I'm certain that old VPN Softwares leak IPv6 IPs, I can't say that for all VPN softwares I use: OpenVPN (on Linux and Tunnelblick on Mac) and Mac's built-in VPN software (which supports L2TP over IPsec and PPTP). I'm also interested in knowing which VPN softwares they tested. If I didn't know what IPv6 and VPNs are, I might think it IPv6 is bad, too. I'd even say that if I picked 100 people I know, less then 20% know what a VPN is.įurthermore, the article makes IPv6 sound bad. I don't know anyone but me who uses a VPN. > " used by around 20 per cent of European internet users they encrypt users’" I can't agree with many facts in that article: