Connection timeouts occur for various reasons, such as temporary ISP drops, the assignment of a new IP address, or issues with an ISP upstream provider. When these interruptions happen, a device may reconnect and expose your real IP address if the VPN does not reactivate before the connection is established.
To prevent this, Private Internet Access (PIA) includes a kill switch feature. If your connection times out, the kill switch prevents your device from reconnecting to the internet without the protection of the PIA VPN service. This ensures your privacy and security remain protected at all times.
Kill Switch Options
The PIA app enables the standard VPN kill switch by default. However, you can select the Advanced Kill Switch to ensure you cannot connect to the internet before the PIA app launches. This maintains your security and privacy during system startup or app launches.
Enabling the Kill Switch
To enable the kill switch option, follow these steps:
Open the PIA app.
Select Settings.
Select Privacy.
Select the Always option under the VPN Kill Switch section.