By hiding your IP address, a VPN enables you to access geographically restricted content. You can easily find a VPN for gaming, network operators, and YouTube, and there is even a VPN for anime websites. What they do is secure your IP, online activities, and data from third parties by encrypting it.

A VPN could, however, leak your IP address or location due to technical issues. A VPN can be useless if it doesn’t protect your security. So, how can you detect if your VPN is leaking your IP address?

How To Test Your VPN Connection

Although IP or DNS leaks are difficult to spot, you can check a VPN’s functionality by following these recommendations.

The Most Typical VPN Errors

For several reasons, a VPN might not function properly. However, because of IP or DNS breaches, the majority of VPNs jeopardize user security.

The most frequent VPN leaks include:

DNS Leaks

Use a VPN service that ensures security from IP and DNS leaks at all times. A VPN’s security weakness is a DNS leak.

DNS requests that are not protected by a VPN are known to the ISP. It implies that the servers at your ISP are aware of both your identity and the websites you are viewing.

If someone is using your traffic to their advantage, they can quickly acquire your information and launch a DNS check attack.

IP Address Leak

If your VPN doesn’t hide your IP address, your security is seriously jeopardized.

A VPN replaces your original IP address with one of its own, preventing anyone from seeing your true IP address and learning what websites you are accessing online.

However, an IP leak happens if a VPN is unable to protect your IP address.

Any hacker may simply monitor your location and the websites you are visiting in the event of an IP address leak.

How Can an IP Leak Be Tested?

Follow the easy procedures below to test for an IP leak:

To find out what your real IP address is, disconnect from your VPN.

Enter “what is my IP address?” into the Google search bar.

At the top of the screen, pay attention to the number that is mentioned.

Open your VPN application, sign in, and choose a server.

To match your new IP address with the old IP address, repeat the step one more time.

Your IP address is leaking if your new address is the same as your old (prior) address.

How To Fix Various VPN Leaks

Do not worry if you are having a VPN leak. By following a few easy steps, you can fix your VPN leaks. If you frequently experience VPN leaks, it is best to switch VPN providers and rely on a trustworthy VPN service.

Fixing an IP Address Leak

Disconnect your VPN connection and turn off your Wi-Fi in case of an IP address leak. Just a minute later, activate your Wi-Fi router and establish a VPN connection.

Open your VPN and connect to a different server if your IP address leak is still not resolved.

Run another IP address test right now to confirm the security of your connection.

Additional Reasons Why Your VPN May Not Function Properly

There are various reasons why your VPN may not be operating at its full potential, in addition to DNS and IP address leaks.

Here are a few of the most frequent explanations for why your VPN could not function.

Your browsing speed has significantly slowed down.
The server may be overcrowded if you observe that your surfing 
performance is poor after connecting to a VPN.

You are intrinsically vulnerable to a VPN virus that is built into open networks if you are currently utilizing a free VPN.

Those intrusive advertisements include dangerous code that could attack your network.

Your VPN service lacks an internet kill button, and your connection keeps disconnecting.

Only an Internet kill switch can protect your data if your network suddenly goes down.

Find another VPN service if your current one crashes frequently and lacks a kill switch.

Conclusion

A VPN is necessary to ensure online safety, so if it isn’t functioning properly, you need to make sure your security isn’t in jeopardy.

To protect your online activity from hackers, you should always actively check for IP and DNS leaks. Additionally, you should use a reliable VPN provider.