What can leak in a three second gap?
More than you would guess. Messengers ping their servers to stay reachable. Cloud drives upload the photo you just took. Weather and news widgets refresh on their own schedule.
Each of those requests carries an IP. If the tunnel is down and nothing stops them, that IP belongs to your home line or your carrier. With the switch on, they wait in line and leave through CoxVPN a few seconds later.
When does the tunnel usually drop?
Everyday moves cause most of it. Your phone hands off from mobile data to home Wi-Fi as you get in. A laptop wakes up after a night in sleep mode. You ride a subway car between stations with a weak signal. You pick a new city on the server screen.
Networks can force it too. Some campus and hotel networks reset long encrypted connections every so often.
Where will I find the switch?
It is part of Basic, Plus and Pro at no added cost. Our apps are still being prepared, and the switch will live in their connection settings.
On Android, the system adds a second guard. In system settings, set CoxVPN as the always-on VPN and turn on the option that blocks connections without it. Routers are different. If yours runs our WireGuard profile, its own firmware sets the drop behavior, so look there.
- Windows, Mac and Apple mobile devices: open Settings, go to Connection, flip Kill switch
- Android: our switch first, and in system settings mark CoxVPN as Always-on VPN with Block connections without VPN
- Router: the WireGuard section of your firmware
How do I get traffic moving again?
During a block, pages spin and the app reports that it is reconnecting. Usually it comes back on its own. If it takes too long, tap a different server.
Pressing Disconnect yourself releases everything at once. Holding only applies to drops you did not ask for.