Question: Leaking IP Address?

[praetserge]

I'm not good with this.
I use reddit with VPN and I have to wait for 12-15 mins between posts so I disconnect from VPN (and leave reddit window open) so I could do other stuff using my home IP.
The question is... am I leaking my home IP address?

 

[Turbo B.]

Maybe they detects VPN. Maybe VPN IPs are datacenter. Depends on what they are detecting.
Check with whoer.net

 

[praetserge]

Maybe they detects VPN. Maybe VPN IPs are datacenter. Depends on what they are detecting.
Check with whoer.net

I don't care if they detect my vpn... I don't want then to detect my home IP address.
I understand that they log my IP when I log in and that is it so my home IP address is not leaked.
Am I right?

 

[Turbo B.]

I don't care if they detect my vpn... I don't want then to detect my home IP address.
I understand that they log my IP when I log in and that is it so my home IP address is not leaked.
Am I right?

-https://ipleak.net/
-https://dnsleak.com/
-https://astrill.com/vpn-leak-test

Run on VPN and search your real IP in these.

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

-https://ipleak.net/
-https://dnsleak.com/
-https://astrill.com/vpn-leak-test

Run on VPN and search your real IP in these.

Those are tools, which test leaks, when you are connected to the VPN.

OP's not asking that, he's asking whether his ip leaks or no, after he disconnected from the VPN, while keeping the Reddit window open in the background and do other things elsewhere. The question is whether Reddit is sniffing in the background or no.

I'm not good with this.
I use reddit with VPN and I have to wait for 12-15 mins between posts so I disconnect from VPN (and leave reddit window open) so I could do other stuff using my home IP.
The question is... am I leaking my home IP address?

I don't know the answer, but i think, you should be able to use Wireshark for this purpose too to see, if there's any incoming connection from Reddit until the window is in the background. Probably it even depends on the browser, more particularly how inactive windows are handled.

 

[praetserge]

OP's not asking that, he's asking whether his ip leaks or no, after he disconnected from the VPN, while keeping the Reddit window open in the background and do other things elsewhere. The question is whether Reddit is sniffing in the background or no.

Thank you very much... You got my question correctly.

 

[NirvanaWolf]

VPNs have a kill switch. Switching that on would mean your internet won't work even if you disconnect from the VPN and work again when you connect to the VPN again. No chance of IP leak if you do this.

 

[Anon666]

Pretty simple way to detect is by seeing if the browser is making any requests to the website while you are not connected to the vpn. Open dev tools and the network tab, clear the logs then disconnect from the vpn. Do what you do and then come back to that original tab. See if you found any requests were made to the website. If there were any then those were made using you real ip if not then connect back to VPN and enjoy

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

VPNs have a kill switch. Switching that on would mean your internet won't work even if you disconnect from the VPN and work again when you connect to the VPN again. No chance of IP leak if you do this.

That would be one sure-fire way to prevent leaks, but just in case if he doesn't need internet while waiting for his turn to be able to post again on Reddit. But i'm sensing, OP needs internet connection to do other things between two Reddit posts, that's why he's disconnecting from the VPN in the first place. If he wouldn't need internet between two posts, there wouldn't be a need to disconnect from the VPN.

 

[Reddex]

I tested it with Fiddler, it seems like there are no requests coming in or out, if the window is minimized. But relying on that is not a good idea.
Most VPN software have split tunneling functionality, so you can set only specific applications to run through VPN, I'd look into that.
Or if they have a browser extension, you can create a new browser profile and have it connected to the VPN via extension.

 

[praetserge]

Pretty simple way to detect is by seeing if the browser is making any requests to the website while you are not connected to the vpn. Open dev tools and the network tab, clear the logs then disconnect from the vpn. Do what you do and then come back to that original tab. See if you found any requests were made to the website. If there were any then those were made using you real ip if not then connect back to VPN and enjoy

Thanks so much.
Bummer.... yeah, reddit sends some data in the background using my home IP address
But... they wouldn't recording new IP address with every request... would they?

 

[praetserge]

VPNs have a kill switch. Switching that on would mean your internet won't work even if you disconnect from the VPN and work again when you connect to the VPN again. No chance of IP leak if you do this.

That would be one sure-fire way to prevent leaks, but just in case if he doesn't need internet while waiting for his turn to be able to post again on Reddit. But i'm sensing, OP needs internet connection to do other things between two Reddit posts, that's why he's disconnecting from the VPN in the first place. If he wouldn't need internet between two posts, there wouldn't be a need to disconnect from the VPN.

I tested it with Fiddler, it seems like there are no requests coming in or out, if the window is minimized. But relying on that is not a good idea.
Most VPN software have split tunneling functionality, so you can set only specific applications to run through VPN, I'd look into that.
Or if the they have a browser extension, you can create a new browser profile and have it connected to the VPN via extension.

Correct, I need internet all the time.
For example, I'm replying to the posts while I'm waiting for reddit using my home IP.
Unfortunately, reddit makes requests in the background

 

[Reddex]

Like I said, setting up split tunneling (I use Windscribe VPN, you can easily enable it in the settings and add which programs you want to run through VPN) or using a browser extension would solve your problem.
Only that specific application would use the VPN, while every other application uses your home network.

 

[gnash]

I'm not good with this.
I use reddit with VPN and I have to wait for 12-15 mins between posts so I disconnect from VPN (and leave reddit window open) so I could do other stuff using my home IP.
The question is... am I leaking my home IP address?

To be sure that your real IP is going to be protected I would recommend you to use maybe proxies, I do know that some have manual rotation customiable within seconds, minutes or hours depending on your preferences. That way youll know for sure your real IP will not be leaked.

 

[Anon666]

Thanks so much.
Bummer.... yeah, reddit sends some data in the background using my home IP address
But... they wouldn't recording new IP address with every request... would they?

Every request a browser make has all the cookies attached to it, mos likely session cookies. And for security reasons (i would do it) sites keep track of the ip address those sessions cookies belongs to, that is done to stop cookie stealing attacks.
So pretty much if those requests have cookies and if those cookies are being validate on the server side to look for compromised account you might trigger some sort of a flag or something.

If i were in you situation i would run a vm with my vpn in it to all my vpn related stuff. And keep my Normal workspace Normal

 

[Starblazer]

You can create a browser profile for Reddit and add a public proxy in its settings. So, it'll work on VPN and fall back to public proxy (or a premium proxy). This will prevent the browser from sniffing your home IP address.