OpenVPN is a popular virtual private network (VPN) that uses a secure tunnel to encrypt your data traffic.
It is a great solution to protect your privacy and security on the internet.
However, it is not immune to ISP throttling, which can affect your internet speed.
Quick Answer
The OpenVPN Kill Switch is designed to protect you from ISP throttling. It terminates all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops, preventing ISP throttling.
We have created a step-by-step guide to help you configure the OpenVPN Kill Switch on Raspberry PI and other best practices for using this VPN on Raspberry PI.
What Is a VPN Kill Switch?
A VPN Kill Switch is a way of notifying a device when a VPN disconnects.
WHY DO WE NEED A VPN KILL SWITCH?
When a VPN connection disconnects, most apps and operating systems will disconnect from the VPN.
Although an application may detect the disconnect and retry to connect to the VPN, data can be leaked.
As a result, a VPN kill switch will keep a session open even if a connection is lost.
A kill switch ensures that the OpenVPN client does not disconnect from the VPN if a connection drops.
It ensures that the VPN connection is not terminated until a connection is re-established.
Benefits of a Kill Switch
A VPN Kill Switch offers some very useful security benefits.
First, it protects your privacy by disconnecting all traffic in the event that the VPN fails.
Third, it can help prevent your VPN connection from dropping.
RASPIbian OS AND OPENVPN
To test the kill switch, you’ll need to install both Openvpn and Rasbian OS on your Raspberry Pi.
The Rasbian OS image can be downloaded from the official Raspberry Pi website.
The OpenVPN setup instructions are available on the official OpenVPN website.
After installing both OS and OpenVPN, you can proceed to configure your Raspberry Pi.
How to Setup a Kill Switch on Pi Board
The Raspberry Pi’s OS is written in Python, and Openvpn has python scripts. The Kill switch script is designed to monitor for OpenVPN connections through the Pi’s syslog. The Kill Switch script is not meant to be run on other OSes, and the Pi’s OS is the only OS that could potentially impact the script.
The Kill Switch script is a Python script that monitors your system’s syslog for OpenVPN connections. If the syslog shows any OpenVPN connections, it shuts down the OpenVPN process. The syslog settings are specified on the command line:
sudo nmap -sT 100 192.168.0.1 -nP 10 sudo iptables -F sudo nmap -sT 100 192.168.0.1 -nP 10 sudo iptables -F 2.3.3.2
It’s vital that you specify the right IP, network, and port. If you specify wrong information, the script will not work.
The script by default checks every 10 seconds. You can increase it to 20, 30, or 60 seconds with the -l option.
The script works like a charm. If the script detects the OpenVPN connection, it kills the OpenVPN process.
Troubleshooting and Testing the Kil Switch
Testing your Kill Switch can be tricky.
Not all VPN providers are the same, and not all VPN software works the same.
To figure out if your Kill Switch is working as intended, there are a few things you can do.
Just fire up your VPN software, connect, and surf the web as if you were connected to your actual router.
If no traffic leaks out, then congratulations!
You’re done!
However, if traffic is leaking out, then you’ll need to troubleshoot further and see if you can figure out why.
To troubleshoot your Kill Switch, you’ll need a few more things.
First, you’ll want your VPN software to start up without connecting.
To do this, follow the screenshots below.
Hopefully this guide for openvpn kill switch raspberry pi. was helpful for you.