Do I really have a DNS and webRTC leak?

Questions
1

Until I signed up for Mullvad, the issue of a DNS leak never occurred to me. I’ve been using ProtonVPN for the past year. At home, Proton is set up on the router so all my devices can use it and it’s a way to get around the 10 devices limit.

I decided to try Mullvad out of curiosity as it’s recommended by PG. I noticed Mullvad has a connection test. I gave it a try and surprisingly, it failed. I’m not surprised that I failed the first portion as it said I don’t have Mullvad since I’m using Proton. Sounds more marketing than anything. However, I failed the DNS and WebRTC links. I don’t know why. I tested this on Firefox and Brave on Android. I decided to turn off WiFi and connect to the cellular network. I turn on Mullvad VPN via the app on my Google Pixel. Surprisingly, I passed all three tests. No DNS leak and no WebRTC leaks.

So what’s going on? Can I trust Mullvad’s analysis? If so, does that mean something is wrong with Proton? If so, what do I need to do to fix it? With the findings, I decided to turn off Proton and use Mullvad for now until I figure out what is really going on.

2

VPN website’s own DNS leak test is not to be trusted as almost all DNS leak tests made by the company themselves favor their product over objectivity. The only test you should trust is dnsleaktest.com. This is truly the best one that objectively shows your status. This one is made by folks at IVPN and they do it right. This website also has WebRTC leak test.

Give this a shot with an extended test. As long as none of the IPs is your real one, you’re fine.

ProtonVPN works just fine.

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3

Thanks for the response JG, but didn’t you sort of contradict yourself by saying not to trust the tests made by the VPNs themselves?

5

No, I did not. I said almost. You don’t have to trust me. You can search this forum and find this one recommended over and over again. And IVPN is not just any other VPN company. It’s one of the best and the most honest ones out there. On par with Mullvad and Proton. But when it comes to DNS and WebRTC tests, this one by IVPN is objective and hence the best.

Again, like I said - you don’t have to trust me. You can look it up and learn more about it yourself to verify all that I have said.

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6

I’m sorry if you’re offended, but that wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to understand and learn.

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7

No worries. It’s good to question. Hopefully I answered your question and that this resolves the issue of testing you’re having.

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8

I noticed a strange behavior. I’m starting to think that maybe my router is the issue. With my GL.iNet router and Proton, the DNS test doesn’t load up. If I switch to a different WiFi network such as the one provided by my ISP and then use the Proton and Mullvad apps to connect to the VPN, the site loads, and I can run the test. Both passed. How do I figure out what is wrong with my router?

9

I’m confused by what and how you mean here.

If you have a router, it normally connects and uses your ISP. How else do you use it?

Please explain your set up more.

10

http://dnsleaktest.com/ doesn’t load on my web browser when connected to my GL.iNet router with ProtonVPN.

http://dnsleaktest.com/ works when I connect to another router that is supplied by my ISP and I use the ProtonVPN app on my phone.

I have no trouble going to other sites when connected to my GL.iNet router though.

11

I see.

I can’t think of a reason for the website to not open. If you have internet access it should open.

Can you reboot your router, and your devices for good measure and try again?

Also, personally, I recommend VPN apps directly to be installed on each device. It gives you more control over the app and the connection. ProtonVPN can be installed on almost any device unless you have a smart TV. But since you have a GL.iNet router, you can change the settings to only supply the VPN connection to select devices like your smart TV or your set top box. But if you use Apple TV, they have an app for that.

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12

That was my assumption until it was revealed that both Android and iOS don’t prevent data leaks even with VPNs. The only way to address the issue is to use a router with a VPN installed. Obviously, when I’m out of the house, it won’t be practical to bring a router with me so I do use the VPN apps on my phones and just accept a little data leak as a worthwhile compromise.

13

Where and how was it revealed? I just checked on Android (GOS) and iOS and I don’t see any issue. Can you elaborate here?

14
15

2.5 year old article. Not current. So, not sure if this is still true.

Also, if you click on the link in the article you linked, it will take you to Mullvad’s page where at the end they say this is not an issue with GrapheneOS. FYI.

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16

You can try to run the configuration file you imported to your GL.iNet router on your mobile device. For this, use native OpenVPN or WireGuard clients instead of the ProtonVPN mobile app. Check if you have the same issue.