Add option to pause connection for short periods of time? (Feature Request)

[audacenoire]

I was wondering if it would be possible to add a feature to temporarily disconnect the VPN for a few minutes and have it reconnect automatically.

Sometimes I need to turn my VPN off to access certain websites that block VPN access, but I keep forgetting to turn it back on. It would be extremely helpful if I could just pause the connection long enough to use the website and then have it come back on without me having to remember to do so.

[MrChocolatine]

I like this suggestion, it happens to me as well sometimes until I take a look at the tray icon.

Just another idea, to add to what @audacenoire already suggested, what about notifications like?

Mullvad VPN is still disconnected, do you want to reconnect it?

That notification would:

• Show up every X minutes (fixed value? Customisation in the application's setting?)
• Have 2 buttons: Reconnect and Keep disconnected

We could also have the choice to enable/disable these notifications in the application's settings?

Connection reminder on/off

[faern]

A safer way to fix the issue you are having is to have a separate browser that you exclude (split tunneling), and you launch that browser occasionally to load these misbehaving websites. If split tunneling is available on your platform that is. We have not implemented it on macOS or iOS yet.

In general we try to avoid any type of workaround that are timing based or "somewhat secure, but it depends on the timing of other things". During this disconnected period anything on your computer can reach the internet from your normal IP, not just the misbehaving website you are trying to load. It's of course always up to the threat model of each individual user. But we don't think these type of solutions are very clean.

[techwoes]

I 100% support this as it is a "good enough" option for the vast majority of people. 1/3/5/10 minute option would be great for logging into bank apps and such.

[nofeet]

For comparison, the PIA client has a pause timer that they call Snooze: https://helpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com/kb/articles/understanding-the-snooze-feature

[audacenoire]

Also split tunnelling doesn't always work, some apps and websites seem to detect the presence of the VPN proxy and continue to block it even when split tunneling is active and the item has been added to the whitelist

This is across VPNs, it's not just a Mullvad thing.

[ghost]

FWIW, I too think this would be a nice feature. As of late, I have experienced more and more services blocking me when using Mullvad. This is of course not a Mullvad issue, but I tend to forget to turn the VPN back on. It would be great if it reconnected automatically after a given interval.