Blokada 5 keeps dropping VPN and doesn't block many ads anymore

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1

I’ve been using Blokada for years starting with my GS5 on Blokada 4 and currently on my Galaxy A10e with Blokada 5 (23.1.10). There has not been an update in a while but I did see the message earlier this week stating that was due to a large upcoming release.

Over the last few months I have noticed that ads on both apps and web pages seem to have become more common. It appears this is because the VPN is disconnecting pretty regularly for some reason. I can see the key icon in the upper right up until I try to do something where an ad pops up and then the key flips to the left side indicating the VPN is disconnected. This used to happen rarely but as of today it seems like it’s disconnected more than connected.

I had thought the issue was with the blocklist selection so I removed all but the main one (I tried several but settled on OISD). That didn’t block everything in the list, so I manually added blacklist exceptions to hundreds of entries over time. Since I was having so many issues, I figured too many exceptions could clog things up, so I reset data on Blokada and am now using OISD and Goodbye Ads. Not much has improved.

I can provide logs if that would help. It appears at this point that Blokada 5 is basically useless in how I have it set up. Actually, it’s worse than that because it adds overhead so perhaps I’m worse off with it running. Hopefully this is a configuration issue I can resolve because I’ve really liked the results of Blokada for years!

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2

Have you enabled Keep VPN alive?

You can go to Blokada 5 → Settings → This device → scroll down, Open VPN Profile → Click the gear icon → Enable Always-on VPN, and optionally enable block connections without VPN. I have that one disabled, because if the connection drops, your entire internet would then stop which can be a bad thing if you are in a multiplayer game.

Also, you may want to check different blocklists. Sometimes I just have the wrong combination of blocklists and ads get through that way.

3

Hello,
Regarding dropping VPN you might also want to check this post:

In summary, make sure you only have on version of Blokada installed (and no other apps that uses VPN)

4

It appears the current version with the trimmed down block list is working better. I still have the VPN drop periodically which lets ads through though maybe less frequently. I tried the setting for block without vpn but it seemed to block all connections which obviously doesn’t help.

5

Hi,
Long time user of Blokada and newly user of the VPN function. Running Blokada 5 v23.2.1 and like some other experiencing some VPN drops and a lower ads filtering with the VPN function activated.
I have permanent connexion activated at Blokada level and Android level.

I don’t know if this drop-down connection issue is correlated with moving to Blokada+ but it cost me, both meanings.

Is it temporary, or is this normal behavior?
And if not, when could we expect a draft of explanation?

Thanks for your support

6

VPN disconnections are not normal behavior.

I recommend first switching to Blokada 6 if you’re still using Blokada 5.

If you are still facing disconnections, let me know and we can troubleshoot this further.

7

Hi,
I have tried uninstall/reinstall completed with a reboot of my Android phone (Android 11, custom ROM), but the VPN stopped again.
One thing I changed now is that I’ve set blocked connections when VPN is not active. Always active VPN was already set. I will observe how it is doing today and if no better behavior I will try Blokada 6, but without great pleasure…
Will keep you in touch

1 Like
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May I ask why the hesitation to switch to Blokada 6?

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