Is there a way to turn off the kill-switch?
Posted by yuricgy
Would it be possible to use the media center without a VPN? Right now, I don't have the budget to add another monthly subscription fee, and I live in Brazil where torrent laws are pretty relaxed, so it would be more advantageous for me to run everything without a VPN. I'm trying to use Proton's free plan, but it's not working well. Whenever I try to download something, the VPN drops the connection, and in the end, the download doesn't finish. To sum up: is it possible to use it without a VPN? If so, how can I configure it so that the kill-switch isn't activated?
1 replies
tomspark wrote:
Totally fair question. The downloader is wired to run through the VPN on purpose — the kill-switch is there so your real IP never leaks if the connection blips, so there's no simple "turn the VPN off" switch. That's by design to keep you safe. But the real issue here is fixable: Proton's free plan isn't built for downloading — it has no torrent-friendly servers, which is exactly why it keeps dropping mid-download. A cheap proper VPN clears that right up. Surfshark is only a couple bucks a month and handles torrents fine, so downloads actually finish — Surfshark (87% off + 4 months free): https://get.surfshark.net/affc?offerid=1126&affid=9447&affsub=hr52es