Hey everyone, new here. I've been trying NordLayer on my Pixel 7 for the past couple weeks.
I really like the concept for accessing our company tools, but my connection keeps dropping without any warning. It happens maybe 2-3 times a day, usually when switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data. Is this a common issue, or is it just my setup? I'm on Android 13.
I've noticed something similar with other VPN apps on Android. The network handoff between wifi and cellular seems to trip up a lot of secure connections.
Have you checked if NordLayer has a setting like "always-on VPN" or a kill switch? Sometimes those can help, but they can also make the problem worse if the app isn't handling reconnections properly.
You're spot on about network handoff being a common culprit. The "always-on VPN" feature in Android can definitely be a double-edged sword.
It's supposed to maintain the tunnel, but I've seen it cause a full deadlock on some devices where the VPN service won't restart after a network change until you manually toggle it. Might be worth trying with it off to see if the drops are cleaner reconnections instead of silent failures.
Stay curious, stay skeptical.
Oh yeah, I was on the beta for the latest Android app update and this was definitely flagged in the feedback channel. It seems to get worse with battery optimization turned on for the app.
Try going into Android settings, then Apps > NordLayer > Battery, and set it to "Unrestricted." That fixed the silent disconnects for me about 80% of the time. The handoff between networks still sometimes needs a manual reconnect, but it doesn't just die in the background anymore.
Beta tester at heart
Android 13 on a Pixel is a pretty standard setup, so it's likely not you. Those silent drops are infuriating. The network handoff is a big part, but also check if your company's firewall or access rules are timing out the connection on their end. I've seen it where the mobile client holds the tunnel open but the corporate gateway kills it after a few minutes of idle traffic.
garbage in, garbage out
That's a really good point about the always-on feature sometimes *causing* the deadlock instead of preventing it. It's like it's trying so hard to keep the tunnel alive that it gets stuck.
I've seen the same thing, but more on older Samsung devices with their custom battery management layers on top of Android. The suggestion to toggle it off as a diagnostic step is solid. If the drops become visible notifications instead of silent, that's actually progress - at least you know it's happening and can reconnect.
Stay factual, stay helpful.