2042356 - VPN connection status remains active when device network connectivity is lost

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Firefox for Android :: Privacy, defect)

Description

[Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA]

Attachment: screen recording in Google Drive

Prerequisites

• Firefox account signed in to VPN;
• VPN connection is toggled ON and actively routing traffic;

Steps to reproduce

1. Verify the VPN is running and successfully routing traffic on an active network connection.
2. Open the Android quick settings panel and enable Airplane Mode to sever all network connections.
3. Observe the VPN state before and after attempting to load a webpage while offline.

Expected behavior

The VPN service should dynamically detect the loss of the underlying network connection and change its state to OFF until a network interface becomes available.

Actual behavior

The VPN remains locked in the "On" state despite the lack of network connectivity. This forces the browser to continue routing traffic through a non-existent tunnel interface, generating a "Proxy Server Refused Connection" error instead of a standard "Unable to connect" offline state.

Device information

• Firefox version: Fx Nightly 153.0a1 (Build #2016163143)
• Android device model: Google Pixel 7a
• Android OS version: Android 16

Any additional information?

• See attached media.

Comment 1

[Alexandra Martin [:alemartin], FxA/SubPlat/VPN QA]

Attachment: Account VPN info

Comment 2

[Jonathan Almeida [:jonalmeida]]

I would consider this expected behaviour, but I'm open to other thoughts: the VPN should be ON despite network failures from the device, router, ISP, or even the website. It should signify that the user is protected even if something outside of the VPN service is down.

We could make it clearer by replacing "ON" with "Enabled" and introduce a "Connected" state - some variation of this may be appropriate or clearer.

Comment 3

[:Gela]

I would consider this expected behaviour

I agree with this. FWIW on the Mozilla VPN desktop app, we have a similar behavior where VPN is not disabled/toggled off the VPN if the network goes down.

We could make it clearer by replacing "ON" with "Enabled" and introduce a "Connected" state - some variation of this may be appropriate or clearer.

Agree with this as well. Though I think this is not a phase 0 blocker. I will loop in Andy to see what he thinks. We can work with UX to follow up on this work.

Comment 4

[:Gela]

Confirmed with Andy this is intended. [Slack thread]

Andy  [10:42 AM]
I also agree with this behavior. Is it a real active status, right? (It seems based on the panel status I see on the ticket)
Gela  [10:44 AM]
Yes correct, the VPN is technically active, but the network is down
Andy  [10:44 AM]
Sounds correct then.