Should I Leave My VPN On All the Time?
Leaving a VPN connected can be convenient, but there are legitimate reasons to disconnect it. The useful question is whether continuous VPN routing fits what you are doing.
Reasons to leave it connected
Keeping the VPN on avoids forgetting to reconnect before using an unfamiliar network and keeps your visible public IP and routing behavior more consistent. It can be convenient if you want the VPN to be your normal connection path.
Reasons you might temporarily disconnect
Some local devices, banking or streaming services, workplace systems, games, or other applications may behave differently through a VPN. A distant server can also add latency or reduce throughput. Split tunneling may solve some of these cases without disconnecting everything.
Make the choice testable
If you normally leave a VPN on, periodically verify the visible IP, DNS behavior and WebRTC result. Also compare connection quality with the VPN on and off. That gives you evidence about both privacy signals and the performance cost on your particular connection.