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How to fix unstable connection issues on Android

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In this tutorial, you will learn what might cause connectivity issues on your Android and how to fix them.

We will go through the following:

  1. Change the default protocol on your Surfshark app
  2. Turn off battery-saving mode
  3. Disable potentially interfering apps
  4. Switch to a different network
  5. Try other locations
  6. Restart your Android
  7. Disable the IPv6

Change the default protocol on your Surfshark app

This is the first solution that you should try if you notice the connection being unstable on your Android device when connected to a VPN.

  1. Launch the Surfshark app and go to Settings.

  2. Click on VPN Settings and open the Protocol tab. This is where you will find an option to change the default protocol. 

  3. Change the protocol from Automatic to OpenVPN(UDP). If that does not help, try OpenVPN(TCP) and the other protocols.

Turn off battery-saving mode

NOTE: Battery saving mode disables many systems on the phone, including some networking functions.

Since many different Android OS versions exist, this setting might appear in a different location. But most often, you will find it if you go to your phone's Settings and check Battery settings. If Battery Saver or any similar function is on, try disabling it.

Disable potentially interfering apps

Some apps might have taken over network control on your device. This can sometimes interfere with Surfshark (or any other VPN) connection. 

That applies to anti-virus software, other VPNs, firewalls, and file-sharing apps. If you have any of those, try disabling them.

Then reboot your device and see if the connection gets any better.

Switch to a different network

Connectivity issues might be network-specific. This often happens if the Internet provider applies some restrictions on its network. To see if this is the case, try to check if connectivity issues remain connected to a different network.

You can easily do that on your Android by switching from Wi-Fi to a mobile data network or vice versa.

Try other locations

For various reasons, one location might provide a more stable connection compared to others.

To change the location, open the Locations page on your Surfshark app; here, you will find the full list of our servers. Try to test at least several different servers and see if the issue persists.

Restart your Android

It may sound simple, but this will reset your network and give you a fresh start. 

Disable the IPv6

IPv6 is a networking system that some Internet networks might have. Unfortunately, Surfshark does not support IPv6 at the moment, so if you have it on your network, connectivity issues may arise. 

If you’d like to disable IPv6, check out this article on how to disable IPv6 on Android.

NOTE: IPv6 can only be disabled on mobile data networks.



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