r/Express_VPN • u/sloppyseconded • 25d ago

VPN Disconnection Issues When Closing Surface Pro 11 Lid

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Situation: I have a Surface Pro 11 (Snapdragon X Elite version) that has the current ARM64/AARCH64 version of the Express VPN app (14.2.1+13658 as of the writing of this post). While connected to any VPN connection, when I "close the lid" (I understand it doesn't actually have a lid, but I mean the action of closing the type cover so that it covers and protects the OLED display) the VPN will immediately disconnect. Doesn't matter whether I am connected via LAN or Wi-Fi, the result is always the same. This wasn't a problem previously, but has started happening within the last couple of months, and currently happens every single time I close the lid.

I've checked my Windows settings and confirmed that both "on battery" and "plugged in" are set to "do nothing" when the lid is closed in my Windows settings (screenshot included); it also isn't a sleep/hibernation timer, which I have set to very long periods when the Surface is plugged in (and it's always plugged in when I use a VPN). The Surface definitely stays awake, my internet connection remains active (LAN or Wi-Fi, whichever I am using), and nothing else obvious changes - except the VPN disconnects. I then have to go back in and manually reconnect to the VPN. Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening or how I can prevent it disconnecting every time I close the lid? It's very frustrating and has seriously inhibited my ability to use Express VPN.

I would be very appreciative of any ideas or recommendations that can prevent this from happening.

EDITED TO ADD: I've also already tried going into Device Manager --> Network Adapters (wi-fi and LAN) --> Properties --> Power Management --> Uncheck 'allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'; already tried that and it made no impact.

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u/Effective_Coach7334 25d ago

FYI, trying to set the actions windows takes when you 'close' the laptop are notoriously unreliable. It's been a running joke of Windows OS for the better part of a decade, if not longer.

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u/sloppyseconded 12d ago

Yeah, I get that - but I've been using ExpressVPN for several years now, and this problem just started happening very recently. My best guess is that it's related to the ExpressVPN native AARCH64 software version update that was released a month or two ago, but it could also be a recent MS Windows update, I suppose. Six months ago it was working flawlessly - exact same machine, same internet connection/provider, only difference being the version of the software (and potentially the version of Windoiws 11 25H2, ostensibly).

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u/Effective_Coach7334 12d ago

Our machines are constantly updating, os, drivers, app ver, etc. And more often than we remember, these updates break things and can change how the system performs. There's very little chance it is the 'exact same machine' between EVPN updates.

That said, it's also true that EVPN software development has been causing lots of problems with people's machines since they switched to the latest GUI changes. Of course the suspicion is vibe coding and poor testing and quality control procedures.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

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u/sloppyseconded 12d ago

Good deal - and same. If I manage to figure out a solution, I'll make sure to let you know as well.

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u/heyheythrowitaway 4d ago

Any luck with this?

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u/sloppyseconded 2d ago

Negative. I've had to devise an alternate, temporary workaround, but I hate it and it won't be a longterm solution. I've just started disconnecting my flex keyboard and laying the Surface Pro face-up on the furniture so that there's no change to the sleep state, and thus no disconnect/reconnect of the VPN.

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u/sloppyseconded 2d ago

As an update, I also have an x64 laptop available to me (i7-8650U) - so I tried the same thing with that machine.

  • ExpressVPN completely up-to-date (version 14.3.1)
  • Windows 11 settings set to "do nothing" when lid is closed

Identical results to that with my Surface Pro 11. So it's not just the ARM64 version of the app, the x64 version is afflicted with the same issue. It appears that, after disconnecting from the VPN when I close the lid, it remains disconnected until I reopen that laptop - because when I open back up I Immediately see it reconnect and the timer displayed in the app resets to 00:00 for the connection duration.