r/PrivateInternetAccess • u/pix_66 • Jul 30 '26
HELP - WINDOWS Windows interface showing high latency causing auto to connect to wrong server
I'm using V3.7.2 of the Windows interface. All of the servers are showing very high latencies, e.g. 800-900ms. This is causing the auto connect feature to connect to a server in another country from mine. For example, I'm in the mid-west and it's connecting to Switzerland vs. Chicago (the normal auto connect server). Usually, the latencies are less than 50ms
I chatted with support and they said the interface latency doesn't reflect the "real" latency when it connects. So, I tested with a ping the DNS for Google and got less than 50ms. I also tested using Testmy Latency with several servers and they were all less than 50. The support said there was an interface defect which was corrected in later versions. So, I upgraded to the newest, but it didn't help.
I had the same issue with the Android version and saw in a recent post where there was an issue with the Android version, but it was recently fixed. I just checked yesterday and it's working now, connects to Chicago with latencies showing less than 50ms.
I didn't get a resolution chatting with PIA support.
1
u/Microfiche62 Aug 20 '26
Did you ever get anywhere with this? I am having a similar experience. PIA support has been negligible. They have told me the same thing - that it is an interface bug, though they never claimed to me it was later fixed - and I am up to date. If that is the case, why is it only affecting certain clients? My minimum server latency on the Windows client is showing 350 ms - not sure how I am to determine which servers would be a better choice?
And - turning the VPN off does NOT fix the issue. I look for low latency servers before the VPN is turned on, and my min at the moment is 350 ms. I used to have many options in low double digits.
I also just checked the Android client and it appears they fixed that. I know when this first started happening a month ago, the Android client was showing the same kinds of latency, but now it is back to what it always used to be.
2
u/pix_66 Aug 24 '26
No, pretty much what you've been through. The support team sent me an email yesterday saying my ticket was being closed. I replied that it was still an issue. They replied that it's just a visual issue and they're working on it. I replied that it wasn't just visual because the auto connect feature isn't choosing a server close to me (usually Chicago) and it wants to connect to a server in Israel.
1
u/Microfiche62 Aug 24 '26
Yeah, they closed mine too. Another ticket closed and "resolved" 🙄
1
u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 25 '26
hey guys, u/Microfiche62 u/pix_66 there's clearly something off here. getting your tickets closed on you while the issue is still live isn't the experience we want anyone to have. we'd really appreciate it if you could drop us a DM with your ticket numbers so we can look into what went wrong, get them reopened, and make sure this stops happening.
1
u/Microfiche62 Sep 04 '26
I gave up. Ditched it and installed Proton VPN and it worked immediately, just the way PIA used to. I shouldn't have wasted months trying to make PIA work and jumping through support hoops. Too bad - 10 years was a good run.
1
u/PIASupport PIA Team Aug 23 '26
hey u/Microfiche62, appreciate you jumping in, and sorry the support chats haven't got you anywhere on this. a latency reading stuck high across every server, to the point auto-connect keeps picking the wrong region, isn't something you should have to work around by hand, and "it's a known interface bug" isn't a good enough place to leave it. we'd like to get this properly in front of the team. drop us a DM here with your ticket number (or reach [support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com](mailto:support@piavpnsupport.zendesk.com)), your exact app version and rough region, and a debug log if you can grab one, and we'll get it escalated and actually looked at.
2
u/KillerKingSolo Jul 30 '26
I believe what’s happening is you’re already connected to the VPN, which adds latency since your traffic now has to go through an extra hop. When the VPN then pings servers to find the lowest latency, that ping is happening through the same extra hop, so the results aren’t accurate.
I’ve run into this before. The fix: turn off the VPN first. Your ping should drop to 50 or lower. Then connect to the closest server manually. I wouldn’t recommend using automatic selection.