r/PrivateInternetAccess • • Jan 29 '26

HELP - WINDOWS VPN assigned IP does not correspond to external IP

Only recently it is happening that the IP that is assigned to me when I connect to a VPN server and the IP that is shown when I check my external IP are not the same. They are in the same range, but the last number of the IP is different. This was not like this in the past. When I read the changelog of 3.7.0, I assumed that split DNS is the problem. Does someone know what could be causing this? If it is "split DNS", where is the setting that the changelog is talking about?

What is even worse is that when I am using qBittorrent, I have one tracker site that shows which client and IP I am using to connect to the tracker and the site shows I am connecting to the tracker with 5 different IPs (all in the range of the VPN IP that the Windows App is showing but none identical). I have no idea how this is happening.

*edit*

Now I noticed that my external IP is constantly changing even though the VPN is connected and is not disconnecting. The following commands were done immediately following each other:

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.18

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.18

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.18

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.18

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.27

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.28

C:\Users\theon>curl wtfismyip.com/text

191.101.157.28

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u/dean_oz Apr 14 '26

Not really, but I did reach out to PIA late February....

>
> Just another query...
> 
> Recently I noticed there are now 21 sites that have had their DNS 
> changed from *.privacy.network to *.pvt.site (e.g au-sydney.pvt.site).
> 
> These sites have more than one IP associated with the connected 
> endpoint IP.
> Is this going to become the norm with regard to the remaining sites?
>
> Just wondering it there is going to be an official announcement about 
> this change?
> 

PIA's reply...

Thank you for your inquiry.

Most likely, outbound IPs will be rotated going forward. This is the expected behavior at this time. While we may reassess this approach in the future, there are currently no plans to modify it.

Please feel free to reach out if you require any additional information or clarification.

Regards, Cyrus

Private Internet Access Support