FREEDOME VPN connection drops frequently on Samsung devices (F-Secure Troubleshoot Android)

Symptoms

You are getting unstable FREEDOME VPN connection, or experiencing intermittent connection drops when connected to FREEDOME VPN on some Samsung devices.

Diagnosis

Depending on the setup, the battery optimization features of your Android device may have an effect on the VPN connection. Also, Samsung’s Smart Manager, which is a feature on older Samsung devices running Android version 6.0 or earlier, may silently stop FREEDOME VPN from running in the background to save battery or system resources on the device.

Solution

To fix the issue, make sure that the battery optimization features on the Samsung device allow FREEDOME VPN to work. These settings need to be checked in two different locations in the system settings as follows:

1. 1. Verify that FREEDOME VPN is set as a “Never sleeping app” via the system settings:
      1. Open Settings.
      2. Go to Device care > Battery > App power management > Apps that won’t be put to sleep.
      3. Select Add apps.
      4. Scroll down and select Freedome.
      5. Select Add.

The above steps may vary depending on the phone model. You can directly access this setting by searching for “Never sleeping apps” in the system settings.

1. Verify that FREEDOME VPN is not optimised for battery usage:
   1. Open Settings.
   2. Go to Apps.
   3. Scroll down and select Freedome.
   4. Select Battery.
   5. Select Optimise battery usage.
   6. From the drop-down menu on top of the view, select All.
   7. Scroll down and make sure that Freedome is unchecked.

To prevent Smart Manager from stopping FREEDOME VPN, you need to turn it off for FREEDOME VPN:

1. Launch the Smart Manager app.
2. Tap on Battery.
3. Under the App optimization section, Tap on Detail.
4. Find Freedome on the list and tap on it. Note: The list is not necessarily in alphabetical order.
5. In the App optimization dialog, select Turn off.