Eddie and qBittorrent - bound adapter

[NL99 5]

Eddie and qBittorrent work fine, but when i change to another server, in [qBittorrent>advanced>network-interface] sometimes a new, second 'eddie-interface' appears and qBittorrent stays connected to the old bound adapter that is no longer active.
Manually switching solves it, but when i forget to switch, or do not restart the torrent client, it wont reconnect.

I did a clean reinstall for qBittorent

Also checked %AppData%\Roaming\qBittorrent\qBittorrent.ini
Session\Interface=iftype xxxxxxx
Session\InterfaceName=Eddie

I both made them empty after the =, but no difference

qBittorrent 5.3.0
Eddie 2.26.2 - Wireguard ipv4 and 6
Windows 11 Pro 26H2

Windows does show 2 adapters, Ethernet and Eddie, like it should be.

I never had this issue. What else should i try?

[Staff 10708]

@NL99

Hello!

What you see is how the two programs work together today, not a problem with your qBittorrent installation, so a reinstall can't change it.

With WireGuard, Eddie 2.26.2 on Windows creates the "Eddie" adapter when a connection starts and removes it when the connection ends. A server change is a new connection, so it gets a new adapter: same name, "Eddie", but a new identity for Windows (a new GUID and a new interface identifier).

qBittorrent does not store the name you see in the list. It stores that identifier (the "iftype..." value in Session\Interface) and passes the adapter GUID to libtorrent when the setting is applied, that is at startup or when you change the setting. After a server change the old adapter no longer exists, so qBittorrent can neither send nor receive anything (it fails closed, so nothing leaks), and it does not move to the new adapter by itself. The second "Eddie" entry in the list is qBittorrent showing the saved interface that no longer exists, next to the current one. Selecting the interface again, or restarting qBittorrent, applies the setting again, and that's why both work.

About qBittorrent.ini: changes there count only if qBittorrent is completely closed (tray icon included) while you edit the file, otherwise it writes its own settings back when it exits. It's easier to change these settings from the qBittorrent window.

We see two options.

1. Bind to the WireGuard address instead of the adapter. In qBittorrent > Tools > Options > Advanced set "Network interface" to "Any interface" and "Optional IP address to bind to" to the IPv4 address of your WireGuard connection (10.x.x.x). You can read it in Eddie, Stats tab, "VPN IP", or with ipconfig on the Eddie adapter while connected. With WireGuard this address belongs to your device key and is the same on every AirVPN server, so the binding survives server changes: libtorrent re-opens its sockets when the address comes back on the new adapter. When the tunnel is down the address does not exist and qBittorrent can't connect, the same protection you have now. Limits: qBittorrent accepts one address only, so with an IPv4 address you will not connect to IPv6 peers; the address changes if you connect with a different device in Eddie or renew that device's key (set it again in that case); it does not work with OpenVPN, where the address can change at every connection.

2. Set "Network interface" to "Any interface" and rely on Eddie's Network Lock. Network Lock stays active while Eddie changes server, so qBittorrent can't go out of the tunnel during the switch. Note that when Network Lock is activated automatically at connection (the default), Eddie removes it when you disconnect. If you want qBittorrent to stay blocked while Eddie is disconnected too, activate Network Lock from Eddie's main window: it stays active until you deactivate it or close Eddie.

If you go for option 1, you can still keep Network Lock active, as an extra protection for everything else on your system.

Kind regards