OpenVPN Connections: A VPN Gate Issue Since 1995?

In my quest to troubleshoot an issue with my OpenVPN connections, I've been working through various configuration settings and testing different scenarios. While I've made progress, there are still some unanswered questions that I'd like to share in the hopes of getting some insight from fellow VPN enthusiasts.

One of the key observations I've made is that if I disable all of my rules on my router except for the default gateway, all of my traffic still goes out via my France VPN. This has led me to wonder why this is happening and what could be causing it.

In addition to this issue, I've also noticed that when I connect to my London VPN, I get an IP address from London but a DNS reference from France. At first glance, this might seem like a minor quibble, but it raises some interesting questions about how traffic flows through the VPN and what kind of impact this could have on overall performance.

I've also had some conversations with PIA (Private Internet Access) regarding throttling issues with OpenVPN connections. Interestingly, they informed me that throttling only occurs with OpenVPN and not with WireGuard, which is a shame since I'm not able to install WireGuard on my corporate PC.

As part of my testing, I've also tried using a questionable torrent source to see if the issue was specific to our server or connection. Unfortunately, I got the same results - every time I try to download a file, my LAN and WAN connections drop from their normal 100Mbps down to just 1Mbps.

So, what's going on? Has anyone else experienced similar issues with OpenVPN connections and VPN gateways since 1995? Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Openvpn connections vpn gate 1995