Server Version#: 4.51.1
Player Version#: several
Server OS: Windows 10
I have SurfShark with split tunneling enabled- specifically with “route via VPN” (to just use the VPN with torrenting and the chrome browser). This means that (theoretically) Plex and other server processes should bypass the VPN. This setup is functional-ish, though there are a few annoying quirks which suggest I’ve done something wrong in my setup, or that some further tweaking is needed. All of these problems disappear when I disconnect from the VPN. The biggest headache is that video playback is inconsistent- whether I’m connecting with my android phone, smart TV, or from a remote access Fire TV stick from another household, I can generally always reach the Plex server (listing whatever media I have), but when I actually press “play” the video won’t always run (it’ll just hang and throw an error eventually). Even when it is able to play, often 30 or 40 minutes in it will lose the video connection. The only way to fix this is to disconnect from the VPN and/or reboot the server.
A few other (I’m guessing related) quirks: from the server machine itself, it will say “unable to connect” when I try and open the plex settings browser at http://127.0.0.1:32400/web. However, if I change 127.0.0.1 to “localhost” it is able to connect. Also, from within the server settings, as soon as I click the “general” under the settings submenu, it also hangs and is unable to connect while the VPN is on. My sense is that some Plex content is being filtered through VPN inadvertently, or there is some other networking issue that is beyond my understanding.
I use docker and have my VPN running in a container. Then I use it as a proxy and proxy the apps I want to go through the VPN. For the browser I use a proxy switch to easily switch the browser between using the VPN or direct. That way the VPN does not interfere with anything else. I had played with split tunneling apps and never had good luck with them and is why I went this route.
I tried using VirtualBox to install just the VPN-related stuff, but couldn’t get the VPN to work properly in the virtual environment. I had hoped it would be as simple as installing a new, separate server, but in order for the VPN to work virtually it (apparently) requires specific network settings in the virtualization software, host machine, and router. I spend a few hours on that route and eventually gave up.
Your VPN needs to be able to support a proxy server so you can route traffic to it.
Try installing docker for your OS. Since you mentioned you are using a torrent app. Install the binhex-delugevpn container. This is a torrent app that uses a built-in VPN client that also supports http proxy connections. You can setup the deluge to only connect through the VPN and not fall back to direct if the VPN goes down if you are concerned about that.
Appreciate your input here, but binhex-delugevpn looks like a bad fit for a few reasons. First, the web browser (Chrome) needs to be connected from the same IP address as the torrent in order for some of the private torrents to work properly, so a container for just the torrent software won’t work. It also looks fairly technical to set up (and I’m not finding a whole lot of resources for ELI5-like support), and my knowledge of networking remains in the beginner to intermediate range. I maintain that the setup I have now is basically working, except for the video stalling issue, so before jumping into another big technical workaround I’d like to more thoroughly explore simpler solutions. Like, is some DHCP lookup failing mid-playback? What could be causing the connection to drop? Why does it drop for only some Plex services (such as specific settings and video playback) and not others?
I am not sure what you mean by the browser has to connect from the same IP. You setup the http proxy in the browser to point to the ip of the computer or container ip.
As I said before Split Tunneling is not perfect and is why I moved away from it.
