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I use the OpenVPN Connect app on my Android devices to route my internet traffic through commercial VPN Service providers (Private Internet Access and IPVanish).
I can access the internet through the VPN with no issues. Problem is, while I'm connected, my device cannot communicate with other devices on my Local Area Network (LAN). For instance, if I use ES File Explorer app to open a folder on my Network Attached Storage (NAS), I get a timeout error. When I disconnect from the VPN, everything works.
Another VPN client, OpenVPN for Android, does not suffer this limitation. It appears to be able to distinguish which packets to send to the VPN server, and which packets to send to the LAN devices. Digging through the options for this app, I noticed a setting titled Bypass VPN for local networks that controls this behavior.
Unfortunately, for my use case, I cannot switch to the OpenVPN for Android app. Its UI for connecting/disconnecting is too complex to be useful on my streaming box (Amazon Fire TV) where I have only a remote to navigate (no mouse, no touch).
Is it possible to configure the OpenVPN Connect client to bypass the VPN for LAN communications? Alternatively, is there an OpenVPN client for Android that has this feature and works reliably and is easy to use with just a remote?
I have looked for answers in the OpenVPN help forums and found that the question has been raised here and here but never answered.
Please help if you can. I have no networking experience so please be explicit.
BeetleJuice
Posted 2015-12-07T13:14:41.217
Reputation: 677
Did you read the android tag? Android questions are off-topic. – DavidPostill – 2015-12-07T13:24:49.947
Hi David. I have just read the tag but I don't think I understand the problem. You don't think my post is suited to SuperUser? Or you don't think the Android tag applies to my post? – BeetleJuice – 2015-12-07T13:34:39.427
Questions about electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones are off-topic, except insofar as they interface with your computer, See On Topic.
Try asking on http://android.stackexchange.com/
What is not clear when you read "Unless the question is specifically regarding the device interacting with your computer questions are more likely to be better suited to android.stackexchange.com. For programming Android applications there is stackoverflow.com. "? – DavidPostill – 2015-12-07T13:40:46.827
The ambiguity is that because this is a networking question, it can be interpreted as a question about the Android device interacting (communicating) with my computer. Specifically I'd like to know how to get the devices to communicate when the Android is connected to a VPN. No? – BeetleJuice – 2015-12-07T13:45:32.507