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deeddawg

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 14, 2010
12,499
6,605
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Hey folks. Searched here and elsewhere best I could and didn't find any AppleTV VPN apps supporting split-tunneling.

Anyone find one, or is that not presently possible on ATV?

Reason - I need to VPN one particular app, while excluding at least one other app from the VPN. I don't want to have to enable/disable the VPN since I can solve the problem with a smart-dns provider with no fussing about. Just thought VPN would be better, but only if I can split-tunnel.
 
Hey Deeddawg,

Did you end up finding a solution? I’m running into the same issue here and can’t find anything.
 
Thanks, but the problem with SafeShell is that it doesn’t let you include or exclude your installed apps. Instead, it offers predefined profiles with a limited list of apps you can use, which isn't very agile.
 
Thanks, but the problem with SafeShell is that it doesn’t let you include or exclude your installed apps. Instead, it offers predefined profiles with a limited list of apps you can use, which isn't very agile.
It's the closest I could find.

I prefer using a DNS service on a second router for my streaming and IoT devices.
 
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Express VPN says there are technical reasons for them not having a split tunnel option on MacOS. Perhaps the same problem exists for iOS and TVOS. A few years back they hoped to have that option but nothing has happened. Others e.g. NordVPN told me the same thing.
 
I am jumping in and perhaps not as up to speed but maybe this might inspire or give some ideas for a solution. It is a different approach but unsure about aTV. The idea is to get the router to do the VPN services rather than directly from your Mac or aTV. Jump to the sections related to routers and skip over Windows and Mac.

 
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I am jumping in and perhaps not as up to speed but maybe this might inspire or give some ideas for a solution. It is a different approach but unsure about aTV. The idea is to get the router to do the VPN services rather than directly from your Mac or aTV. Jump to the sections related to routers and skip over Windows and Mac.

Running a VPN client on a router, such as OpenVPN, may dramatically lower the overall download speed. OpenVPN is not a multithreaded app and, without a CPU that supports hardware encryption, all of the VPN functions need to be performed via software and rely on CPU processing power. Many routers do not support hard encryption or have CPUs powerful enough to maintain high download/upload speeds.

Running Wireguard client on a router may result in better speeds but the speed difference may not be significant.

A DNS service would be a better option because it does not slow download/upload speeds; however, none of the DNS traffic is enrypted.

An app-based DNS service such as DNS4ME, Control D or SmartStreaming.tv may be a more effective solution for some users.
 
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Hey Deeddawg,

Did you end up finding a solution? I’m running into the same issue here and can’t find anything.

Sorry for the late reply.

Unlocator SmartDNS has been doing what I need since shortly after posting this, so I quit looking. Will review again next spring.
 
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