Plex - Bypass Express VPN

VPN
1

Hi All

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I have Express VPN with split tunnelling enabled. PMS is not running through the VPN. Plex works great, except I can’t access server settings while VPN is connected. I was wondering if anyone else was using Express VPN in order to bypass the VPN for PLEX.

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In the Express VPN APP I get the option to add programs to the exclude from VPN list but I have tried to add everything plex related. Its almost working just can seem to access the settings which is frustrating. It just tried to load until it times out.

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I have googled everywhere and can’t find a solution for this.

2

I don’t use expressVPN but it looks like you can create custom OpenVPN config files for use with them:

adding

route plex.tv 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.1

to the config file works for me.

3

Didn’t know Plex worked with VPNs, why is a VPN needed for Plex?

4

I use Express and plex my advice is router level not the desktop app if you can’t do it at the router level I won’t be much help, that said ideally plex should be on its own exclusive setup where you could bypass this unless you’re also setup with sonarr radarr etc and worried about who’s watching in which case it’s time for a seedbox anyway

If you still want help setting up at router level give me a reply and I’ll drop some information on how I am setup

5

I recall that Split Tunneling in the ExpressVPN app to be pretty much useless for Plex. I use this tool from Thronic:
https://forums.plex.tv/t/vpn-bypass/97545

Makes it pretty easy. Works well with ExpressVPN when using OpenVPN as the client, and also allows you to bypass other domains if you need to as well.

6

This is what I’ve been using to allow my Plex server to be excluded from VPN on the same machine.

https://nedrelid.net/programvare/VPN-Bypass/

7

I was literally exploring this problem yesterday … here’s the thing. Split tunneling sucks with the expressvpn client, don’t bother. But did you test what happens if you just turn the vpn on for everything? I can access all settings on mine, and users can still connect to plex np, behind the vpn. I know it doesn’t make sense. My plex menu shows that remote access is unavailable, yet it still works like a charm. I have verified the server is also not in indirect mode, or whatever you want to call it. I have port 32400 open on my router and manually set in Plex.

Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/Glo1Dme

8

The VPN bypass is great if you are running windows, but has anyone got any solutions for Mac users?

Since the last update, the tunnelling coupled with stopping internet traffic if the app goes down trick no longer works.

9

I used ExpressVPN, but was never really able to get the app exceptions using the windows app to work the way I wanted. I tried enabling the VPN for only the apps I wanted to run through the VPN and wasn’t able to navigate to the plex server web interface through the local address (though app.plex.tv worked).

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Everything I found said in order to really handle networking that well, you needed to do it in Linux. I ended up using an old desktop as a Linux server with Docker containers and it works like a charm (once I figured out how to set it up).

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I never saw a suggestion like u/SnakeInLeafsPajamas before… sounds interesting! Good luck!

10

I know its not helpful for you but Surfshark has a whitelist program feature that kinda works for plex.

11

Thanks.

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Ill give this a try when I get home later. I was hoping to just be able to use the windows client from Express VPN but until they improve the options within the app to include static routes, ports, etc I guess this might work for me.

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Ill update on my findings

12

Some people need VPNs for other things on their system, but the same machine is also their Plex server so they need to get the VPN to allow Plex through.

13

In my case, I’m double natted. It’s the easiest way to get an IP address.

14

thanks for the offer but I found that VPN bypass mentioned above worked for me and super simple.

15

Hey - I’m having this exact issue, but the link above is broken. I don’t suppose you remember the general gist of things?

16

This was the simplest solution for me and it works perfectly