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Issue configuring reliable VPN bypass for Plex & WinTV Extend + WOL on RT-AX88U

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PC Pilot

Regular Contributor
Hi to all,

I must confess to being a total newcomer to the sophistication of the Asus router platforms and to the superb Merlin firmware (currently I am running the recently released V384.10_2) I have installed upon it having first setup the Asus RT-AX88U router, Xmas 2018, following initial purchase the previous month.

In the time since purchase I have learned much and so far have installed a script bootloader to a USB drive connected to the USB port to effect an automated Wake on LAN (amongst other things), configured Hurricane Electric IPV6, a DDNS Setup, Static Addressing, Port Forwarding and the installation of IP Vanish OpenVPN client with a basic configuration (with the kind assistance of "Jack Yaz" here at SNB) including bypassing the VPN for reliable SMTP Server contact.

The setup is running stably both over Wi-Fi and through wired Ethernet but I continue to have some app/device specific VPN issues which I am struggling to resolve satisfactorily and would appreciate your guidance.

My set up is an elderly X58 (Asus P6T7)/i7-920/Windows 10 Pro system with dual Gigabit Ethernet and an Asus USB-AC68 Wi-Fi Adapter plus I have available (temporarily) an X99 (Asus X99-Deluxe)/i75930K/Windows 10 Pro system also dual Gigabit Ethernet incorporating internal AC-68 Wi-Fi. On the X58 I also have a PCIe Hauppauge HVR-5525 Multi Format TV Tuner (with Win TV Extend) and both systems have a Plex Media Server installed.

Ideally, I would like to route all of my internet traffic via the VPN with the exception of the Plex Media Server(s), the Win TV Extend app and Wake on LAN to both machines. The Plex media servers have their external (public) ports configured to 32400 & 32500 respectively and their TCP & UDP forwarded, the Win TV extend to 7699 again with it's TCP & UDP forwarded and finally the WOL to 9 & 7 respectively forwarded as UDP.

As I have dual ethernet connections I have experimented with a work around to the commonly reported Plex VPN issues by utilising the Interface Metric within each adapter so as to attempt to prioritise each Network adapter such that whilst the one assigned the highest priority handles Internet browsing the other is then configured to bypass the VPN thus using the ISP generated IP Address for access to Plex, Win TV and the WOL function! The experiment is only partially successful as despite setting the preferred adapter within Plex it still attempts to connect with the VPN generated IP Address from the other adapter and so is not contactable outside of the network. Similarly, the Win TV refuses to connect to the (VPN) Bypass adapter. I suspect both issues are somehow related to the assigned priorities as the 'browsing' adapter is now set a higher metric value (4), vs 6 on the bypass adapter.

The VPN Client Policy Rules are defined as follows:

LAN IP - Source IP set to the Router IP - 192.168.50.1/24, Destination IP 0.0.0.0 on the VPN interface.

By-Pass Adapter X58 - Source IP - 192.168.50.21 (for Plex, Win TV Extend & WOL), Destination IP 0.0.0.0 on the WAN interface.

ByPass Adapter X99 - Source IP - 192.168.50.55 (for Plex & WOL), Destination IP 0.0.0.0 on the WAN interface.

SMTP Bypass X58 - Source IP - 0.0.0.0, Destination IP (SMTP Server IP Addresses (X 4))

Can any forum experts suggest more reliable (and elegant?) solutions which will enable these three device/functions to Bypass the VPN, route the remaining internet traffic via the VPN whilst retaining all of the other features implemented within the router and of course how to put it all in place!!

Many thanks in advance of your advice.

Best regards,

PC Pilot.
 
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