Hello, since the recent revamp of the android VPN’s where protocol selection was introduced, I’m no longer able to access my local area network while the VPN is activated.
Split tunnelling is not a viable solution as I want to be able to copy files from the internet, to my local NAS. I’ve confirmed this behavior on several devices, several android versions and using wireguard, mimic and openvpn. I’ve also confirmed that I do not have the “block connections without vpn” option enabled in Android system settings.
Nearly every VPN provider provides a toggle to allow LAN access if the VPN blocks it by default. It’s an extremely egregious limit introduced
The latest app version where LAN access worked allowed was 3.8.0.16427.
Please escalate the issue and reinstate the functionality we previously had.
I’ve verified that the issue exists on android 12 and Android 14 on Pixel and OnePlus devices.
What kind of LAN access are you trying to do? How are you accessing the LAN resources? What app are you using?
You are using the standalone Norton Secure VPN ver 4.x.x.x. Do you also have Norton 360 Android installed? If so, is there a reason you are using the standalone VPN and not the VPN feature of 360? It is recommended to only have the one app installed to avoid possible conflicts between the two that might cause issues like you are seeing. IE. You should remove the standalone VPN app and just use the VPN feature of 360.
Hello,
I’m accessing my NAS and home server which hosts many services. No protocol works, smb, nfs, ftp sftp ssh. No app works to connect to my LAN, services I host that are locally accessible via a web gui are also not accessible. Norton vpn, whether via the standalone app or the one integrated in the Norton 360 app, no longer allow access to your local network. I’ve tried the VPN standalone app WITHOUT 360 installed, I’ve tried the 360 app WITHOUT the standalone app, it doesn’t make a difference. I’ve also verified that other VPN providers who have an allow LAN toggle, are allowing LAN access. Again, I do not install multiple VPNs or try to use more than one app at a time.
For some devices, I don’t need the full 360 app so I may use the standalone VPN, however as mentioned, since the update to v4+, LAN access is blocked regardless of what app is used to enable Norton vpn.
Without changing any other configuration aside from rolling back the app version, LAN access is again possible. The VPN IS disallowing access.
Sorry for late reply. Still getting used to the new forum notifications.
Not a solution, but an explanation of VPN use at home. Do I need a VPN at home? | NortonLifeLock
On Windows systems, it has been noted that establishing a connection to the LAN connected device with the VPN off, then turning the VPN on, can fix this issue. Might be worth a try.
The VPN fails to connect if you have an active LAN connection in Android, interestingly enough. I’ve not run into the issue on windows, not even when I tried it using a windows 11 virtual machine hosted on Linux. Seems to specifically be the Android app
Did you try connecting with VPN off and then turning on the VPN to see if it disconnected the connection?
I’ll escalate this thread to get this information to the Secure VPN Android team.
Thanks for responding, yes, I established a connection with my NAS then quickly toggled the VPN on but it errored out. Tried it several times. I’m assuming they just need to whitelist local IP address ranges. Thank you for escalating.