Asus rt-ac3200 merlin flashed kill switch drops express vpn

[DEAD AT BIRTH]

I am brand new to this forum and did try and find my problem discussed so if this is a common problem forgive me for not finding it in past posts.
I got a asus router and flashed it with version 380.68 which is only a week or so old. I then followed the directions exactly like Expressvpn said....they even commented that it worked with merlin which I found refreshing. I set it up for manual configuration. Used openvpn settings. Uploaded the openwrt file. Luckily Express vpn has the certificates all in one file and puts them in for you. Vpn connected right away and had no dns leaks. Yeah. However I ran into a problem when I went to enable the kill switch. I followed the directions again, but when I applied the settings it dropped my VPN immediately. I confirmed over and over again that this setting does infact drop the VPN. I contacted Express VPN but they were minimal help with this issue. I really don't like the idea of using a vpn without a kill switch. Kind of defeats the purpose unless you are gonna watch it all day. I can get my money back and go with a different VPN so unless someone knows a fix for my problem please indicate which VPN you have and if it works with Asus and merlin firmware, and that yes the kill switch works fine.
thanks
DAB

 

[Fitz Mutch]

... I ran into a problem when I went to enable the kill switch.

What is the kill switch supposed to do?

 

[DEAD AT BIRTH]

What is the kill switch supposed to do?

It is supposed to block all access to the internet so that no one can see your real IP address if the VPN service goes down or the server that you are on temporarily disconnects. If the kill switch is enabled, any issue with the VPN and your internet is immediately disconnected so your real IP address isn't shown.

 

[DEAD AT BIRTH]

I have found only one person complaining about my same issue but his version of merlin was older and it wasn't express vpn and unfortunately no one responded a fix for him.

 

[Fitz Mutch]

It is supposed to block all access to the internet so that no one can see your real IP address if the VPN service goes down or the server that you are on temporarily disconnects.

When you click Apply in the WebUI, I think it's restarting the network. That's why it's dropping your VPN. You might be able make your own firewall rule to block all network devices from accessing the Internet, while allowing the VPN client tunnel interface.

 

[DEAD AT BIRTH]

Thanks Fitz

I will have to look into what it takes to test your option out. I followed the directions for the kill switch from this site. Seemed pretty straight forward.

https://www.vpnuniversity.com/route...outing-kill-switch-asuswrt-merlin#comment-380

 

[Fitz Mutch]

If I remember correctly, the Kill Switch for the VPN client tunnel worked great when I tested it last year. I use Tor now, instead of VPN, and he has an automatic Kill Switch for Tor that works perfectly. It blew them away.

Be sure to check off the box, Start with WAN.

 

[DEAD AT BIRTH]

It must be an issue specific to Express Vpn. I had the box checked already. I was hoping someone would chime in and say that it won't work on Express VPN so I could look for a different VPN. If someone knows of a fast VPN that has kill switch and no logs that will work with my setup please let me know. All VPNs are less than 100 per year so I don't much care about the cost. I like Express VPN and it hasn't gone down even once in 2 days but I can't just let it go down without it breaking connection.

 

[Calum]

Dead at birth,

Did you ever get an answer?

I believe you can only use ExpressVPN's app to split tunnel and not Merlin, policy rules. I have tried the same thing recently and customer help confirmed this.

Let me know if you ever found a suitable replacement?

Thanks
Calum