Using Apple TV with NordVPN / Merlin

[pgershon]

So two more question - easy and more difficult:

1) When you specify exclusive or strict, the DNS used will be the one on the WAN page if a device get the VPN, And when a device does not use the VPN, the system will bypass the entry on teh WAN page and use the ISP DNS. Is that correct?

2) Finally, say I have 4 devices on my VPN Director page - 4 rules. How do I use my iPhone to easily turn individual rules on and off? Your original comment was "service start_vpnclient1", but I want to turn rules and not entire clients on or off depending on what I watching on an Apple TV? If using MLB app, I want on. If using YouTubeTV or most others, I want off. But I could be watching one thing in living room while my wife watches something else in bedroom or kitchen. I tried setting multiple VPN clients, but NordVPM seems to only authorize the use of one at a time.

 

[Spud]

So two more question - easy and more difficult:

1) When you specify exclusive or strict, the DNS used will be the one on the WAN page if a device get the VPN, And when a device does not use the VPN, the system will bypass the entry on teh WAN page and use the ISP DNS. Is that correct?

2) Finally, say I have 4 devices on my VPN Director page - 4 rules. How do I use my iPhone to easily turn individual rules on and off? Your original comment was "service start_vpnclient1", but I want to turn rules and not entire clients on or off depending on what I watching on an Apple TV? If using MLB app, I want on. If using YouTubeTV or most others, I want off. But I could be watching one thing in living room while my wife watches something else in bedroom or kitchen. I tried setting multiple VPN clients, but NordVPM seems to only authorize the use of one at a time.

Re question 1), with Strict or Exclusive set, the DNS will be provided by NordVPN via the VPN tunnel, so it's independent of the router. When the VPN is off, you revert to the router's DNS as you have it set on the WAN page.

I can't help with 2), sorry. I remember someone did discuss updating VPNDirector rules remotely. Perhaps you can find that thread. I suspect it wouldn't be as straightforward.

Coming back to the original idea of toggling VPNs on and off, you might have more joy using a free Proton VPN instance alongside a NordVPN client.

Proton offers US servers, I just don't know how city-specific. The service is fast and reliable.

 

[pgershon]

I had the VPN off for a few days and then turned it back on, directed only to a few devices. The WAN DNS setting was set to revert to ISP router. Once VPN was turned on, all devices not on VPN lost their DNS. Turning VPN off did not restore either. I finally fixed by rebooting router. Any idea what might have happened?

 

[Spud]

I had the VPN off for a few days and then turned it back on, directed only to a few devices. The WAN DNS setting was set to revert to ISP router. Once VPN was turned on, all devices not on VPN lost their DNS. Turning VPN off did not restore either. I finally fixed by rebooting router. Any idea what might have happened?

I imagine you've turned off DNS Director in the meantime. Otherwise, perhaps a more random issue which rebooting can fix.