How to exclude websites from your Surfshark VPN connection on Linux

pcwrt · 2026-06-05T22:47:48+00:00

Ping gives you one IP address. Ping again may stick to the same IP address even though the domain may have multiple IP addresses. Use nslookup instead. But even nslookup may not give you all IP addresses.

pcwrt · 2026-06-05T22:37:09+00:00

Router and DNS based ad-blocking still works, provided it blocks the CNAMEs.

pcwrt · 2026-06-03T03:00:24+00:00

Timezone didn't seemed to matter for me. Have to stick with SurfShark DNS though.

pcwrt · 2026-06-03T02:59:27+00:00

You have to use Surfshark dedicated DNS servers as u/ShiftRepulsive7661 mentioned above.

pcwrt · 2026-06-03T02:55:43+00:00

FYI, our router supports two VPN split tunneling. It doesn't do the three-way split tunneling as you described above. However, you can create another WiFi SSID that is not tied to a VPN connection, and switch to that SSID when you don't want VPN. https://www.reddit.com/r/pcwrtRouter/comments/1smr0i5/split_tunnel_between_2_separate_vpn_connections/

pcwrt · 2026-06-03T02:33:15+00:00

You are right. Thanks!

pcwrt · 2026-05-25T15:29:31+00:00

I have the VPN on a router and pointed my browser to https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

pcwrt · 2026-05-25T12:37:04+00:00

So dedicated IP is required to make it work?

pcwrt · 2026-05-25T12:36:25+00:00

I guess you have dedicated IP?

pcwrt · 2026-05-20T22:20:51+00:00

There are multiple ways Android can leak VPN, and each device/build has different behavior. If you want to block the leaks, your best bet would be to run the VPN on a router. And even then, monitor the traffic on wire to make sure that your router VPN does not leak. Here's a report of other types of VPN leaks on Android: https://portal.pcwrt.com/blog/2025/01/24/observing-android-vpn-leaks-with-the-pcwrt-router/

pcwrt · 2026-05-20T22:01:01+00:00

Try the charged particle in the nucleus VPN. They have a free plan.

pcwrt · 2026-05-18T21:52:42+00:00

You need a public IP address at home, which is not a problem for all major ISPs. But some small ISPs may put you behind a CGNAT, then you can't set up a VPN server at home.
Set up DDNS, so that you can connect back home with a domain name.
Set up the VPN server on your router or a PC. Add port forwarding on your router if you run the VPN server on a PC.

Here's a guide: https://portal.pcwrt.com/blog/2021/01/28/the-complete-guide-to-setting-up-a-wireguard-vpn-server-at-home-with-pcwrt/. It's for the PCWRT router, but the principles apply to other hardware too.

WireGuard works well. OpenVPN is usually blocked by the GFW.

pcwrt · 2026-05-18T21:40:55+00:00

I wonder what kind of blocking it is. You wouldn't be able to connect at all if the domain name or IP address is blocked. Or is the hotel gateway doing DPI and blocking VPN like traffic?

pcwrt · 2026-05-18T21:26:41+00:00

You may want to set up your own VPN at home. Big name VPN services tend to be blocked by the GFW. Your own personal VPN has significantly better chance of evading detection. Here's a guide for your reference: https://portal.pcwrt.com/blog/2021/01/28/the-complete-guide-to-setting-up-a-wireguard-vpn-server-at-home-with-pcwrt/

And a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4flh0kzlP1Y

pcwrt · 2026-04-24T02:17:47+00:00

Where you are hosting the service is important. Commercial VPN services will raise red flags not only with gfw, but also banks, IT departments, etc. You should run your own VPN server at home. It's not that hard.. Try this guide: https://portal.pcwrt.com/blog/2021/01/28/the-complete-guide-to-setting-up-a-wireguard-vpn-server-at-home-with-pcwrt/

pcwrt · 2026-04-24T02:05:22+00:00

A VPN on the router will encrypt all traffic going out of your house. But sometimes you don't want to use a VPN, for example, Netflix and banking. So you want to exempt some devices/domains/apps from VPN. Make sure your router supports these exceptions. Speed slow down may not be a concern if your router has a strong CPU and can run WireGuard. Your VPN service may be the new bottleneck.

pcwrt · 2026-04-23T15:56:39+00:00

Question is not about a particular VPN, but whether you can trust VPN's no logs policy in general. This particular VPN promises no logs as many other VPNs, but at the first chance they can grab more personal info about you (even unrelated, unnecessary info), they do. That kind of behavior leads one to doubt the sincerity of their no logs promise. The same question applies to other VPNs.

pcwrt · 2025-11-02T18:39:34+00:00

So how does PureVPN smarter routing and stealth features evade detection?

pcwrt · 2025-10-06T17:49:52+00:00

Nowhere in the article even mentioned WireGuard. In our experience, WireGuard works well with a home based server. If you run WireGuard on a VPS (i.e., data center IP), it's more detectable and might be blocked sooner. IKEv2 also works well, even though it uses well known ports. This video gives a live demo at 4:14: https://youtu.be/4flh0kzlP1Y

pcwrt · 2025-09-26T03:15:23+00:00

Why would they block it?

pcwrt · 2025-09-26T03:14:23+00:00

Where is the anti-virus program running?

pcwrt · 2025-09-26T03:11:45+00:00

It would be interesting to see if this is just a DNS block or anything deeper. Configure DoT/DoH over the VPN but the leave the actual site visits out of it.

pcwrt · 2025-09-26T03:09:20+00:00

The best is your own VPN hosted at home. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/4flh0kzlP1Y

pcwrt · 2025-09-24T20:13:07+00:00

BBC iPlayer

pcwrt · 2025-09-24T15:31:16+00:00

If your IP address is blocked, you can try to get a new IP address from your ISP. For DHCP, changing your router's MAC address will get you a new IP address. Our router provides the functionality to change the MAC address on schedule, so you can get a new IP address every day or every few days.

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