Bypassing VPN and using regular traffic for specific websites

Bypassing a VPN

Security is one of the main advantages of using a VPN. It encrypts your internet connection, ensuring that all the data sent and received is protected against eavesdropping. Another reason to use a VPN is to keep your identity safe by changing your IP address regularly. However, these benefits may be an issue when it comes to certain websites that may recognize and deny access to VPN IPs.

There might also be a case in which you don’t necessarily need to use a VPN to encrypt the data for certain applications, but since all your traffic goes through the VPN connection (this is specially true for Microsoft settings), you have to put up with a bit of a slowdown, even if you need to do a quick online search for a restaurant.

In these cases, the best option would be to use your regular internet connection for particular websites that do not require the use of a VPN or that won’t work well with it, while the rest of your traffic is protected with a VPN. Some providers, such as PureVPN, offer features like split tunneling that allow you to use a local connection to access online banking for example, avoiding security blocks or issues if you are connecting from outside your country or residence. However, it is also possible to use static IP routing for certain websites, avoiding the use of a VPN altogether.

This can be configured manually following the steps below. Keep in mind that it normally works better with basic websites. Here is what you need to do to set up IP routing and use a regular connection for your computer:

Windows

1. The first step is to run cmd.exe. This varies according to the version of Windows that you are using:

• In Windows XP, go to Start, Run and type “command”.
• For Windows Vista or 7: Go to Start, then All Programs, followed by Accessories. Right-click on Command Prompt and select “Run as Administrator”.
• For Windows 8: Click on Apps in the Start Screen, then type “cmd” in the search box and press enter. Once the cmd icon appears, right click on it and then click on “Advanced” at the bottom right and choose “Run as Administrator”.
• If you are using Windows 8.1, simply right click on Start, then Command Prompt / Admin.

2. Then you will need to find out the gateway IP address (or the IP address of your router). Enter “route print” when asked and press Enter. You can look for your gateway IP under “Gateway”, which appears below Active Routes/Network Destination.

3. Find out the IP address of the particular website you want to access with the bypass, but visit the site with your VPN connection first. The IP and location of the VPN server you are using will be shown. Then you can enter “Ping”, immediately followed by the URL of the website that you want to access (“ping exampleurl.com”) whenever prompted. Alternatively, you can type: http://webisteexampleurl.com/Site/exampleurl.com.

4. When prompted, type “route add (IP of the website) (IP of the gateway)”. When you visit the website again, you will see your actual IP address, meaning that you are using your regular internet connection for that particular site.

OSX

The steps are very similar to those used in Windows, specially step 2 (finding gateway IP), steps 3 (find website IP) and steps 4, adding a routing rule using both IPs.

1. Go to Terminal, then Applications, choose Utilities and then Terminal.

2. Enter “netstat-r” to find out routing tables and gateway IP address.

3. Enter “ping exampleurl.com” to establish the IP address of the website you want to visit.

4. Enter “sudo route -nv , followed by the website IP and gateway IP.

Conclusion

As you can see, the steps for bypassing your VPN are pretty simple and easy to follow. Of course, don’t go too overboard with the number of websites that you’re bypassing, since VPNs offer a valuable service in pretty much every case. If you don’t have a VPN yet, or aren’t really happy with the one you have now, why not check out a list of our favorite VPN providers.