What is Split Tunneling and Why Do You Need It?

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are an essential security tool in today’s digital age. While they can secure your internet traffic across apps and websites, they can also introduce network latency and prevent access to certain apps or websites that specifically ban network spoofing. This is where split tunneling comes in – a relatively new VPN feature that allows you to route specific apps or websites through your VPN, while the rest of your device’s network uses your unencrypted network.

Split tunneling is a feature that gives you greater control over your digital footprint and prioritizes convenience without compromising your security. By enabling split tunneling, you can stay protected while browsing the internet while allowing exceptions for your banking app or local printer.

How Does Split Tunneling Work?

Split tunneling works in one of two ways. Typically, VPN services offer it as a whitelist that lets you add specific websites or apps as exceptions to your VPN connection. This means that any incoming or outgoing traffic routed through those websites and apps can pass through your regular network without the VPN encryption. Alternatively, some VPN providers, like ExpressVPN, go the opposite route by configuring a list of apps and websites that should benefit from the encryption tunnel.

Some leading providers, such as NordVPN and CyberGhost, offer both split-include and split-exclude options so that you can choose the implementation that’s easier for you to configure. This flexibility makes split tunneling a valuable feature for users who need to balance their security and convenience needs.

When to Enable Split Tunneling

Split tunneling is worth enabling in the following scenarios:

• When accessing devices connected to your local network, such as printers, doorcams, or smart speakers that don’t require an encrypted connection.
• High-security apps and services like banking websites or zero-trust digital workspaces, which specifically block IP addresses common to VPN providers.
• Bandwidth-heavy tasks like online gaming, video calls, or streaming in 4K that might not be possible on a VPN without a fast internet connection.
• Services that rely on geolocation data for accurate results, like weather apps or ridesharing services, which usually work best when using your direct network.

When to Avoid Split Tunneling

While bypassing your VPN might improve network performance, split tunneling also reveals your IP address, geolocation data, and other identifiable markers to apps or websites with unencrypted access to your network. It also often disables features that protect you from online tracers or intrusive ads that your VPN typically blocks.

For example, you should avoid using split tunneling on a public wifi network or when using an ISP that you don’t fully trust. Additionally, even though some VPN providers let you use split tunneling while continuing to mask your DNS, DNS requests can still leak through depending on whether the provider has proper security in place.

Which VPN Providers Support Split Tunneling?

Split tunneling is a relatively new feature that hasn’t made its way to every provider. However, several major VPNs support split tunneling, including:

• Surfshark: Offers a tool called Bypasser that allows unchecked access to your home network to specific apps and services that you whitelist.
• ProtonVPN: Supports split tunneling on every OS, including Linux, although Linux support is more limited than other platforms due to technical limitations.
• Norton VPN: Supports split tunneling on Windows and Android devices and has recently added support for Mac and iOS devices.
• NordVPN: Offers a well-done and highly configurable split tunneling implementation on Windows and Android devices, although it doesn’t support native split tunneling on Apple devices.
• ExpressVPN: Offers decent split tunneling features for Windows, Android, and Linux users and can work with popular router models directly at the network level.