Man I just spent like 2 hours messing with split tunneling on my VPN and I am legit about to lose it. I was trying to route just my streaming app through VPN and leave everything else local, but the speed test results are a nightmare. I ran speed tests before and after enabling split tunneling and got these numbers: before, I was hitting 300 Mbps down and 20 up on my regular connection, no issues. After I set up split tunneling, streaming (Netflix, Hulu) was still fast, like 290 down, but the actual speed test from speedtest.net? Dropped to 45 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up. I mean what the hell? And sometimes it just drops completely and I get timed out. I've tried different protocols, from WireGuard to OpenVPN, no difference. My VPN provider claims split tunneling is supposed to improve speeds and reduce latency, but it's doing the opposite. It's like my connection is just limping along and the VPN seems to be choking. Anyone got a clue? I'm legit ready to throw this thing out the window. Feels like I'm wasting my rev just trying to get this right. Anyone experienced this or got tips? I just want to watch my shows without this lag and slowdown but it's turning into a nightmare.

Bruh, that's wild. Did you try disabling split tunneling and then testing again? Might be a routing issue or your VPN setup is messing with your local connection somehow.

just my 2 cents, that claim is kinda sus sometimes split tunneling can cause routing issues or packet loss that slow stuff down rather than help imho maybe try a different VPN or recheck your rules to make sure it's not messing with your main connection.

lol yep

Been there, done that. Split tunneling is a nightmare sometimes, especially with certain setups. It's almost like it's easier to just use a different VPN for streaming or run a dedicated box for that stuff. The routing gets wonky, and speeds tank. Good luck, hope you find a fix w/o losing your mind

Just my 2 cents, I once spent a whole day messing with split tunneling and ended up with worse speeds too. I remember thinking I was doing smth wrong but turns out sometimes VPNs just don't play nice with certain configs. Once I gave up and just used a different VPN or ran a dedicated device for streaming, everything got way smoother.

ngl i gotta disagree on that. Sometimes it's just the VPN or the router messing up, not your config. I switched to NordVPN's app with their split tunneling feature and it's been solid for me, no speed hits like that.

i gotta disagree, fam. I run a gigabit connection and split tunneling still kills my speeds sometimes, even with solid hardware. One time, I lost like 80% of my speed just trying to route Netflix only and it stayed that way for hours, no matter what tweaks I did

smh I get that but you sure your VPN app and router are updated? sometimes a simple update fixes a lot of these speed drops.

Yep exactly, split tunneling can be a pain sometimes. Did you try disabling any other network heavy apps or background processes that might be eating up bandwidth? Just wondering if it's maybe a local thing rather than VPN config itself.

just my 2 cents, but i once thought my speeds were fine until i realized my ISP was capping or throttling VPN traffic, so speedtest results looked fine but actual streaming sucked. maybe worth checking if ur ISP or router has some traffic shaping?

careful with firewall rules on your device, they can mess with split tunneling and slow down VPN. try disabling firewall or adjusting rules and see if speeds get better.

I dunno, sometimes it really is local, but split tunneling can also mess with routing and cause slowdowns. iirc, VPN configs can be tricky, so don't just blame local unless you've tested on another network

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I did try turning off split tunneling and rerunning tests, but speeds still tanked, so it's definitely something with the setup. I'll try rechecking the rules and maybe switch VPNs if no luck. Appreciate the input, lowkey feel like I'm chasing ghosts here.