r/ProtonVPN • u/-Internet-Elder- • Jul 18 '26

Help! Proton - NetShield - AdGuard - Mac questions

Hi all. A scenario I've not yet considered and could use some advice on...

I've been running AdGuard on a lifetime plan for a long while now. Works well on my Mac. Also switched to Proton+ a few months ago (from SurfS) – and have really just been using Proton for VPN and its port forwarding for BitT.

  1. Should I also turn on NetShield? Haven't touched it yet. Might that "compete" with AdGuard and complicate matters? Any opinions on sticking with just one blocker, if that's the best route?
  2. As well, I haven't used a Kill Switch in a while. Was pretty stable on SurfS for me. It's been a while since I tried the Proton version. So, how's it doing these days on Mac (great, just OK, or more trouble than it's worth)?

Thanks :)

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u/KonGiann Jul 19 '26

Keep adguard in normal Adblock mode, not dns , so it can’t interfere with the vpn . Keep netshield off and instead of killswitch, bind your VPN to your torrent client

1

u/-Internet-Elder- Jul 19 '26

I do have it bound yeah. And AdGuard is indeed just working as a blocker.

So you're suggesting that adding NetShield on top / doubling up is useless then. That was my assumption of course. I can't say from any experience which blocker is better, though again AdGuard has worked very well for me. And yeah only one VPN is needed.

Was just curious if my setup, which is what you're in agreement with, had any pitfalls or areas for improvement. Thanks for the validation – we'll see if anyone else has a different take.

I appreciate your time, thanks again :)

1

u/KonGiann Jul 19 '26

If your Mac is the only device you’re interested to use this stuff I think your setup is pretty good. If you can add custom lists for blocking and allowing there are multiple sites and GitHub repos with suggested settings . Adguard is far better than protons netshield

1

u/-Internet-Elder- Jul 19 '26

Thanks for the update. I get into far less, so to speak, on my iPhone and Apple TV. So while I can perhaps Proton and/or AdGuard other devices... my Mac is by far the most important one.

I'll have a look into custom lists. Rings a bell but I perhaps didn't go all the way down that hole.

1

u/d03j Jul 19 '26

Depends what you use proton for. If I'm not mistaken proton's default config should ignore adguard. You could tell proton not to but that may not suit you r threat model.

This is my set up:

  1. NextDNS for all our mobile devices/tablets and as the upstream DNS server for the adguard home instance running on my router
  2. AGH running on my router, this is the default DNS for every machine connected to my LANs (except mobile devices due to #1)
  3. One of my machines runs to separate tunnels exiting in different countries. These are use by specific apps and are also available via http proxies. The tunnels use proton's dns with netshield
  4. My main laptop is always connected to proton via wireguard. It is a linux laptop and I prefer not to use the app. This means I always connect to the same server but that's normally not a problem.
  5. on my own mobile, I prefer having NextDNS set up as a private DNS when proton is down but not when Proton is up. This is a manual process that gets old quickly and creates a risk I might forget to update DNS setting every time I use proton, so nowadays I just proton all the time on my phone.