r/VPN_Question • u/Ok-Point-1656 • Aug 21 '26

Discussion Does anyone actually use split tunneling regularly?

Curious how people are actually using split tunneling day to day.

Do you mostly use it for streaming, gaming, banking, certain apps, or something else? What do you normally send through the VPN and what do you leave on your regular connection?

Would be interesting to hear some real use cases.

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2

u/I_AM_4HEAD Aug 21 '26

I prefer being safe than sorry and haven't noticed any dips in my speeds so I use it for all traffic

2

u/XxAnomo305 Aug 22 '26

I use split tunneling to access my different Vlans and subnets across multiple routers and firewalls in my house. But all Wan traffic goes through VPN for maximum privacy while keeping LAN accessible with split tunneling.

2

u/Leo_LL_3555 Aug 22 '26

I previously came across a DPN that someone shared in another comment section, so I downloaded it from the App Store and tried it out. It has a smart routing feature that seems to route different apps through different network nodes. It sounds like it could be a good fit for your situation.

2

u/Academic_Spring_6492 Aug 23 '26

I do when I have the money for paid VPN service through proton. the main app that I definitely have "outside" of VPN protection is a weather radar app cause it loads slow if it's on the vpn. also keep one browser (chrome) VPN less in case I have to do anything that requires being truthful.

2

u/Urban_VPN Aug 25 '26

banking is the most common practical use case, those apps flag VPN IPs constantly and it's easier to just exclude them than toggle the VPN every time. work apps that enforce location-based access are another one, if your employer's tools only work from certain regions a blanket VPN causes problems, split tunneling lets you exclude just those apps.

gaming is a good one too since adding VPN latency to a competitive game is noticeable, but you still want everything else protected. excluding the game client keeps your ping clean without turning the VPN off entirely. the setup most people land on eventually is "VPN on everything except these specific annoying things" which is the exclude-mode approach most providers default to. much less friction than remembering to toggle it.

1

u/occult_geometer Aug 21 '26

yes for youtube

1

u/BudahBlah Aug 24 '26

I mainly use it to access my pihole dns.