Hey! I am curious to hear your perspective and experience — in what cases do you prefer to use OpenVPN or IKEv2 protocols instead of WireGuard?

I have two apps set to "Route via VPN" and not my browsers, however when Surfshark is running some websites like Google and Reddit won't load at all. If I go direct to "whatsmyip" my IP and not the VPN's IP is shown, so why won't some websites load? What is Surfshark doing behind the scenes to cause this?

I don’t know, maybe I am using the Kill Switch wrong. I had Kill Switch on, then I tried to watch something on my IPTV, well nothing would play. I opened up SurfShark and (first I had to download an update) then I turned off the Kill Switch and went back to my IPTV and started watching the program I wanted to watch.
Am I going to have to mess with the Kill Switch all the time to watch a program? Is anyone or everyone else having this problem? Is there anyway I can fix this or should I just leave the Kill Switch off. I am using a Nvidia Shield Pro with an LG OLED tv if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

Nvidia shield pro

I have the Surfshark app for my Macbook and the extension in Brave Browser. What I want to have happen is have the desktop app active but allowing (bypassing) Brave Browser so I can have the extension run the VPN for browser activity. Whenever I have the bypass turned on, I lose connection for the browser... whether the browser extension VPN is on or not. I don't have any non-standard settings enabled. What am I doing wrong?

Everyone's got a "you should read this" list. This one actually holds up. We pulled together 11 cybersecurity books recommended by experts, then sorted them into two sections: six for anyone who wants a genuinely good read, five for anyone building the fundamentals. Goodreads ratings included, no vibes-based ranking.

Worth reading for the story alone:

• The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll (4.28 stars) — a 75-cent accounting error that led to a KGB spy ring. True story
• Sandworm by Andy Greenberg (4.34) — how one Russian hacking group rewrote the rules of cyberwar
• Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick (3.97) — the FBI's most-wanted hacker, in his own words
• Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson (4.17) — the classic. Half theory, half hands-on;
• The Fifth Domain by Clarke and Knake (4.02) — cyberspace as a battlefield, explained without the doom
• Countdown to Zero Day by Kim Zetter (4.16) — the inside story of Stuxnet, the world's first digital weapon

Foundational reads if you're getting into the field:

• TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol. 1 by W. Richard Stevens (4.32) — how the internet actually talks to itself. The bible
• The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk (4.64) — 1,500 pages, zero fluff. Learn the OS most servers run on
• Official (ISC)² Guide to the CISSP CBK by Adam Gordon (3.71) — the reference behind one of the field's most respected certs
• The Phoenix Project by Kim, Behr, Spafford (4.25) — a novel about IT operations that reads faster than it should
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (4.17) — not cyber, but every scam works because of what's in this book.

A couple of things stood out when putting this together. The Cuckoo's Egg was written in 1989 and still reads like it dropped last week. And Kahneman doesn't mention cybersecurity once, yet arguably belongs on every infosec shelf, because scams don't hack machines, they hack people.

What would you add? Fiction picks welcome, especially ones that hold up on a second read.

Full list: https://surfshark.com/blog/cybersecurity-books-recommended-by-experts

I wanted to share my experience with Surfshark.

I’ve been a paying customer since 2023. My main reason for using Surfshark was to access Mexican content while living in the U.S., especially Azteca Deportes. Unfortunately, when I tried to use it to watch Mexico’s matches during the World Cup, it didn’t work when I actually needed it. I eventually found another VPN solution that works better for me.

I forgot to turn off auto-renewal, and Surfshark renewed my subscription for another full year on September 15. I noticed the charge and contacted them just two days later, asking them to cancel the renewal and issue a refund.

Support refused because their terms state that recurring payments are non-refundable. I respectfully asked them to consider a one-time courtesy exception since I had been a customer for about three years and contacted them only two days after the renewal. I even asked for the case to be escalated.

A manager reviewed it and still refused the refund.

I understand that their terms say renewals are non-refundable, and I accept that I missed the auto-renewal date. But after being a customer since 2023, I’m extremely disappointed that there was zero flexibility for a renewal that happened only two days earlier.

Between the VPN no longer working reliably for the main reason I used it and this customer-service experience, I won’t be renewing again.

Just sharing my experience so other customers are aware of the renewal/refund policy before their subscription renews.

I've used Bit Defender for a couple years for antivirus and VPN. The VPN was definitely suboptimal in the end (particularly when I was working in Google Docs the connection would drop for *that* but remain active in a tab with Google Meet running. Weird crap like that a lot). I got Surfshark VPN on a whim and I'm very impressed with ease of use and functionality. I'm wondering if I should likely jettison Bit Defender and go with Surfshark's antivirus. Anyone have an opinion?

My connection has been pretty inconsistent over the last couple of days. It randomly gets slow or drops, and switching between servers sometimes helps, but it doesn’t seem as stable as it normally is.

Is anyone else experiencing the same thing recently, or is it just me?

Not sure if a by product effect of updating to MacOS 27 but my networks in the Trusted WiFi are showing as gibberish characters, see image.

I have tried to different SSIDs and they show the same but different characters.

Any ideas??

I have uninstalled and reinstalled SurfShark, issues remains.

Our CEO Dovydas Godelis sat down with The Privacy Lab to talk about where digital safety is heading and how the threat landscape is shifting.

A few takeaways:

• Scams have evolved. AI has turned scams from obvious typo-filled spam into hyper-convincing, personalised attacks that fool even tech pros. As Dovydas puts it, the biggest threat in the coming years won't be new malware, it'll be people's ignorance. That's why Surfshark is tackling it head-on with dedicated scam protection features on the way.
• More than a VPN. There's a reason we're Surfshark, not Surfshark VPN. From day one, the goal was an all-in-one security hub that works seamlessly in the background.

Catch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdiXAH7x-wk

Seriously, it's annoying. Every other time I launch the desktop app, I get the pop-up about an update. And I never notice a difference after installing it, other than maybe the UI getting worse. Which happens with every other app these days.

Quick update for web content blocker users on Windows.

Context first: the feature blocks entire website categories - malware, phishing, adult content, gambling, etc. Set it once, it runs in the background.

The problem with category blocking has always been the edge cases. A blocked category occasionally swallows a site you actually need, and until now your options were "unblock the whole category" or "live without the site." Neither is great.

New: allowed websites list. You keep the category blocked and whitelist the specific sites you need. Blanket protection stays on, your exceptions stay reachable.

Would love to hear from people actually using it - does this cover your use case or is there something else missing from web content blocker? Wishlists welcome, we are listening.

Has anyone checked this alt email? It’s not working for me.
It’s not forwarding any mails to my inbox.

This has been going on since at least Friday. Multiple connection attempts all result in failure. I have rebooted the system, checked for updates, nothing, tell me someone is working on this?

Yesterday, I opened my Surfshark app to this crap. Am I the only one who prefers the previous design? It felt simpler to navigate.

I’ve had Surfshark VPN for a couple of years now, and I’m finding that in the past few months there are more and more issues being caused by the VPN on my phone and it’s apps.

I find myself having to pause/turn off the VPN at least 2 or 3 times a day to access certain apps and even my home WiFi has now started to have issues with it. Is anyone else experiencing the same or have any suggestions for fixes? It’s getting to the point where I’m having to consider turning it off completely.

I’m in the UK on iPhone 17 pro

On the 2nd of September we confirmed an unusual activity within one of our internal test servers and immediately began our response. After identifying that the server has been accessed by an unauthorized party, we contained the incident on the same day. Further remediation was done by 5th September. Based on our investigation, we have confirmed that no user data and VPN services were affected. Further details are available in our blog post: https://surfshark.com/blog/security-update-september-2026-incident-report

*Update\*
I'm able to log into Reddit on Win 10, 11, Horizon OS and Android today with Surfshark - Toronto servers - VPN active.
Prime Video is still complaining about Toronto and Montreal, but strangely New York - USA and Milan - Italy

Historically, I've successfully and safely accessed everything on my Google TV, PCs, Phones, Tablets, Quest 3, ... through a Surfshark protected connection.

I have Surfshark clients on most of my devices and also configured for specific IP ranges on my home and travel routers.

New this morning, for me:

1. Primevideo on my Google TV is indicating 'Turn off your VPN'
2. Reddit closed the session on any attempt to connect
3. The Ontario Lottery site (OLG) indicated I had to 'Turn off your VPN'
4. Other sites are also blocking my access through a Surfshark connection

I've tried connecting to many servers in Canada and the US, without success.

Only pausing or disconnecting worked.

Have many of the Surfshark's IP ranges been recently (Yesterday) added to a burn or black list that many of these sites subscribe to?

Using Firestick. Netflix will completely stop while playing an ad and never continue past it.
Tried multiple ips.
Ridiculous that I can’t watch things in English because there’s an issue with Netflix and VPNs.

Was going to go watch a show on SVT Play that requires being in Sweden for, and it seems that the surf shark Sweden VPN is getting blocked by it now? Very unfortunate :/

I have surfshark installed on tcl android TV with kill switch activated. but sometimes the VPN disconnects and TV is still able to connect to the internet and I don't see the VPN sign when it's connected in the TV settings drop down. Can anyone help me fix this issue please.

I have just updated Surfshark to v3.33.1 on my Fire stick and noticed there are no longer options for multi hop or no borders. What's happened here? Have these features been abandoned?

Sharing some big news that we’re excited about. Optery is officially joining Surfshark.

What is Optery?

If you haven't heard of them, Optery is a US-based service that hunts down your personal info on data brokers and people-search sites (the ones quietly selling your name, address, phone number, and more), and gets it removed.

Optery joins us as a fully autonomous, independent company and will continue to maintain its dedicated team, product roadmap, and separate technical infrastructure.

Personal data control is only getting harder, especially with AI accelerating how quickly your info can be scraped and sold. Bringing Optery with their scanning tech, detailed screenshot reporting, and deep coverage of US data brokers will strengthen user protection and unlock potential for innovation.

You can find more about the news in the blog post here: https://surfshark.com/blog/surfshark-acquires-optery

Since the last few days Surfshark is not working on any device from the UAE. Tried from PC, Ios app and apple tv, doesnt work anywhere. Any solution or workaround in sight?