Help with PFsense Split Tunneling

[daveo132]

Hi all,

I seem to have hit some issue with split tunneling on my PFSense router.

I did have a setup that worked but I’m not sure what broke it as I’ve really left it alone.
I’ve made two changes in the last few weeks, which will be detailed below.

I use NordVPN on the OpenVPN client and I can confirm that all works as expected as far as a VPN connection.

However, I set some rules up in my Firewall that said traffic from my Desktop and Laptop were to use the PPPOE_Gateway (ie not the VPN) which would allow those to access the net freely. This allows me to use the Nord app on my PC to select what I want etc.

This did work perfectly fine (for a few months) until the last few weeks.

I started getting issues with my VPN connection dropping out somewhere between myself and the VPN (Tracert showed it only getting so far).
NordVPN advised me to update my DNS Server Settings (see below).

Either, since then, or since the update to 2.5.1 these rules no longer seem to work.

I’m at a bit of a loss as all the guides and info seem to say that the rules have been setup correctly (unless I’m being dense!)

I have tried adding the following line to my DNS to see if it helped but it did not.

I will admit that this is a little above me but I’m keen to learn.

[n3tizen]

If you recently updated your PFsense from 2.4.x to the new(er) 2.5.x build I would urge you to do a fresh install and then follow the nordVPN instuctions for setting up the VPN tunnel. There were some pretty big changes in PFsense when it went to 2.5 that affected OpenVPN clients.

You can always compare your existing config with the current setup instructions pfSense 2.5 Setup with NordVPN | NordVPN Support

I had to roll my PFsense back to 2.4.5 to maintain connectivity with my VPN provider because of these issues.

[daveo132]

Oh ok, thanks for that.
I wasn’t aware there were such big changes.

I will give that a go and if not roll back as you as said.

Thanks.

[daveo132]

ok, so I think I got a step closer.
I had a read through this thread and it seems to be a known issue

r/PFSENSE - Policy Based Routing stopped working on 2.5.0

I went through and checked “don’t pull routes” but then I lose everything. I get a lot of connection times out, so there must be something up with my non-vpn setup.

I’ll see what I can figure out tomorrow.

[daveo132]

I think I fixed it.
I hadn’t realised by my default WAN was showing as down despite having an internet connection. I set it to watch 1.1.1.1 and it reported as up right away.
Switched back the defaults and now all seems to be working as intended.