I currently have Strong VPN and Surfshark VPN. I have an Nvidia Shield with TiviMate Premium that saves recordings to a shared drive on a Win 10 machine that is on the same LAN as the Shield.
Strong works fairly well, but it doesn’t have split tunneling on Windows (not a must for me) and it doesn’t have a Kill Switch on Android TV (which is something I really want). I thought Surfshark would be a great alternative. As noted in other threads on here, it is one of the few Android TV VPNs that has a KS that actually works. However it doesn’t have a “discover on LAN” option in the settings. Surfshark has it in Windows and Android, but not Android TV. So this means my TiviMate recordings fail when the VPN is on. They work fine when I record to the internal storage of the Shield, but not anything over the LAN.
Is there some workaround to this? Or is there a VPN that has a kill switch that works on the Shield, gives you access to the LAN, and has split tunneling? I have contacted Nord and they claim that they have all of this and a kill switch that works on Android TV. But from what I have read on here their KS doesn’t work on Android TV either. I have also tried the free ProtonVPN Android TV app and it allows access to the LAN but there are no settings at all (so no split tunneling or kill switch), but I am not sure if this is just due to it being the free version of Proton.
I used Proton on my Shield for years. My Shield is in hibernation while I give my SK1 a full workout. So the Proton is running on it at the mall moment.
Do you happen to remember if Proton had a kill switch for Android TV that worked? Proton is more expensive but has a cheaper 1 month price, so I might just sign up for 1 month of Proton and then get if it does not have a good KS for Android TV I can try Nord. Nord claims their KS only kills the network connection for the devices selected to use the VPN tunnel which is really nice. But I’ve only heard of a couple of VPNs that have a KS that actually works on a Shield and I don’t think Nord was one of them.
That looks to be a screen shot from a phone. I’m not sure if Proton is like this, but Surfshark’s Android app (for phone) and the Android TV app (for Shield) are completely different. One big difference for me is that one has “discover on LAN” option and the other doesn’t. I’ve also heard that except for Surfshark and I think Express, most Kills Switches for the Shield don’t work. But maybe that is old news and most do work now.
Thanks. I guess I will try Nord since they claim to have a killswitch.
I understand the purpose of the dot, but if you are using an app that uses the VPN and the dot goes away due to the VPN disconnecting, your real IP address is immediately exposed right?
Unfortunately that won’t work on streaming devices, just tablets and phones. Proton has not allowed the full settings options on streaming devices and have never given me a clear answer as to why. Just a few months ago they added the Protocols option to settings for streaming devices but still no killswitch. The safety dot works just fine for me as the only time I am concerned is when using say TiViMate or Stremio and then, as I am sitting there watching, if the vpn drops, which it never has in the 4 years I’ve had it, then my red light flashes like mad and I can back out of the app immediately and reinitiate the VPN.
I use nordvpn on my shield and it works perfect. I got away from surf shark because it was such a terrible VPN. It did not work correctly half of the time.
What kind of problems did you have? Was it just disconnecting, slow to connect or just slow in general?
Nord is what I am planning on trying next. Does the Nord app on the Shield have kill switch that works and also allows you to access the LAN? So far Surfshark would be fine for me if it just allowed access to the LAN for the apps assigned to use the VPN.
The NordVPN kill switch, when enabled, blocks internet access if the VPN connection drops, preventing data leaks, but it doesn’t inherently allow access to your local network (LAN) while the VPN is active. Surf shark’s problems consisted of constant buffering IPTV service and at times not even working. I found it out real quick when I shut off the VPN and everything worked fine multiple times. Once I switched over to Nord everything worked right.
What’s the point of a kill switch if it doesn’t work? That’s what was happening to me using Surfshark. Occasionally it would disconnect while streaming (dot confirmed) with kill switch ON My Shield. I use Proton without one SINCE and haven’t missed a beat.
So the kill switch working is great. But when you say “it doesn’t inherently allow access to your LAN while the VPN is active”, that sounds a bit like Surfshark. Is there a setting you can turn on that does allow access to the LAN while the VPN is active? For Surfshark if you are using split tunneling, the apps not using the VPN tunnel can, of course, still access the LAN, but the app using the VPN tunnel can’t. If Nord is the same, I might as well just stay with Strong VPN. It is cheaper and allows access to the LAN. It doesn’t have a kill switch but it seems most VPN apps on the Shield don’t have functioning kill switches anyway. So a kill switch AND access to the LAN seems to not be a possibility at this time with any VPN.
The streaming would continue when Surfshark would disconnect? I had just tested the Surfshark kill switch by turning on the KS and then disconnecting from the VPN and verifying that I had no connection. If the KS doesn’t work reliably, then I might as well just stay with Strong VPN or maybe try Proton.
Greetings - I had a similar issue with TiviMate (Prem) on a Firestick 4k especially when initializing a list for the 1st time. It was suggested by of all things the MS Copilot to choose a VPN location closest to my location - I’m in RI and the closest on SS’s list was Boston - surprise - it worked but not great. I’ve since also installed IPVanish with the new KS option and that works WAY better. In testing network speed it’s usually double that of SS.
And a question for you - I also have recording set to go to a Win11 box with SMB enabled - it works ‘sometimes’ Does your N-Shield do that consistently ? Can you record two simultaneously ?
Thanks
Jan
Hi does anyone know if you can have a vpn without paying a monthly yearly cost? I know there are free vpn.
Is there a way with a router? Or another way that works just as good as a paid vpn?
