Surfshark causing blocked windows searching

Security
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Over the past month, some users have reported issues with Monitor Dot not loading properly. After investigating, it seems as if Surfshark blocks access to my website (MonitorDot.com) when connected to nearly half of their U.S. VPN server locations.

Here’s what I found:

  • When connected to Surfshark’s “New York” server, the Monitor Dot app times out when trying to reach my site.
  • The same happens when even if you try to simply visit the site directly using a browser like Silk.
  • However, when switching to a different server — such as “Miami” — everything works normally.

This causes several issues for users:

  • Trying to download the app via the Troypoint Toolbox will fail when the site is blocked.
  • The app performs periodic new version checks, which display an error if blocked.
  • On startup, Monitor Dot displays a lightweight home screen (a page hosted on my site) that I use for updates and messages to users — but when the site is blocked, that screen fails to load, so I can’t even notify users of the issue.

I contacted Surfshark support and they had me go through all the standard troubleshooting steps (protocol changes, DNS tweaks, etc.) with no success. Eventually, I asked the support agent to test it themselves — and they confirmed they could not access the site either when using the New York server.

Unfortunately, even after verifying the problem, Surfshark told me there is no ETA for a fix and no guarantee of follow-up.

Even if switching to another VPN location resolves the issue, the average user has no way of knowing this — to them, the app simply doesn’t work.

Hopefully, with a bit more visibility and more users reporting the problem, this can be resolved on Surfshark’s end sooner rather than later.

6/17/25 UPDATE:
Please try this work-around for this issue…

Depending on the version of Surfshark you have, one of these settings might help with this issue:

  1. Use the “Bypass VPN” setting and add the “Monitor Dot” app to the list so that the app will bypass the VPN and hopefully can then connect to my website successfully.

  2. Use the “Bypass List” setting to add my website “MonitorDot.com” to the “Bypass” list, so the VPN won’t block the app from connecting to my website anymore.

So, please try the setting that your version of surfshark supports and reply to this post to let me know if it fixes the issue.

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