Split tunneling with hostnames
In the current tech landscape, the same website can be served through thousands of distinct IPs, changing over time depending on specific criteria or even between deployments. It is humanly exhausting, and frankly unfeasible, to require that we have knowledge of IPs or IP ranges to exclude a specific site from VPN usage.
I firmly believe that it is possible to implement the ability to provide access through hostnames (to enable any level of subdomain as well) without the need for a Herculean effort, even if it is necessary to require the user to use a specific DNS service.
This is a relevant issue, and it cannot be resolved solely through browser extensions, as the use of hostnames goes far beyond web browsing. It is important to remember that VPN traffic also involves the use of terminals and other local applications, and, in the current approach, it is completely unfeasible to enjoy the use of the resource appropriately.
Junior
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Junior
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I was setting up split tunneling and it reminded me of an important detail: the frequency with which IPs change in large web services.
It's crucial for Proton team to implement this feature, along with other enhancements for split tunneling, as soon as possible. This not only delivers the resources that paying customers want but **can also significantly reduce data traffic on the VPN service's servers**.
In my case, for example, data from streaming services passes through the VPN because there was no alternative. Fortunately, they recently implemented split tunneling with a kill switch, which can help, but it will still cause issues at some point when the IPs change, and the data from Netflix and similar services will likely start passing through the VPN again without me noticing.
So, the use of hostnames is an essential first step at this moment.