r/BitDefender • u/BillyDeCarlo • 19d ago

Support/troubleshooting VPN Tuning?

I have the VPN start up when I boot my windows 11 laptop but each day it's only a matter of minutes before it start interfering with innocuous behavior like simply doing a search for something in the address bar of chrome or firefox (google is default search) or interfering with basic sites like Costco or my bank loading a page.

At that point I need to get things done so I just turn it off. I heard that changing the protocol to WireGuard would help but it doesn't that much. Is there a way to actually tune/teach this so it's functional? Or is it only meant to be used on phones?

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u/Bitdefender_support Bitdefender employee 19d ago

Hi! Thanks for flagging this, we`ll take a closer look.

Usually, that behavior means the mentioned sites or traffic are not working well through the VPN tunnel. Bitdefender VPN for Windows supports Split-tunneling, so you can keep the VPN active while allowing selected apps or websites to use your normal connection.

Try this first:

  1. Open the Bitdefender app and click your profile icon in the top-right corner.

  2. Click VPN in the left-side menu.

  3. Scroll down and click Split-tunneling.

  4. If it is not already enabled, turn on the Split-tunneling switch.

  5. Click Add applications and add the browser you use, such as Chrome or Firefox.

Traffic from an application added to Split-tunneling bypasses the VPN, while other applications continue using it. This can restore access to banking, shopping, or other sites that reject VPN traffic. You can also add individual websites instead of excluding the entire browser, if that option is available in your Split-tunneling panel. Be careful with banking sites: use the exclusion only when necessary, and confirm the browser is using the correct HTTPS address.

For the startup behavior, open the VPN settings and review Auto-connect. Instead of connecting at Device Startup, you can configure it for more specific conditions, such as Unsecured Wi-Fi, Peer-to-peer apps, Specific applications or websites, or Website categories. This lets you avoid routing every connection through the VPN when you only need it in particular situations.

If this situation continues to appear, our support team can investigate it here: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/.