Cannot connect through ethernet to NAS while PC has VPN running

Hello all, I have a DS1019+ that I essentially just need to be act as local storage associated with a drive letter. I just need to directly access with ethernet connection, I’m not trying to make this accessible through wifi or remote yet.

  • With ethernet connection and without VPN active I can see NAS through syn. assistant and assign drive letter. When I turn on VPN (nordVPN) on my PC I cannot see the drive at all.

Another issue which is lower priority but may be related:

  • By default I cannot see the NAS in file explorer, but I can map a drive letter through syn. assistant. I need click on “network” in explorer to trigger network discovery and file sharing wizard to change it to a private network, which then works correctly in explorer. Afterwards when I restart my computer my ethernet connection to the NAS defaults to a public “unidentified network” again

During setup of the DS1019+ I believe I chose default settings for everything.

I imagine this is basic knowledge and I want to learn more but I’m struggling finding an answer here and on other forums - thanks for your help.

EDIT: NordVPN allows split tunneling by app. Go to settings>split tunneling. Turn ‘split tunneling’ on, then select ‘disable vpn for selected apps’ from drop down. Under ‘add apps’ list select windows explorer. After that NAS and drive letter should still be accessible through windows explorer.

If you start the vpn it routes all traffic to the tunnel to avoid leakage. Check the vpn settings to see whether you can allow local traffic aka split tunneling.

Most VPN software has an option to allow local traffic. Look in the apps settings.

Ideally just use the VPN when you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing that you setup a VPN for. Otherwise, leave it off, you don’t want your VPN service mining your data.

This fixed the issue, I was able to disable vpn for file explorer and now the drive letter is working correctly. thanks for your help.

For future searchers: NordVPN allows split tunneling by app. Go to settings>split tunneling. Turn ‘split tunneling’ on, then select ‘disable vpn for selected apps’ from drop down. Under ‘add apps’ list select windows explorer. After that NAS and drive letter should still be accessible through windows explorer.

Actually, the NordVPN split tunneling just breaks the vpn apparently. While it allows local access to NAS it stops routing traffic altogether - I tried multiple configurations. I don’t have access to a lot of settings in the software unfortunately. Is this only able to be controlled by VPN software? Should I try another vpn service?

Depends on your use case. There are also vpns that work within browser like Opera has built in. Or you run one on your Synology and route the traffic from a container through the vpn such as for torrents.