NordVPN on Router = Some strange access issues

[jonboyuk 12]

Hi all,

 

I'm running an Emby server (premiere) on my Synology DS218+ which has been working well. I thought I should tighten up my security so now I use a VPN, which is running at router level. I can still use Emby okay (only local for the time being), but if I add a movie to the library, it can't download any images/covers etc. If I click to make them big (ie go directly to The Movie Database through Emby), the operation to download them just times out. I'm using server 4.0.2. Not sure if it makes any difference but I've also forwarded the requisite Emby ports too.

 

Any ideas? Thanks

Edited February 14, 2019 by jonboyuk

[solabc16 379]

Hello @@jonboyuk

 

There have been problems with some VPN solutions when running on the Synology box itself, so you should have avoided these by running it on the router.

 

I take it everything still works fine if you disable the VPN?

 

If so, you probably need to look at the configuration / rules in your chosen VPN solution and make sure access to metadata providers is permitted / possible.

 

There are occasionally issues with IPv6 compatibility, so if you're not actively using it on your Synology system, you could try disabling that also as a test.

 

e.g.

 

    DSM -> Control Panel -> Network -> Network Interface -> <your connection> -> IPv6 -> IPv6 setup -> Off

 

Best

- James

Edited February 14, 2019 by solabc16

[jonboyuk 12]

Thanks James

 

I've just disabled the VPN to try and it didn't work. I then re-enabled it and voila it started to work!!! 20 seconds later, it seems to have blocked up again! Strangely it seems to be able to load the metadata however - just images are a no go.

 

Sometimes I never quite understand tech! What the heck?

 

This is it not working...

Edited February 14, 2019 by jonboyuk

[solabc16 379]

Hello @@jonboyuk

 

Do you have IPv6 enabled? That would be worth eliminating from the equation.

 

Best

- James

[jonboyuk 12]

IPv6 is disabled on both my router and the NAS! I still think it might be the VPN. I wonder if I was just getting some network delay before...

Edited February 14, 2019 by jonboyuk

[jonboyuk 12]

Okay just did some more testing. It's the router's VPN that's preventing Emby from getting full internet access (I don't understand!) As you can imagine, I really would like the NAS behind the VPN. To get it working I have a split tunnel on the router, where the NAS is on the standard ISP internet.

 

I have an ASUS RT-AC86U using Asuswrt-Merlin (F/W 384.9)

 

Any ideas on how to get around this would be great   Thanks!

Edited February 14, 2019 by jonboyuk

[jonboyuk 12]

Cheeky bump

[Luke 42077]

@ do you use a VPN?

[Guest asrequested]

Why are you using a split tunnel? If you're running it on the router, just run everything through Nord. You're likely having communication issues. Just put your whole network being Nord, and then restart the Emby server.

[jonboyuk 12]

Hi @. The reason I split it is that my smart TV's (3 of them) and my Nvidia Shield wouldn't work with Netflix, Amazon videos and other streaming services when they were behind the VPN, despite changing through various servers. Frustratingly, when the NAS is behind the VPN I can't stream from Emby remotely.

[Guest asrequested]

It sounds like you have bigger issues with Nord. I use Torguard running on my pfsense box, and everything works, perfectly.

[jonboyuk 12]

Do you use a NAS for your media storage?

[Guest asrequested]

Do you use a NAS for your media storage?

Not like the boxes you buy like yours, but my storage is on a separate Windows 10 machine.

[jonboyuk 12]

Hmmm well as everything else on the network works as I would expect, maybe it's something to do with the Synology device...

[Guest asrequested]

I'm afraid I can't help with that. I have no experience with them.

[jonboyuk 12]

Thanks Doofus. Any Synology owners here who've had a similar thing?  @@FrostByte

[FrostByte 5392]

I'm not going to be of much help.  Whenever I'm running a VPN on my Synology mine timeouts also connecting to all the image sites.  Disabling IPv6 on NAS and router doesn't seem to help either.  

 

https://pastebin.com/9nj4jict

[jonboyuk 12]

Actually the image thing seems to have fixed itself (for now at least). I did see there was an update on Emby to the Movie Database though, I wonder if it was that that fixed it.

 

As for my access issue I'm half considering using my Nvidia shield as a server purely for remote access since it's not behind the VPN. Not a resolution, but a workaround in the meantime...

[Luke 42077]

 

 

I did see there was an update on Emby to the Movie Database though, I wonder if it was that that fixed it.

 

No, it was just some minor updates. It did not fix anything.

[jonboyuk 12]

I guess it's just coincidence that it started working again! I didn't change any settings over my network. That's half of the problem gone, which is good.

 

Now I need to work out why I can watch movies locally, but it won't let me download them... Any ideas?

[jonboyuk 12]

Seems it's to do with having Pie on my Note 9, since it works on all my other android devices. 

[solabc16 379]

Hello @@jonboyuk

 

Just checking in to see how you're getting on, is the metadata still working ok when behind the VPN?

 

Best

- James

[jonboyuk 12]

Appreciate it James

 

I don't know why, but a few days later the metadata 'automagically' started working behind the VPN! Random, but great. Just need to solve downloading media from my Syno -> Android Pie phone now!