VPN and kodi

[TonyH]

A question for you IT guys.
I know that my solution is to install the vpn on my router, but I don't want to do that, slow down my other devices.
I have a usb hard drive plugged into my router that has my movies, tv shows, pictures, music, ect on it. All of my kodi devices connect to this NAS using windows SMB. Everything was perfect, until I installed a vpn on each fire stick and the fire tv. With the vpn connected I can stream just fine, but I can't connect to my NAS while connected. This gets difficult because my library is part streams from addons, and part local content, from the hard drive. Now that I set up metalliq and have mixed media in my tv shows tab, if I forget to disconnect the vpn and play a local file, it locks up kodi and I need to restart.
Is there a way to fix this issue? Maybe some port forwarding? I'm at a loss rite now

[Buzz Marshall]

not sure why you couldnt just use the file menu in kodi and then add sources and use smb with your nas ip address to add those sources to Kodi under the Video/Files location...

ive got a inside network at home here that consists of 4 nas boxes with about 16 terabytes of flles and probably 20 computers including a few online servers running on my inside network and i use a couple of vpn all the time without any issues like not having access to my inside media at anytime... ive got at least a half dozen android boxes running my linux os and streaming using kodi for the old lady and kids all day long...

depending on your bandwidth sometimes having the vpn in the router can be a pain as most vpns have bandwidth limits and if youve got alot inside traffic everything being forced thru the vpn can start to tap-out...  it maybe more work and a pain but i found just using the vpn's from within kodi worked better for me as i was just pulling the stream bandwidth for that media which never gives me streaming problems

[TonyH]

not sure why you couldnt just use the file menu in kodi and then add sources and use smb with your nas ip address to add those sources to Kodi under the Video/Files location...

That is exactly what I did and it works perfect, until I connect the vpn, then I can't see the NAS through the windows SMB

[TonyH]

The vpn's are on my fire tv, 3 fire sticks, and my comp. I can still connect to the NAS with my comp and the vpn connected, but none of the other devices.
I'm continuing to search the internet for a solution, and I tried the vpn support, they were no help at all.
How are your vpn's set up? Did you use open vpn? I'm using ipvanish and the app that they supply. I wondering if setting up open vpn would fix my problem.

[dada]

Again....a newbie here, not too tech savy, but what are the advantages/Disadvantages of a VPN and how to you add it to a firestick if I decide to do so?

[TonyH]

I can't find the link I'm looking for rite now, but ipvanish has an app in the store on the fire stick. That has the latest app.
Here is an older video for a different method that still works

[TonyH]

Ipvanish is in the App Store, so if your on the fire stick home screen, go to search and type in ipvanish. You can install the app from there. He is a video showing that.,

[Buzz Marshall]

i'm not sure what to say... i no longer use android for anything but i do know kodi is inheriting its network structure from it, so theres probably something bogging it down...

i have always use Static IPs on all my servers, boxes and computers on my inside lan...

A few years ago when i 1st started on android boxes i always had problems with kodi databases crashing the box while trying to scan in media from my NAS's and the directory structure i had for them... I was still developing on ATV boxes at the time and they never had issues but Android for some reason didnt like SMB and kodi scanning... there were posts of others with issues as well and in the end i found for the Android boxes i had to switch to ftp protocol to get them to scan and retain the media into kodi's database without crashing all the time...

Ive 4 NAS boxes with 6tb's in each full of media and have never had any access problems other then with Android so my quess its got to be something to do with it...

If your using dhcp... try switching over to static ip's on the inside and then from within kodi add your media sources and see if that solves the smb problems and if not switch over to ftp protocol assuming your NAS box lets you setup ftp as well as smb...

I know sometimes with DHCP that sometmes routes don't always get picked up in a routing table so the router may be trying to firewall your inside stuff for some reason...

Maybe someone thats a android guy can provide a better answer but from a networking point i really see no reason why going out over the wan using a vpn should interfere with your inside lan once kodi has those nas locations scanned into its database...

Hope someone helps your find a answer tho...

[TonyH]

Thanks for the info Marshall, I'm going to work on it this weekend. I'll let you know what happens

[dada]

I installed Wired VPN.....and I have no idea how to use it lol....any help?

[Buzz Marshall]

Depends on your system and setup...

Vpn's can be installed in a couple of different manners depending on what you want to do and who's vpn it is...

Generally speaking tho you can:

a) Install it on your router which usually has fields that need to be populated with your Vpn info which then will shove everything in your lan thru the router in a vpn tunnel via your provider to where ever you've got your vpn to pop you out onto the internet... that makes every device on your lan transfer via the vpn...

b) Install a vpn client on whatever device you want to use the vpn on and then populating the vpn clients fields with your pertinent information... this will make the vpn only work on the device within your lan that you want to use it on...

generally speaking most will choose b and most vpn providers usually will allow more then one connection on your lan side to be used... eg: computer and phone or tablet... each with their own appropriate vpn client setup to connect to the vpn provider using a common logon/password...

if your using a computer or android box check with your vpn provider to see if they have client software for their service available for the device you want to use...

in the case of only wanting to use the vpn on kodi and not the whole device your running kodi on you can download one of the vpn clients available for the version of kodi your using it on...

OpenElec or LibreElec have vpn client software built in in most cases...

in all cases the client software will have fields you need to populate with your information to allow your device to connect to their servers as well as usually some program or manner within the client to let you setup and pick which connection you want to use from their allowable locations... usually one will work as a default when you want to connect while letting you setup and choose from others... as well as auto and manual connect options are generally available...

that should help with the overall idea but you will need to apply it to your needs and vpn provider...

think of it kinda like turning on a dial up internet connection from the old days only its running ontop of your existing internet connection via your ISP...

[sarah]

What do you think of Turbo Boost free Vpn?

[Buzz Marshall]

Nothing wrong with free other then generally speaking free comes with lower performance and features...

Don't put to much sway into a lot of the mainstream advertising tho as most of its being reviewed or pushed by dealer or marketing types that get free handouts or reduced re-seller rates and thats all thats important to them... a lot of people pay more attention to the amount of servers or features then really worrying about the most important feature of them all which is, it should be OFFSHORE...

You want a VPN thats outside the reach of FiveEyes(FEYE) community... 

Five Eyes is basically a cooperative relationship between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the USA in which their various Intelligence and Telecommunication Agencies actively share information and work together...

Why would anyone wanting a VPN service even worry about this? 

Well the whole point of wasting money on a VPN should be about hiding my real identity to the best of my ability but whats the point if the Vpn Provider i decide to use resides within one of the Five Eyes country's or their realm of legislated control, they can subpoena Vpn Providers records and logs whenever they want and in the case of the Canada the providers are always more generous in turning over info without a court order all the time, and if i was in the USA they will just go thru FISA if they even bother...so much for protecting your personal identity and location in those cases...

VPN's in most cases will not do anything to improve your bandwidth or connection problems as your real network connection to your ISP and whatever issues you have with it are still there as the VPN connection will just create a tunnel that either wraps around it or sits within it... so other then maybe helping you get around some geo-blocking the only reason one should worry about getting one is to maintain your anonymity while on-line leaving only encrypted crap for the ISP or gov agencies to pull...

rather then get into who's good and who's not (its like arguing over who's the best file locker site) i will just say this...

make sure they are actually OFFSHORE... if you do your research i think you'll be surprised at how many popular ones that the reviewers rave about are actually within Five Eyes jurisdiction... as well assume they keep basic logs as most will say they don't but i run enough servers on line to know better... its just something most company's will say to compete with others as VPN market is growing like crazy these days...

[sarah]

Thanks for your interesting and illuminating answer.

[Buzz Marshall]

ExpressVPN as an example is one the reviewers seem to always rate highly is in British Virgin Islands which because of its relationship with the United Kingdom supposedly has cooperated with MI5 who shares with the NSA if you follow the talk amongst a lot of the black hats or hackers and whats been exposed thru leaked docs... its a good example of why you should do YOUR own research and not just blindly follow what commercial reviewers try and push...

just sayin...