I depend on torrenting to watch my TV shows and movies.
For years, I've been torrenting without a VPN. My ISP was Vidéotron and I trusted them.
However, at the new house we've built, Vidéotron is not a good option. So we've switched to Starlink.
Unfortunately, Starlink does not like you torrenting on their service.
So now, I need my torrenting to go through a VPN. I chose NordVPN because it sounded nice and people online said it was good for torrenting.
However, I still want all of my other Internet needs to go through Starlink and not the VPN. Only torrenting should be going through the VPN.
Split tunneling is not available for my iMac. « Split tunneling » is used to have some apps go through the tunnel while others don't. I also do not want to install NordVPN's app on my iMac.
On macOS, it is possible to add "virtual network interfaces" that allow us to connect to multiple networks over the same network cable using VLAN. I will be using those so my iMac can communicate with my local network and also be able to download torrents at the same time. (The TV shows I watch are saved on my server. It is better to not have to go through the Internet to watch them).
I have an ER605 router and two managed switches. Il will be setuping NordVPN on the router and allowing the VLAN to reach my iMac through the switches.
First, create a new LAN. Go to Network > LAN and create one. You may choose any available VLAN.
DHCP
Creating the LAN will automatically tag the VLAN to every LAN port of the router.
First, log into your NordVPN dashboard.
Then, visit Server recommendation and download « OpenVPN UDP » of the first server.
You will also need the username and password from Service credentials.
You will need to open the ".ovpn" file in a text editor and look at the "remote" line to get the IP address and port.
Now, go to VPN > OpenVPN > OpenVPN Client and add a new VPN :
Click Import and OK.
If you have done everything correctly, the tunnel will appear in the OpenVPN Tunnel tab after a few seconds.
If your iMac is plugged directly into the ER605 router, or you are using only unmanaged switches, you are ready.
If using managed switches, you are required to tag the VLAN on every port between the router and the iMac.
Apple provides instructions for this one. Use VLAN 9.
Just go to Settings > Advanced > Network Interface and choose vlan0 (or whatever what the interface you created was) and restart the app.
You can test the setup by running this in Terminal :
curl --interface vlan0 ifconfig.me
which will give you the IP of the VPN.
Enjoy !
I also made this AppleScript that tells you the IP of the VPN :
display dialog (do shell script "curl --interface vlan0 ifconfig.me") buttons "Awesome" default button "Awesome"
I exported the script to an app I added to my dock.
My previous setup used to work with a SOCKS5 proxy.