Is there a VPN Utility that turns off when connected to ‘known’ WiFi networks? OpenVPN works great! But it’s live 24/7, and I don’t need the VPN on while I’m at home. iOS.
The iOS WireGuard VPN client has 95% 100% (see below) of this functionality It’s called On Demand Activation.
Choices are
Wifi or Cellular - default settingWifi onlyCellular only
I choose #3 Cellular only, so that the VPN auto-enables when I leave home.
I keep a second WireGuard client connection configured, so that I can manually enable a VPN when on Wifi away from home. if the On Demand fails for any reason.
Passepartout is an app that I stumbled upon when I was looking for something that did the known wifi thing. It has worked great and was exactly what I wanted. https://passepartoutvpn.app/
So on iOS at least all of this can be done with any VPN it’s just not exposed in the settings on the device. You have to create a profile with all the settings you want.
This gives the basic and you can look up the iOS profile reference for VPN to see all the possible things that can be done.
I have my personal server VPN set up with a profile like this and it does all of the things folks are talking about - auto activate and require it to be active for any traffic on unknown wifi, you can decide separately how you want to handle your cellular traffic, automatically disconnects on known good networks, etc.
Nord has that functionality, but may not fit your use case.
This is what I use and it’s great. Disables my OpenVPN on networks I specify as “trusted”.
PIA has this functionality.
Edit: Nevermind, just saw you’re on iOS. Sorry
Recently I switched from OpenVPN to WireGuard (more battery-friendly and faster) and I’ve been very happy with it.
I’m using a WireGuard client called Viscerion that supports Tasker intents, so I made a simple task:
If not connected to *my trusted wi-fi networks*Then enable WireGuard and connect to my VPN
When I connect to any trusted wi-fi networks, WireGuard disconnects
Two people have suggested Wireguard, but I haven’t seen the obligatory comments about how it hasn’t yet undergone the full suite of security audits yet, so use with caution! To quote their website:
WireGuard is not yet complete. You should not rely on this code. It has not undergone proper degrees of security auditing and the protocol is still subject to change.
Zerotier will automatically understand that you are on the same network as your pi-hole device and communicate with your device only trough your home network not trough Internet. Tutorial available here if you are interested: How to easily use your Pi-Hole outside of your personal network - Community How-to's - Pi-hole Userspace
It doesn’t hurt to have the vpn on when you’re at home.
1.1.1.1 from Cloudflare
NordVPN user here. It has a baked-in option for auto-connecting, including adding trusted networks so it won’t connect.
The vpn I use is called Encrypt.Me it’s the only VPN I know of that blocks the internet on unknown connections until the VPN connection is working. As an example, picture this. You arrive at work with your phone in your pocket without Encrypt.Me your phone finds the WiFi and connects to the network and immediately starts running updates, checking email etc, with Encrypt.Me it still connects but it also activates your VPN and none of your data passes across the office wifi in the clear. This all happens long before you think about your phone or turning on a VPN etc.
Unless you walk around everywhere with wifi turned off then my point is irrelevant
IVPN can be setup to turn on with unknown networks and off when your on a trusted network
Maybe use Tasker and turn off VPN completely when at home?
I know NordVPN has that functionality
IFTTT - If This Then That. A fantastic app for many purposes.
Here is an example it turns off 4g when you get home.
There are literally thousands of different ways you can use this. I’m sure what you need can be done.
I use an app called Shimo which has this feature you are referring to.
In the recent versions you can exclude SSIDs then it won’t connect to the VPN.