Plug-in and VPN

[sabresoftware2021]

I use a VPN (SurfShark) on both my Mac and iPad/iPhone and have to turn it off, or pause it, in order to view Ring cameras. The VPN has a bypass feature that allows web address/app bypass lists (MacOS), and web address bypass lists for iOS.

On my Mac, putting ‘ring.com’ in the bypass list allows me to login to my ring account in Safari (whereas with it not listed I get a “access not allowed” when I try logging in). But so far I still can’t view the camera without pausing the VPN when using the Home app. I have added both the login URL for web pages and the Home app to the bypass list. I’d prefer not to bypass for the Home app because it opens up all the other devices as well.

On my iPhone, with ‘ring.com’ on the bypass list I can view the cameras in the Ring app, but again not in Home.

My question is, is there a specific URL embedded in the ring plug-in that is used for accessing the Ring account?

[sabresoftware2021]

Looking at the Log files:

With VPN running on iMac - HomeBridge logs

[07/05/2025, 23:02:16] [Ring] Preparing Live Stream for Door Bell
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] Stream Prepared for Door Bell (0.17s)
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] Activating stream for Door Bell (0.336s)
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: completed
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connecting
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: checking
[07/05/2025, 23:02:17] [Ring] Activating Session
[07/05/2025, 23:02:18] [Ring] Streaming active for Door Bell (1.069s)
[07/05/2025, 23:02:18] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[07/05/2025, 23:02:18] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: connected
[07/05/2025, 23:02:18] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connected
[07/05/2025, 23:02:19] [Ring] Received stream data from Door Bell (2.127s)
[07/05/2025, 23:02:37] [Ring] Live stream for Door Bell appears to be inactive. (20.171s)
[07/05/2025, 23:02:37] [Ring] connectionStateChange: closed
[07/05/2025, 23:02:37] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: closed
[07/05/2025, 23:02:46] [Ring] Stopped Live Stream for Door Bell

With VPN paused on iMac - HomeBridge logs:

[07/05/2025, 23:05:12] [Ring] Preparing Live Stream for Door Bell
[07/05/2025, 23:05:12] [Ring] Stream Prepared for Door Bell (0.123s)
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] Activating stream for Door Bell (0.213s)
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: completed
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connecting
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: checking
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] Activating Session
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] Streaming active for Door Bell (0.993s)
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[07/05/2025, 23:05:13] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: connected
[07/05/2025, 23:05:14] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connected
[07/05/2025, 23:05:14] [Ring] Received stream data from Door Bell (1.512s)

Camera is viewable in Home app, and after camera view is closed:

[07/05/2025, 23:06:27] [Ring] Stopped Live Stream for Door Bell
[07/05/2025, 23:06:27] [Ring] connectionStateChange: closed
[07/05/2025, 23:06:27] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: closed

What I don't understand is that the logs are from HomeBridge on the Raspberry Pi, which is not connected to the Internet via the VPN, so why would the VPN on the iMac be impacting the plug-in?

[tsightler]

Unfortunately, we can't really help much with VPN/networking issues as there are just too many variables. Overall, Homekit streams directly from Homebridge to the device if local, or via the hub device if not. Many VPNs block connections to local networks for safety reasons as well.

[sabresoftware2021]

It seems that the problem is not just the VPN, but a combination of the VPN plus my eero mesh router.

If I use my iPhone via the cell network, even with VPN turned on, the plugin allows viewing the camera. With the phone connected to my home network the plugin fails viewing the camera, but with the bypass feature turned on in the VPN I can view the camera directly on the Ring website, whereas without the bypass I get a not allowed error page when attempting to sign in to the Ring account, so the bypass definitely works for the web browser.

I tried adding the Homebridge and doorbell camera local network IP addresses to the bypass list but still no luck with the VPN turned on.

I also added the Home app to the bypass list on the VPN, but still no luck. The app bypass feature is only available on Mac OS version of the VPN app, so I couldn't try testing that on the iPhone.

Fortunately I can quickly suspend the VPN on the iMac so I can get around the problem, but suspending the VPN on the iPhone takes a little longer to accomplish, often losing the opportunity to see who's at the door.

[tsightler]

You wouldn't need to bypass for the camera, only the Homebridge server. See the wiki for the video stream flow. Of course it will work with iPhone via cell network because VPN doesn't change anything there, it's still going over the internet to the Home Hub, just from the VPN IP instead of the device IP.

Again, most VPNs block local connections in general. Based on the SurfShark docs, it definitely does by default, but it appears to only support app and URL bypass on MacOS, while on Windows it supports IP based bypass, at least according to the SurfShark documentation.