What Does Split Tunneling Mean?- Pros and Cons Explained

Split Tunneling is a VPN security feature. You can activate this feature and choose which data and applications will go through the encrypted VPN tunnel and which will go through the regular unprotected Internet.

Split tunneling is one of the most important features of a VPN. However, nothing in the world can be fully efficient, so there are some drawbacks to it.

Today, we are going to dive deep into what does Split tunneling mean and explain the pros and cons in detail.

How Does Split Tunneling Work?

In VPNs, we use split tunneling to divide the apps you want your VPN to encrypt and

here’s how split tunneling works in VPNs:

1. Creating the VPN Tunnel: A secure tunnel is created between the user’s device and the VPN server when a user connects to a VPN.

2. Routing Decisions: With split tunneling, the device makes routing decisions based on the destination of the network traffic. Traffic that is selected to go through the VPN will pass through the VPN tunnel.

Traffic that is set to be directly passed through the local internet connection without passing through the VPN will go through as such.

3. Separated Route: The VPN tunnel becomes the dedicated path for sensitive and personal data, ensuring this information is encrypted and secured during transit.

4. Local Internet Access: Since not all traffic is routed through the VPN, the user retains direct access to the local internet for non-sensitive or general web browsing activities.

Why Should You Use Split Tunneling?

Split tunneling can be used on several occasions. If you want to take more control over your VPN usage, selectively routing only the necessary traffic through the VPN allows you to personalize your VPN usage.

For example, you may split tunnel the banking apps with a VPN and stream your favorite shows at full speed using a normal internet connection. Optimizing performance for Internet activities.

Split tunnel also helps also enhance efficiency and save bandwidth, making it beneficial when bandwidth is limited or costly.

4 Types of VPN Split Tunneling

VPN split tunneling can be implemented differently to suit specific needs and requirements. Here are four common types of VPN split tunneling:

1. Application-Based: The split tunneling decision is based on the specific applications or services. For example, a user might configure the VPN to only encrypt and route traffic from certain critical applications through the VPN while allowing other applications to use the local internet connection directly.
2. Route-Based: Route-based split tunneling involves configuring routing tables to determine which traffic should go through the VPN tunnel and which should take the local route.

This can be a more technical approach, allowing for control over routing different types of traffic.

3. Protocol-Based: This approach involves making split tunneling decisions based on the network protocol.

For example, users might choose to route all web traffic (HTTP/HTTPS) through the VPN while allowing other protocols to use the local internet connection.

4. URL-based: This allows you to decide which URLs you want to pass through the VPN tunnel while browsing. Some VPNs offer it as a browser extension to make it easier for the users.

The particular requirements, security guidelines, and user preferences all play a role in the split tunneling type selection. Split tunneling needs to be properly planned and configured according to the needs of the user and the type of traffic being sent.

5 Pros of Split Tunneling

Here are 5 benefits of Split Tunneling that you need to know:

1. Enhanced Privacy and Security: Consider our emails and online banking as top-priority anonymous and hidden information.

Using the split-tunneling feature, secure transactions are protected from prying eyes.

2. Better Speed: As mentioned before, split tunneling helps reduce lag and latency and offers a better Internet speed.

3. Local Network Access: With split tunneling, you can keep traffic on the regular lane without interrupting your secure VPN connection for other stuff.

There are times you might need to access your local network, such as to watch content made in your native language, which you can achieve easily through the splitting network.

4. Bypass VPN restrictions: Many sources do not allow VPN connections, but with split tunneling, you can access those sites without completely disconnecting your VPN.

5. Saves Bandwidth: Encrypting all your traffic can be a bandwidth hog. Split tunneling lets you send less important stuff through the regular lane, reserving the precious VPN bandwidth for where it truly matters.

3 Cons of Split Tunneling

Split tunneling might sound like a magical internet superpower, but like any power, it comes with its downsides. Let’s see what are the major disadvantages of split tunneling:

1. Compromising Security: Splitting your traffic exposes the non-encrypted data all over the internet. This means your browsing history, online activity, and even data could be vulnerable to snooping, malware, and phishing attacks.

Misconfigurations, application conflicts, or software glitches can lead to unintentional data leaks outside the tunnel, potentially exposing sensitive information.

Corporate firewalls and security controls are bypassed for non-tunneled traffic. This can put confidential company data at risk if a device with malware on your local network accesses corporate resources.

2. Configuration Difficulty: Implementing split tunneling can be more complex than a full VPN. The specific configuration steps will vary depending on your VPN provider and device.

Maintaining and updating split tunneling rules for different apps and websites can be difficult. Improper configuration can accidentally send sensitive data through the wrong lane, negating the security benefits of split tunneling and potentially introducing vulnerabilities.

3. Other Considerations: Split tunneling can add an extra layer of processing overhead, potentially impacting internet performance. Not all VPN providers offer split tunneling functionality. Be sure to check your provider’s features before dreaming of segregated internet lanes.

How to Use Split Tunneling on Symlex VPN

The benefits of Split Tunneling outweigh the disadvantages. So, Symlex VPN has made Split tunneling user-friendly and easily accessible.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to using Split Tunneling with Symlex VPN:

1. Sign up and Log in with your credentials.

2. Connect to any server of your choice.

3. Choose “Settings” from the menu bar on your top left.

4. Choose the “Split-Tunneling” option.

1. Click the “X/Cross” button on the right to choose the apps you do not want the VPN to connect to.
2. You can now continue using the VPN on the apps that you have allowed.

Be on The Right Track

We hope this article answers your question about what does split tunneling mean and its detailed benefits and disadvantages.

As an Internet user, you have to be very careful about the data that you are passing through the Internet unprotected. The Split tunneling feature ensures and allows you to decide the best option, so you must be on the right track!