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I'm using the built-in OS X VPN tool to connect to my company's network. I notice that, when I'm connected, all traffic goes over the VPN.

In the past when I've used the Windows VPN tool I was able to configure it such that only traffic to certain IP ranges and/or host names went over the VPN and everything else went over the local network.

Is that possible with a default OS X VPN? I don't see anything in the settings...

jph
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3 Answers3

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Yes, this is possible. First, you have to remove the checkmark from "Send all traffic over VPN connection" in Settings -> Network -> Your VPN -> Advanced.

Then, from the Terminal you can use "route" to add specific hosts that should be routed via your VPN.

sudo /sbin/route add -host pandora.com -interface ppp0

In this example, "pandora.com" is the host that should be routed via the VPN and ppp0 is the name of the VPN network interface (ifconfig shows you the list of network interfaces).

fregante
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kiteloop
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4

To make it work also with the Pandora app, you can use 

sudo /sbin/route add -host internal-tuner.pandora.com -interface ppp0

and when you finish, you can simply do

sudo /sbin/route delete -host internal-tuner.pandora.com -interface ppp0
TallTed
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opoloko
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1

I don't have reputation enough to comment on kiteloop's answer (score 28 as of today) or opoloko's answer (score 2 as of today). I was facing the same problem (listening to Pandora on OS X, 10.6.8) and am now listening to Pandora via the Pandora app (which has better sound quality I believe than via browser and certainly uses less CPU (about 3% in activity monitor).

The comment from Maskime to schlingel.me does not lead to a detailed post about Pandora's IP addresses but rather to a photography weblog which does not include that post. Neither does Googling "schlingel + pandora" bring up a current location. It's a dead end.

On the other hand, Opoloko's suggestion for the Pandora app works brilliantly.

  1. Download and install the Pandora OS X app.
  2. Just turn off the checkmark from "Send all traffic over VPN connection" in Settings -> Network -> Your VPN -> Advanced.
  3. Apply changes.
  4. Connect your VPN.
  5. Open terminal.
  6. Run ifconfig.
  7. Look for ppp to discover the exact location of the VPN interface whatever the ppp address is.
  8. Include that string in opoloko's command: sudo /sbin/route add -host internal-tuner.pandora.com -interface ppp0

Additional Notes: In this case you don't need to cover a range of Pandora IP's just the internal-tuner.pandora.com address. All CDN/etc servers don't need to be covered either just the initial internal-tuner.pandora.com. While I thought one could replace internal-tuner.pandora.com with pandora.com this won't work. Neither will a simple wildcard like *.pandora.com work in route. It returns a bad address warning.

To turn off the Pandora VPN, use opoloko's command with the correct ppp interface number:

sudo /sbin/route delete -host internal-tuner.pandora.com -interface ppp0

Happy listening. Huge thanks to opoloko who offered a simple and usable solution to what is a keen issue for music lovers since Last.FM radio went down. Pandora is the only really good suggestion algorithm left standing and which introduces a listener to new music.

Foliovision
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