Why doesn't Smart View work over VPN?

[Members_iPurVSD]

Hi folks,

I am trying to connect my Tab A to my Samsung Smart TV using Smart View for casting tablet contents, but it won't allow me to connect while I'm using a VPN on the tablet. Why on earth not please?!

It just disconnects "because I'm using a VPN on my tablet".

Any solutions please to get around this issue.
(I want to continue using VPN.)

Many thanks in advance.

[Pugs1957 · Accepted solution]

Once you use a VPN you are on a different network. You need the VPN at router level.

[megalexis]

You do not require VPN at the router level. Local traffic like connecting to your tv should stay local why would it need to go through a vpn to come back ? I can see my roku connect to the tv then complain about vpn being enabled. So either samsung is killing the connection when it detects vpn or most roku is.

[Chris814]

This response is incorrect for some cases.  In my case I'm connected to the same WiFi as my TV, but my VPN connection routes me to the same network again, just with a different ip, but still in the same network as the TV.  There is no network reason for it to not work, as I'm in the same network as the TV with or without the VPN.  

I have tried configuring the VPN client to bypass VPN for local connections and to set up any apps that seems to be associated with screen mirroring to bypass VPN.  However screen share still says that it can't connect due to the VPN.  There is no reason for this that I can fathom.

It's as if it is programmed to detect a VPN and to reject the connection regardless of if the network is accessible.

I don't want to have to turn my VPN off every time I share my screen, because then I forget to turn it back on, and I go the next 3 days without using VPN.

[ws2222]

In fact it concerns all of LAN accesses.

My NordVPN is set to bypass LAN accesses and it works for other Android devices I have but not for Samsung A33!!!

[DiiLala]

I have done some extensive testing to understand how does mirroring works. I am still not a 100% sure though but what I am sure about one thing is that being on same network doesn't matter. Let me explain. If I turn off my wifi and go on cellular network I can still mirror my phone's screen to my TV being on wifi network. It has something to do with the smart things, I thought that registering the device in samsung member app might be the solution. I have yet to find it, if it is. Now on one of my tablets I have nothing bypassed on my nord VPN and still can cast it to my TV. I remember when I first got my phone I was running into the same issue smart view complaining about being on VPN. My conclusion is that there is a glitch in smart things that takes time to recognize the device and once it does the device can cast to the TV. The phone experiment mentioned above makes me think that there is some control messaging from the casting device to the cloud server of smart things that then enables the data plane traffic from the device to the TV. If the control plane messaging is complaining about the VPN the data plane will not get setup. One myth busted that for casting you need to be on same network. 

[DavidSM-bw]

I have an A04 which I call the "Entertainment Phone" because it is the device I use to watch, or should I say, did watch various streaming channels on my Samsung smart television, including a number which require that I use a VPN to access. Up to a few weeks ago I wasn't having any problems but then I received a notification that an update was available and I downloaded and installed it. I should say at this stage that the phone is permanently connected through the VPN. After the update, when I tried to use Smart View whilst connected to my VPN (ExpressVPN) I received an error message telling me that Smart View wouldn't work with the VPN connected.  Nothing else had changed since the previous evening, same phone, same router, same television, the only difference was installing the update. We, my wife and I, also have an S24+ and an A54, both connected to ExpressVPN  and both with the same Apps as the A04. Both these phones work perfectly with Smart View and the VPN connected. Since this change took place another update for the A04 has become available. So believing that it is the previous update that has introduced the problem and hoping that Samsung had realized that the previous update had created this problem, I installed the new update. Much to my disappointment, this has made no difference what so ever. So my confusion now, after reading all the above, is why do two of the phones work and the one that did work but has been updated, doesn't. Anybody, any idea. 

[evila89]

I'll put it this way. Apple allows me to mirror my old iPhone 13 pro to my Samsung TV over wifi using AirPlay while I am connected to a VPN. I would have expected Samsung to be more compatible with devices under its own umbrella

[Chuck4084]

My Apple iPad has no problem with screen mirror with VPN turned on, my Galaxy tablet cannot.  I always have a VPN turned on, makes it pretty inconvenient to have to switch to an iPad whenever I want to mirror something.  You would expect better from Samsung.

[DirtDog]

It's actually a simple answer, and one you may not like. 

For instance, we may not want to pay taxes, but we don't really have an option.

All jokes aside, the truth is when you are on a VPN, smartview sees your phone on a different network than your TV.

So you have two options:

1. Split tunneling. Add smart view to Split tunneling. But after doing this,  check your IP address. It may no longer be hidden. If it is hidden, great! If not, see #2.

2. You must add your VPN to your router. Most routers you "rent" from your ISP won't allow this. But some do. In me opinion buying your own modem and router pays for itself when your add up the rental fees (check your bill), but I digress. If you add your phone and TV to your VPN at the router level, your location is hidden and you can connect every time via smart view.

That's it!