If regular internet access stops working as soon as the VPN connection is active, the connection is probably sending all internet traffic through the VPN. This can happen with a Host to Everywhere or full tunnel configuration.
If only your office network, intranet, or specific internal servers should be reached through the VPN, use split tunneling. In VPN Tracker, the easiest way to do this is with Traffic Control.
To send only the internal network through the VPN connection:
For a more detailed walkthrough, see the guide to
set up Traffic Control for a VPN connection.
- Open VPN Tracker and edit the affected connection.
- Go to Setup > Advanced Settings.
- Open the Traffic Control section.
- Choose Only send traffic for the following addresses over VPN.
- Enter the internal network, for example 192.168.10.0/24.
- Save the connection and reconnect.
Ask your IT team for the remote network that should be reached through the VPN. Typical values look like 192.168.10.0/24, 10.0.0.0/24, or 172.16.0.0/16.
If you only know an internal website address, you can use Tools > Ping Host in VPN Tracker. If VPN Tracker shows an address such as 192.168.10.12, the matching network is often 192.168.10.0/24. For larger or multiple networks, your IT team should confirm the exact value.
If FortiClient still allows regular internet access outside the VPN, it is probably receiving different routing instructions from the Fortinet gateway or already using split tunneling.
To get the same behavior in VPN Tracker, the remote network, routing options, and, if needed, DNS settings must match the gateway configuration.
Also check the connection's DNS settings. If all DNS queries are sent to remote DNS servers and those servers cannot resolve public domains, websites may also appear unreachable.
If remote DNS is only needed for internal names, limit it to the internal search domains. If you are unsure, open VPN Tracker and choose Help > Contact Support. This can include relevant connection and diagnostic information.
