OpenVPN on my RT-N66U (Merlin's build) questions

[Suade12 0]

Hello,

 

I'm running Merlin's latest firmware on my Asus RT N66U router. I'm told that Merlin's build corrects all the critical flaws in the stock Asus firmware that would have created problems if I set up my VPN on that build. It took a little while, but I finally got VPN working on my router so all devices in my house are connected through the VPN. But I just have 3 questions left.

 

1.) When my VPN (through the router) is on, is there a way to permanently exclude a particular device from connecting through the VPN, bypassing it completely so that device connects to only my ISP? I have a family member in the house that really doesn't need the benefits of a VPN, and I'm sure it would just be an inconvenience since all the pages would default to another language (using European servers) or that country's version of the website.

 

2.) I have another family member that likes to use the VPN on his laptop. So sometimes if I don't want the VPN connected on my PC but he does on his laptop, he'll just sign on Tunnelblick instead of me turning on VPN in my router. However, any heavy network activity from him (loading many webpages or watching videos online) massively affects my speeds too. I get maybe half or a quarter of what I ususally get when he's not connected. Is there any reason why that is or is there a way to fix that? If I were to subscribe to a higher internet tier from my ISP (I have 15Mbps download 5Mbps upload but I could subscribe for $5 more a month to 50Mbps download and 25Mbps upload) how much of an improvement would it make to my speeds? Of course I get no where with what it's rated at. With my current 15Mbps download, the highest I've ever seen my internet downloading is 2Mbps. I know you're not my ISP, but you would know more about this than I would when it comes to real world speed increases! 

 

3.) Is this the correct way to have my network stop all traffic when my router is connected to my VPN and then connection suddenly drops it?

 

 

Thank you so much!