Ring cameras not working with ExpressVPN (and other VPNs?)

[jim-at-miramontes]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Describe The Bug

Ring cameras cannot show live video when ExpressVPN is handling my network connections.

To Reproduce

On an iPad (at least), turn on ExpressVPN and connect to a location.
Go into Home.app and select a camera.
If you're like me, you'll get a spinning indicator followed by "No Response: This camera is not responding."

Expected behavior

The selected camera should show live video.

Relevant log output

[10/31/2023, 11:51:25 AM] [Ring] Preparing Live Stream for Street View
[10/31/2023, 11:51:25 AM] [Ring] Stream Prepared for Street View (0.318s)
[10/31/2023, 11:51:25 AM] [Ring] Activating stream for Street View (0.382s)
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: completed
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connecting
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: checking
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] Activating Session
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] Streaming active for Street View (1.242s)
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: new
[10/31/2023, 11:51:26 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: connected
[10/31/2023, 11:51:27 AM] [Ring] connectionStateChange: connected
[10/31/2023, 11:51:27 AM] [Ring] Received stream data from Street View (1.766s)
[10/31/2023, 11:51:45 AM] [Ring] Live stream for Street View appears to be inactive. (20.318s)
[10/31/2023, 11:51:45 AM] [Ring] connectionStateChange: closed
[10/31/2023, 11:51:45 AM] [Ring] iceConnectionStateChange: closed
[10/31/2023, 11:51:55 AM] [Ring] Stopped Live Stream for Street View

Screenshots

No response

Homebridge Ring Config

{
            "refreshToken": "mytoken",
            "hideUnsupportedServices": true,
            "cameraStatusPollingSeconds": 5,
            "cameraDingsPollingSeconds": 2,
            "platform": "Ring"
        }

Additional context

No response

OS

MacOS 14.0

Node.js Version

v18.16.0

NPM Version

9.7.1

Homebridge/HOOBs Version

1.6.1

Homebridge Ring Plugin Version

v12.0.1

Operating System

macOS

[tsightler]

This is already mentioned in the wiki, in general, using cameras locally via Homekit while a VPN is active is unsupported. It might be possible to get it to work if you have a home hub, but the networking path gets quite complex and you'll have to troubleshoot that yourself as this is not related to the plugin. There may be some option in ExpressVPN to allow local connectivity even while the VPN is active.

[tsightler]

Just in case it helps, ExpressVPN has a setting that allows local access, you might want to pursue those:

https://www.expressvpn.com/support/troubleshooting/restore-lan-access/

Otherwise you might want to reach out to ExpressVPN for help, good luck.