Battery impact of Auto-Tunnel vs Always-On Split Tunnel

[leinardi]

Hi,

I am trying to find the best balance between battery life and convenience.

My setup:

• Google Pixel 8 Pro, latest stable Android, no root.
• WG Tunnel app.
• Split tunnel: only my LAN subnet is forwarded through the VPN.
• My LAN DNS is used while the tunnel is active.
• I don’t need the phone to be reachable from the LAN, so I disabled PersistentKeepalive.
• Most of the time my phone is on my home Wi-Fi (trusted, no tunnel needed).
• I want the tunnel to activate automatically when I leave home (mobile data or other Wi-Fi networks).

My concern:

• Does running WG Tunnel in the foreground with Auto-Tunnel (by SSID) prevent the phone from going into deep sleep / Doze?

• Is battery use lower with Auto-Tunnel compared to having the VPN set as Always-On (split tunnel)?

• Since I care about battery life, which mode is better for my case:

  • Auto-Tunnel (SSID-based, only active outside home Wi-Fi)
  • Always-On VPN (split tunnel, but active 100% of the time)?

I would appreciate advice or real-world experience from others with a similar setup.

Thanks!

[zaneschepke]

Hello!

The impact on battery for auto-tunneling should be minimal, especially when your phone goes to deep sleep/doze. It does not prevent your phone from entering deep sleep.