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Hello, I’m trying to access a site I host on my local network.

I can access it-
via DNS on my laptop and phone
via DNS on desktop with Wi-Fi
via DNS on desktop on ethernet (with VPN)
via IP address on desktop

I can’t access it-
via DNS on desktop with ethernet with no VPN

So it seems to be a problem with my windows desktop and/or router. At first I thought it was a hairpin routing thing, but since I can access it on my other devices and wi-fi it seemed unlikely.

I’ve also checked my network switch, which is a netgear XS708Ev2. There’s something called ‘loop protection’, but again enabling it didn’t seem to solve the issue.

It was suggested that it could be something in the router called “rebind protection”. Does the G34 have this feature, and could it be the cause of my problem?

After more tests and configuration, I’m pretty confident that it’s a NAT loopback/hairpin routing issue.

Is there a way to enable this feature on the G34, or some other workaround that doesn’t involve me having to return the router and get a new one?


For anyone with the same issue who stumbles on this thread, I was able to get around the problem by setting up a split brain DNS configuration in the Windows hosts file. Just added the local IP and the hostname and boom it fixed it.

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc