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Router and Computer Both Running a Proxy: Untangling Double Routing

By Roxi Team November 1, 2026
You set up a proxy on the router so the whole house benefits, but the laptop still runs its own client out of habit. The result: some sites

You set up a proxy on the router so the whole house benefits, but the laptop still runs its own client out of habit. The result: some sites are slow, some fail, logins trigger security warnings and speed tests make no sense. Two layers of proxying fight each other.

What goes wrong

  • Double encapsulation. Traffic is tunnelled by the computer, then tunnelled again by the router. Latency adds up, MTU shrinks, and large packets get fragmented or dropped.
  • Conflicting rules. The computer sends a site direct, the router sends it through a remote exit, or the other way round. You think you are testing one route but get another.
  • DNS confusion. Both layers may use fake-ip or their own DNS. The laptop receives a fake address from one, which the other cannot map back.
  • Changing exit IPs. Some services see two different locations in one session and ask you to verify your identity.

Decide where the proxy lives

Pick one layer per device:

  • Router only: simplest for TVs, consoles and guests. Turn off the client on the computer, or at least disable its system proxy and TUN.
  • Computer only: better when you need per-app rules on that machine. Exclude the computer’s IP from the router’s proxy, which most router plugins support with an access-control or bypass list.

Verify the path

  1. Turn off the computer client and visit an IP-check site. Note the address; that is the router’s exit.
  2. Turn on the computer client and router bypass for this machine. Check again; it should be the client’s exit.
  3. Run traceroute (tracert on Windows) to a public host. A single clean path with no repeated private hops means you are not double routing.

DNS sanity check

Run nslookup example.com. If you get an address in 198.18.0.0/15 but you expected the router to handle DNS, the laptop client is still answering. Choose one DNS authority, usually the same layer that does the routing.

Our guide with OpenWrt and desktop examples:

https://roxi.cc/router26.html

Written by the small team behind Roxi.

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