Can't get Universal Control to work when Cisco Anyconnect VPN is enabled

I have the same issue when using the AnyConnect VPN client. When I use the OpenConnect VPN client Universal Control and other services work fine.

I also have 'allow local lan' access enabled in the AnyConnect options. I can actually ping my 192.168.* IP addresses and resolve their <host>.local host names while connected. But continuity, shared clipboard, airdrop, universal control, etc, all do not work while connected. I don't have these problems with the OpenConnect client.

Universal Control: Use a single keyboard and mouse between Mac and iPad - Apple Support

See the Universal Control System Requirements section. That VPN is not your local area network address and that may be a factor beyond the preceding requirements.

Just to be sure I understand, which of the following two scenarios are true:

1. While your notebook is connected via a VPN, you are not able to use Universal Control with other devices on your local network?
2. While your notebook is connected via a VPN, you are not able to use Universal Control with other devices on the remote network?

Regardless, does the Cisco VPN client allow control over "full" and "partial" tunneling?

Hi there!

Unsure about the requirements of this process for this program, Cisco May have more information:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/smb/routers/cisco-rv-series-small-business-routers/smb5457-cisco-anyconnect-secure-mobility-client-supported-operating.html

Take what I have to share with a grain of salt, and understanding that most enterprise IT departments view new network features of OSs to be a bit suspect and worthy of review to both the business and security impacts. Even though this feature is now "shipped", Apple continues to mark it "Beta" in System Preferences.

tl;dr: Changes your IT dept makes today to enable it may be undone by changes Apple makes later.

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First of all, I yearn for this to work for me too. I have an AnyConnect "all traffic" VPN computer I do work from, and a personal laptop nearby for background sound and personal communication.

I am not the VPN expert on my team, but I have been party to much discussion on features of AnyConnect. I know that there exist recent features that allow a user's collection of devices to be visible to each other when all are connected, however this would not help a user like me, who needs the all-traffic options to do my normal work, but uses a personal laptop to play music, youtube, podcasts, etc without sending that data through my corporate network while working from home.

This is something that needs to be a conversation with your VPN administrators, and usually has larger reaching impacts on other services or potential security review. If your IT department is anything like those I've served under or with, there is often too much work to do and too few people to do it, and turning on a feature or building out another profile or VPN group to cover all the permutations of features is multiplying work.

For example, "Virtual Private Network" has no intrinsic requirement for encryption, it's taken as a de facto feature of most service configurations, but the term refers more to the extension of a network into logical groups and shapes that the original specs for network subdivision did not account for. VPN servers are configured to use a host of encryption methods, or to use none at all, depending on the use and context.

Also consider that the "Back To My Mac" service was introduced in 2007, the technical details were not published until 2011. https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6281.html

For clarity, I meant to offer context to customers who will come here seeking solutions, much as I have. I mean no offense by "mansplaining" to you or anyone to come. I too hope for a technical discussion of the feature or direct Cisco support for such present and future features across all platforms.

Good luck to us all in that.

Same situation here. I have two Macs (a MacBook Pro and an iMac) on Monterey. Universal Control works until I fire up the Cisco AnyConnect client on my primary computer (the MacBook Pro). Then it no longer works. Sometimes it seems to require a restart of that main computer to get Universal Control established and working again.

I can see all my LAN devices even when on the VPN. I previously used the Synergy mouse/keyboard sharing product on these devices, and it worked fine both on and off the VPN.

I suspect that Universal control wants your devices on the same subnet and when you use a CISCO VPN, your hostname is now changed to the VPN's assigned name and domain, and a different IP address from your local network.

I have Express VPN on my home network and have the same issue here. When VPN is on I can communicate with other devices on the network with no issues but cannot do universal control or airplay screen share from my mac to my ipad

I can confirm that I have the same problem. Also, I can connect both of the devices to the corporate VPN and this does not fix the issue.