In our continuing discussion on the common myths surrounding VPNs, we’ll discuss the misconception that all VPN protocols perform roughly the same when it comes to speed. Not surprisingly, some are faster than others, so let’s find out which ones are the fastest.
What Makes VPN Protocols Fast or Slow?
The underlying technology that supports a VPN protocol can cause it to be fast or slow. One of the most common factors is simply being poorly designed. This is especially prevalent in older standards like PPTP or L2TP/IPsec. As one would expect, technology has improved over time to bring faster processing while retaining strong security, and modern protocols like IKEv2, SoftEther and OpenVPN are much faster than their predecessors for this reason.
Certain encryption standards can also increase processing time for encryption and decryption by adding layers of headers, keys, and handshake instructions to data packets as they move back and forth. All of this extra data has to be processed along with the payload itself, which can slow down transmission. In addition, controls like double encapsulation also add processing delays to some encryption protocols like L2TP/IPsec.
What Are the Fastest VPN Protocols?
With technological advancements over the past couple of years, a few popular technologies have emerged as the best choices for both speed and security.
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SoftEther
SoftEther is a popular choice for many VPN applications. Developed in Japan and released as open source software in 2014, it is compatible with a significant number of VPN deployments and boasts fast speeds in addition to strong security. It is fully open-source and able to leverage gigabit connections to transfer data in excess of 900mbps. It is supported by the hide.me Windows and macOS client.
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OpenVPN
OpenVPN is a strong option for users who prefer a protocol that has been fully vetted by the community and it has undergone several security audits by expert firms without finding serious security risks. However since it’s operating as single threaded daemon in the user space, it’s limited OpenVPN is limited to roughly 100 Mbps throughput, making it slower than SoftEther or IKEv2. Hide.me apps for Android, macOS and Windows support it.
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IKEv2
IKEv2 is a joint effort between Microsoft and Cisco to create a secure and flexible tunneling protocol. Built atop the IPsec protocol, it is natively supported on Windows 7 and above, along with most Linux distributions, macOS, Android, iOS, and Blackberry. Along with the server implementation, some client versions of IKEv2 are open-source while others are not, depending on the OS of the client. The biggest advantage of IKEv2 is its stability: A connection will be automatically resumed after a temporary interruption, making it an ideal choice for unstable or long-distance networks. All hide.me apps support the protocol.
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SSTP
SSTP is Microsoft’s attempt to make a better VPN protocol after PPTP was broken many years ago. Built on SSL/TLS for the most part, SSTP is fully integrated into every version of Windows from Vista onwards, making it incredibly easy to set up on any Windows system. The protocol is a great choice to bypass firewalls, since it uses the same ports as HTTPS and can’t be distinguished from web surfing. Even though the protocol was developed by Microsoft, the server and some clients on Mac and Linux are open source. Since the protocol is TCP based it suffers from “TCP Meltdown”, which slows down connection speed over long distances. Currently the protocol is only supported by the hide.me Windows app.
Let’s Sum Up
Not all VPN protocols are the same, especially when it comes to speed and performance. At Hide.me, we utilize only the fastest and most trusted protocols, because our commitment to your browsing experience is more than a catchphrase on a blog post. When you use our service, you are experiencing the fastest speeds and the highest level of security.
We love bringing you this content and hope it helps keep you safe and secure online. Feel free to share it with your friends, too.
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