There are a number of VPN protocols out there and this can make choosing one a bit of a tricky task. Thankfully, with this guide, you should be able to find one that best fits your needs. There are a few different factors to take into account when choosing a VPN protocol for you.
What to take into account when choosing a VPN protocol
The first thing to take into account is security, just how important is it that you have the best security possible? It used to be the case that the more complex a VPN was with its encryption, the slower it would run. This isn’t necessarily the case anymore. CPUs have advanced to the point where the impact is not as large as it once was. It is true that a more complex protocol will produce more overhead, but this overhead is a lot less noticeable.
Another important factor is just how accessible the VPN protocol is. A few VPN protocols require their own software to run, with relatively complicated setup procedures that can perhaps put them out of reach from those that aren’t technologically minded.
We offer our own software as well that can help relieve those problems, so the more complicated VPN protocols can easily be used with our application either on desktop PCs or mobile devices.
It is also important to note that not every VPN protocol works on all operating systems. Make sure to choose a VPN protocol that works on the device you are going to use.
You can also find a quick overview of each VPN protocol on our website for easy comparison.
Our VPN Protocol Offerings
IKEv1 and IKEv2
The IKE (Internet Key Exchange) set of VPN protocols are some of the most widely used and secure VPN protocols currently available on the market today.
Both IKEv1 and IKEv2 work on all major operating systems, such as Windows and Android. IKEv1 does not work with our Windows or Android apps. IKEv2 supports “floating”. Floating means that when you are out and about, there is no need for the protocol to re-establish a connection. Meaning IKEv2 is a great choice for those that are often on the go.
IKEv1 has a number of different authentication methods. These include a pre-shared key, signatures, and public key encryption. IKEv2 improves on this by implementing EAP authentication, which is the basis for standard password-based authentication. IKEv1 and IKEv2 support up to AES-256 encryption, which is the industry standard for the best balance of speed and security.
Where IKEv2 really shines over its predecessor is the ability for NAT traversal. This means it can bypass firewalls with no issues. Especially useful for those that often use a network they are not in control of.
The usability is pretty good for both IKEv1 and IKEv2, especially through our own provided software. For those that prefer to connect manually, setup isn’t too difficult either. You can find a handy tutorial on our website for Windows 10 users, but it IKE is available on other platforms. For Windows 10 all you have to do is use a command in PowerShell and go through the usual installation method for VPNs on Windows 10 (which is dead easy).
Both IKEv1 and IKEv2 are hardware accelerated, even on mobile devices. The latest Android phones have hardware cryptography built in to help boost performance. IKEv2 is a fantastic VPN protocol that should really be your default pick, it is fast, easy to setup, and very secure. IKEv1 is a safe choice as well, but where you can use IKEv2, it is best to do so.
SSTP
SSTP (Secure Socket Tunnelling Protocol) was a VPN protocol that was developed by Microsoft, and as such, means it is only available natively on their operating systems (though there are clients for Linux, Mac, and mobile platforms available).
SSTP sends PPP traffic (the kind that PPTP would send) through an SSL/TLS channel. This is the same kind of encryption used by the common HTTPS protocol found when you browse the internet. Due to using Port 433 (which is used by HTTPS), SSTP can easily pass through any firewalls.
SSTP only supports user authentication, so there is no option for specific device authentication. This isn’t a big deal for your regular user, but for a bigger organisation this can be a big omission, leaving a slight blemish on what is otherwise a great VPN protocol.
SSTP is fast as well, so for those that want great speed and security SSTP is a good bet. SSTP may perform slower than IKEv2 due to operating over TCP. In a TCP communication there must be constant acknowledgments taking place. This isn’t present in IKEv2 or other UDP VPN protocols because UDP doesn’t require constant acknowledgments.
Setup is a piece of cake too, at least for Windows users. We offer support for SSTP in our Windows software but you can also set SSTP up natively in Windows. Doing so just requires you going through the simple VPN connection setup process found in Windows 10. You can find the tutorial for Windows 10 on our website.
SSTP is a good choice of VPN protocol for those that use Windows as their main operating system, it is fast and reliable. The seamless integration with Windows elevates it for those that just want a simple VPN connection that just works.
OpenVPN
OpenVPN, as the name may suggest, is a completely open source VPN protocol. This means you can see what exactly is going into the software we entrust our privacy to.
It is available on pretty much every operating system, including the major desktop and mobile operating systems. It isn’t natively supported in many of them but there is software you can download to make use of OpenVPN. You can also use our app to easily connect to our OpenVPN servers.
Setting up OpenVPN is a little different to the other VPN protocols in this list as it requires an OVPN config file in order to connect. There isn’t so much of a user interface, only OpenVPN GUI that allows you to connect to the servers you have listed in your configs folder.
We offer our own configuration files that you can download and put in the correct folder. Setup isn’t overly complicated but it isn’t as seamless as something like SSTP, which may put a few users off.
Security wise, OpenVPN is one of the best VPN protocols available. It has no known weaknesses and supports for up to AES-256 encryption, OpenVPN has you covered. Authentication is pretty good too, it makes use of several certificates and a key. OpenVPN allows you to pair a username and password to an individual user certificate for extra security.
OpenVPN is fast too, it takes advantage of the speed of UDP and makes OpenVPN a pleasure to use for regular browsing. When you compare the speed to SoftEther or IKE, it doesn’t quite stand up, but it is a good alternative.
OpenVPN is a great choice for desktop users, mobile is a little more complicated but it works just as well.
PPTP
PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol) is one of the oldest VPN protocols available. PPTP is blazing fast but this is due to the weak encryption that is being used. Instead of using AES like most of the secure VPN protocols do, it uses Microsoft’s Point-to-Point encryption which has a number of security flaws. As such PPTP has been cracked for over a decade.
It is important to point out that you should avoid PPTP at all costs, it is simply not reliable to keep your data secure. If you want security and speed, you are far better off with a protocol such as IKEv1 or SSTP. PPTP is natively supported by pretty much every operating system, including in our app for all platforms apart from PPTP, as it is no longer available on the latest versions of MacOS. This makes setup seriously easy on Windows and Android.
PPTP is a fantastic choice for those that don’t mind about security and just want to unblock websites. It means your internet speed isn’t hugely affected making for a good experience when video streaming.
If you care about your security at all, you should avoid PPTP altogether and go for a different VPN protocol. SSTP is the most similar to PPTP but with none of the security issues.
L2TP/IPSec
L2TP/IPSec is another one of the most widely supported VPN protocols available currently. It has native support in a number of operating systems including Windows and Android. In our app we support Apple and Windows systems.
L2TP/IPSec is quite fast but it doesn’t quite measure up to SSTP or IKE, but it is much faster than OpenVPN.
L2TP/IPSec works similarly to PPTP in that it uses MPPE, but it is layered within a secure AES tunnel. This only serves to add more overhead and the addition of MPPE isn’t beneficial as it is already cracked.
L2TP/IPSec supports up to AES-256-bit encryption. It can also be a bit of a pain to get IPSec to pass through a firewall.
L2TP/IPSec is a solid choice, especially for Android users, so it is best left as a backup option. It does perform a lot faster and more efficiently compared to OpenVPN, and the native support in the most popular platforms makes it a fantastic and versatile option.
SoftEther
SoftEther is a little different to the other VPN protocols on this list, it is also the newest addition to the VPN protocol stable. SoftEther supports multiple VPN protocols, as well as it’s own, with a number of different options for security. These security options far outpace what is available in other protocols.
SoftEther isn’t widely supported and it requires its own software to run. It is available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. SoftEther does have a nice UI which is something that isn’t present in many VPN software. It makes navigating very simple, even for newer users. Though this UI isn’t available anywhere but Windows.
To connect to a SoftEther VPN server a VPN profile needs to be filled in with just a few fields such as IP Address and username/password. These can easily be found on Hide.me.
The SoftEther client has great extra features as well. It has automatic reconnects, simultaneous connections, and the option to connect through different VPN protocols.
One of the biggest advantages to SoftEther is it’s flexibility. It can use UDP, TCP, ICMP, and even DNS to tunnel traffic. It can even run over HTTPS. It also supports UDP acceleration, Hide.me support this. This helps make the SoftEther protocol as fast as IKEv2 whilst being more accessible on a variety of networks.
SoftEther has slowly been making ground but it just needs a bigger push before it can really start to make a big impact. It is the most advanced VPN solution currently available, and once people start to use it, it is hard to go back to anything else.
Conclusion
We offer so many different protocols that you are sure to find one that works for you, especially with this guide, and our other plethora of information regarding the protocols we offer.
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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If you have any questions, please feel to contact our 24/7 support team either at support@hide.me or via live chat.
