VPN Slow?!?

[Big Frank]

Hi everyone,

So I have 200mbps, I also pay for a popular VPN service that boasts high speeds however when I am connected to my VPN I only get 100mbps max.

I understand that routing my traffic via a VPN will inherently slow my speed down but I was curious to know if anyone else can achieve close to their advertised speeds over a VPN?

Thanks

 

[Big Frank]

Not even close. Even ProtonVPN's free tier gives better speeds than that. I expect nothing less than close to line speed (gigabit) for a paid VPN. Here's one example of a paid VPN using WireGuard. I took the speed test a while ago but it's the first image I had to hand:

OP you've given us next to nothing to go on. Come back with some more info, such as:

Which VPN provider is it?
What protocol are you connecting with? Is it OpenVPN? TCP or UDP? IPSEC? WireGuard?
What operating system are you running?
How far away is the server you're connected to?
Describe your local setup (PC giving the poor speeds, how it's connected to your network, the network itself - it's wired, not wireless, right?)...

Are you sure you get full speed (200Mbps) without VPN? Is the network adapter stuck at 100Mbps (again assuming wired, don't bother speed testing over WiFi)? Lots of variables.

Yeah I get like 216mbps wired connection and 200mbps on my phone at the other end of the house so defo 200mbps coming through.

I have ExpressVPN
I connect to 1 of 2 UK servers located in London or Docklands which tbh is a few hundred miles away.
The protocol was set to Auto but I was advised to change it to IKEv2 by ExpressVPN support which helped slightly increase the speed.
This happens on windows 10 Desktop connected via homeplug, Android phone connecting via wifi and any other device wired to the router connected to the VPN - speed cannot go over 100mpbs.

 

[Big Frank]

ExpressVPN aren't very good. That's your first problem. I have a free month from them atm and I'm not even using it - they're that bad ime.
Windows 10 likewise isn't very good for networking.
Home plugs are horrific when it comes to speed and reliability.

Try changing the protocol to Lightway (UDP). That's as good as you're going to get from Express. You didn't say what specs the PC is (processor, motherboard, RAM, network card make and model). How are you actually testing? Speedtest by Ookla app from the MS Store? Try that first as using speed test websites via a browser opens you up to other confounding variables.

If you still don't hit 200Mbps I'd be happy to generate you a key for Mullvad using WireGuard. You can test it for an hour and prepare to be amazed, then I'll deactivate the key. At least that will help you rule out anything else.

Thanks - so I can't really test on my Desktop due to the fact the homeplug has a 100mbps ethernet port and I am hesitant to upgrade to a better solution until I know I can get over 100mbps on my VPN so I done some testing with speedtest by ookla on my phone from the opposite side of the house via wifi on different protocols then off the VPN.

Lightway UDP - 41mbps
OpenVPN UDP - 73mbps
OpenVPN TCP - 110mbps
No VPN - 175mbps

My main concern with VPN's is having assurance I am actually safe with them, things like having a no logging policy and being located in a country that has zero data retention requirements and strong privacy laws etc. Thats why I liked ExpressVPN it advertised all these things and had independent audits performed that proved what they were selling was the real deal.

ExpressVPN is due for renewal in 3 days, might cancel it and explore with some free trials.

 

[Big Frank]

If you can see that your powerline adapters are limited to 100Mbit, and you have already proven you can get faster VPN results using sub optimal devices (phones generally suck at OpenVPN encryption and wireless is not ideal at the best of times), then why would you be reluctant to replace the powerline adapters? Ideally run a cable, but even non crappy powerline adapters (read ones that don’t market 600Mbit and cripple them with 100Mbit ports) are capable of greater than 200Mbit in the real world, actual cable is likely to be cheaper and potentially capable of 10Gb.

I know my powerline adapter is limited to 100mbps the issue is I don't want to invest in upgrading to a better solution until I know I can achieve close to line speed via a VPN, I have spoken to other people who have nordVPN and they say 50mbps is the max they get, I have unfortunately signed up to NordVPN but plan on cancelling within the 30 days to get my money back because the speed is unacceptable.

Privacy is important to me, so much that I'd be willing to sacrifice speed for the assurance that I am safe but everything mentioned here regarding Mullvad, OVPN and AzireVPN looks positive so I am going to give them a go, I guess wireguard is something you config separately or is it built in?

 

[Big Frank]

A max of 50Mbps sounds like crap hardware or other problems in the setup for those people you spoke to. For example, testing over WiFi, testing from a phone/mobile device, using 100Mbps powerline adapters... The speed test I posted in post #3 above (902 Mbps) was on NordVPN using NordLynx (their WireGuard implementation).

You're in a bit of a circular argument at the moment. You won't upgrade your powerline adapters until you know you'll get better speeds, but you'll never get better speeds until you update yoru adapters! As I hope I've demonstrated in this thread, with the appropriately powerful hardware and a decent connection (i.e. a decent desktop PC with a strong CPU, cat5e cable or above and WireGuard) you'll easily get many multiples of the speeds you're currently capped at.

If privacy and security is important to you, though, any of the big no-log providers will likely be OK. Nord has its problems and limitations as I said (nothing to do with speed), but with the current cashback offers provided you go in eyes-open worrying about logs isn't one of them. As with anything, it's a balancing act.

WireGuard is a protocol, a way of connecting two networks together. In other words it's a type of VPN. Other types/protocols are OpenVPN, IPSEC/IKEv2, L2TP etc. If you wish to travel from London to Manchester, you might take a car, a bus or a train. They do the same thing but they're different. Similarly, the various VPN protocols do a similar thing, just in a different way. WireGuard in particular is very fast, light and secure and will generally provide the fastest speeds available. Some VPN apps have WireGuard built in at the moment (eg Mullvad, AzireVPN, OVPN, NordVPN, PIA). In many cases, you can download the official generic WireGuard app direct from wireguard.com and import the config files your VPN provider gave you. Some providers like NordVPN and PIA won't give you the actual files, they rely on their apps to connect. Others, like (again) Mullvad, OVPN and Azire, will let you generate and manage your own configs and you can connect to them how you wish (their app, WireGuard's own app, Linux kernel CLI tools etc).

So I have decided to end the speculation by lugging my desktop downstairs and connecting it directly to the router, my desktop's CPU is an Intel i5 8500 (hex-core 3.0GHz). I got 143.08 Down and 12.54 up with a 25 ping connected to NordVPN.

My router is an old Virgin Media Super Hub AC2, do you think it would be worthwhile asking Virgin for an upgraded router?

I suppose apart from the cabled connection and router is there anything else you think I could do to get as close to line speed as possible?

 

[Big Frank]

So now we know the power line adapters are holding you back, and whoever you took advice from shouldn't be giving it. SH2 is not the problem, for a variety of reasons, stick with what you have. With Nord and many other providers, you will generally find they have a lot of servers and vary according to what the people using them are doing at any point, so speeds fluctuate. Looking at my speedtest history I managed 476/34.1 on VM M500 via Nord last time I bothered to test, not an amazing result (it manages 541/36.2 unencrypted), but adequate given that's TCP rather than UDP and someone was likely streaming TV at the time. Did you try the Nord Wireguard option? Generally it'll be quicker as will using UDP rather than TCP on OpenVPN

Yeah it's on NordLynx by default. OpenVPN TCP was like using TOR, painfully slow.

I just need to figure out how to cable this now, gonna have a wire travelling from one corner of the living room all the way round up the stairs and into a room, probably need a 15/20m cat6 cable.

I'll need to see if I can find some nice small trunking I can use.

 

[Big Frank]

I use windows server 2008 RRAS to setup the vpn then i connect to it. L2tp ipsec. Its single thread so with 4 cores and 4 users yes it will max gigabit.
Also setup a https file server which seems to max out at around 55megabytes per second but does full gigabit speed if its just http and not https.

I know this is off topic but thought it was worth a mention since you have a fairly decent setup, commercial? but as you probably know Windows server 2008 reached EOL last year, vulnerable internet facing machines are easily identified so might be worthwhile upgrading asap. Just thought it was worth a mention.