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If you could imagine a VPN as a car, then a VPN protocol is the engine inside.
But lets go deeper than this.
VPN service providers (likeHideMyAss VPN) use various VPN protocols to disguise your actualIP address.
What are VPN Protocols?
Under the hood, VPN protocols are tools deployed to ensure an encrypted connection.
Some can be more private while others can be faster, but the experts agreeno ones perfect.
But you should know about them as a privacy (and speed) enthusiast.
Lets discuss each one with its pros, cons, and availability.
The fact that its open-source and two-decade-old means that it has passed the test of time.
Nearly every VPN provider connects with this as the default protocol.
UDP is faster, while TCP is more secure and better at breaking through firewalls.
However, one downside that stings this otherwise fantastic VPN protocol is its heavy codebase.
While it provides excellent security, this takes a toll on the speed.
you’re free to use OpenVPN with all eminent VPN providers likeSurfShark, andNamecheap FastVPN.
Some VPN alternatives like Perimeter81 also use OpenVPN.
WireGuard
WireGuard is another open-source VPN protocol that saw its first stable release in 2020.
It is powered with ChaCha20 encryption and lacks the options available with the OpenVPN protocol.
On the other hand, WireGuards limitations also eliminate the risk of misconfiguration.
But, things arent pretty for the privacy people, at least not out-of-the-box.
To get around this, VPN providers are implementing their own versions of WireGuard, likeNordLynx by NordVPN.
Finally, WireGuard may not be as good at bypassing censorship because it lacks support for TCP.
it’s possible for you to experience WireGuard withAstrillVPN, SurfShark, TorGuard, etc.
It came into existence as a research thesis at the University of Tsukuba, Japan.
The in-house university tests claim it to be13 times faster than the OpenVPN protocol.
SoftEther supports AES-256 bit encryption among a range of other strong ciphers.
It also uses TCP port 433 which makes it good at escapingfirewalls.
A security audit in 2018 revealed 80 vulnerabilities, which, however, were patched in the next update.
Its a reliable option that one can use effectively to evade geo-censorship.
SoftEther can be used onHide.me.
IKEv2/IPSec
This coupling is best for hopping in and out of multiple networks.
IKEv2 was developed by Microsoft & Cisco as a joint venture.
As a protocol, IKEv2 is responsible for an authenticated VPN tunnel while IPSec encrypts this connection.
Together IKEv2/IPSec forms an excellent VPN protocol.
This pairing supports high-security encryptions like AES, Blowfish, etc.
Finally, the rumors of NSA compromising IPSec dont do it any favors.
you’re able to explore this pair up onIPVanish,ProtonVPN, etc.
L2TP/IPsec encrypts your data twice.
However, this extra security takes a toll on the connection speed, making it slower than its peers.
It was developed by Microsoft and Cisco as an upgrade to PPTP (discussed later).
And this also uses UDP connection ports, making it less desirable for the users trying to evade censorship.
Conclusively, its susceptible to the same security concerns as the IKEv2/IPSec.
Regardless, some VPN providers still support this, like Perfect Privacy VPN.
SSTP
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) is again a Microsoft product.
This provides top-notch speeds and a secure connection with AES-256 bit encryption.
But this is a closed source project with questionable Microsoft heritage.
So, its not a recommended option for sensitive data transfer.
SSTP can be set up with Hide.me, IPVanish, StrongVPN, etc.
Its extremely fast but one of the least secure options on this list.
At the most, PPTP can use 128-bit encryption, trading security for speed.
PPTP uses TCP port 1723, which aids in bypassing censorship.
This is also a closed source protocol from Microsoft, which reportedly has been cracked by NSA.
Conclusively, this is the least recommended option if you care about the very purpose of using a VPN.
Nevertheless, you might have PPTP on StrongVPN, IPVanish, etc.
Using these options can be good, especially with the native VPN service.
But open-source options that are decades old may prove better in protecting a users privacy.
There is no denying that the OpenVPN protocol is the best of the lot.
Its reasonably fast and secure.
Besides, it has both options in TCP and UDP ports to cater to almost every use case.
In addition, you’re able to also opt for SoftEther if your VPN provider supports that.
Finally, its hard to ignore SSTP if streaming land-locked content is the only thing you care about.
