AirVPN slow and loosing packets

[subzero1983 0]

Hello everyone,

 

Since I don't know when exactly, I am experiencing slowness on my ADSL connection with AirVPN. I don't make intensive use of Internet (e.g. streaming) however I have noticed lag during access to normal website like FB and news website when loading images or even searching Google results.

 

The connection without VPN seems to be overall fine:

 

--- www.google.co.uk ping statistics ---

381 packets transmitted, 380 packets received, 0.3% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 27.609/51.982/107.636/11.364 ms

 

With AirVPN things change a little bit:

 

--- www.google.co.uk ping statistics ---

369 packets transmitted, 345 packets received, 6.5% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 42.451/205.280/787.905/153.351 ms

 

 

 

I have tested several times the speed of Internet with Ookla and the best and worse results I have gained without AirVPN:

 

PING 48 ms

 DOWNLOAD 3.55 Mbps

 UPLOAD 0.21 Mbps

 

PING 61 ms

 DOWNLOAD 3.40 Mbps

 UPLOAD 0.38 Mbps

 

 

While with AirVPN:

 

PING 44 ms

 DOWNLOAD 3.23 Mbps

 UPLOAD 0.50 Mbps

 

PING 45 ms

 DOWNLOAD 1.80 Mbps

 UPLOAD 0.47 Mbps

 

 

The buffer is set to 256 KB during tests, also it takes ages to connect to AirVPN. In the above instance it has taken more than 2 minutes (I can provide log if you require).

I am based in UK, so I have tried to connect to the server with lowest ping result: Dabih-Manchester (Latency: 53 ms - Load: 20% 291/1000 Mbit/s - 122 users), but AirVPN then chose automatically Nashira-Manchester (Latency: 64 ms - Load: 18% 177/1000 Mbit/s - 86 users), guess was less loaded.

 

Please can you help to make AirVPN work at its best?

 

Thanks in advance

Andrea

[zhang888 1066]

This is not normal to have 50-60ms latency inside UK. To compare, that's about the normal latency from the EU to middle east.

Are you using a 3G connection in a remote/overcrowded area?

[subzero1983 0]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am not using 3G connection and I don't live in a remote area.

 

Please could you advise further as the issue arises when using VPN?

[tehhellhound 8]

I would say you have a line problem. Just because it feels fine under light usage doesn't mean it is. Your statistics are terrible even on your naked connection. I would say a truck roll is in order, if nobody else in your neighborhood is having statistics like that. Your pings are a bit high and you have some packet loss in a case where you should have none. In the meantime you could try switching protocols and maybe limiting your MSS. The VPN is likely to be more vulnerable to connection issues than a simple HTTP request. If packets are getting delayed, you are better off using UDP, but if they are getting lost, you are better off with TCP.

[The_Skull 2]

Since today I have a faster internet connection with the same ISP but somehow I also got major problems on UDP-443 (bad packets/lost) but after changing to TCP-443 that was over....fortunately.

[tehhellhound 8]

TCP can compensate for packet loss and can do MTU discovery, making it more resilient to misconfigurations and packet loss. Moreover, it can be hard for an ISP to throttle/block without breaking the internet as OpenVPN uses OpenSSL like HTTPS connections on that port. Given that TCP 443 works better than anything else at home including other TCP ports, I have a feeling my internet provider is up to their old Shenanigans again and trying to throttle VPN. I get roughly the same speed on all the other ports TCP or UDP. However on mobile UDP works great. Being able to transmit without waiting for acknowledgement is a huge plus, especially on congested towers where replies can be seriously delayed. Packet loss has not been an issue on my mobile data connection.

[go558a83nk 371]

TCP can compensate for packet loss and can do MTU discovery, making it more resilient to misconfigurations and packet loss. Moreover, it can be hard for an ISP to throttle/block without breaking the internet as OpenVPN uses OpenSSL like HTTPS connections on that port. Given that TCP 443 works better than anything else at home including other TCP ports, I have a feeling my internet provider is up to their old Shenanigans again and trying to throttle VPN. I get roughly the same speed on all the other ports TCP or UDP. However on mobile UDP works great. Being able to transmit without waiting for acknowledgement is a huge plus, especially on congested towers where replies can be seriously delayed. Packet loss has not been an issue on my mobile data connection.

 

TCP 443 is not the same as SSL 443.  And openvpn always uses openssl, except when it doesn't (e.g. polarssl). 

[tehhellhound 8]

Different protocols, yes. But the cipher makes it very costly to deploy equipment that can detect the difference on a large scale. In the case of equipment that can(like maybe corporate networks) they also offer a true SSL tunnel.