UDP 443 connection speeds through Virgin Cable connection

[Rompastompa 0]

Hi all

 

I've noticed a slightly strange effect associated with my new Virgin cable connection which I'm trying to explain.

 

If I connect to Airvpn using the Eddie client from my MacBook, default settings - 443 UDP, I get almost my full connection speed (200mbit). Happy days.

 

However I have just set up my Linux server and if I connect using openvpn from the command line to 443 UDP I get about 10% of my normal speed. About 20mbit. However, if I connect to port 80 through SSH, I get the full 200Mbit again.

 

Exactly the same happens when I connect my openwrt router - 20Mbit through UDP 443.

 

It looks like Virgin are throttling VPN connections, which wouldn't surprise me, and pushing my connection through SSH gets around this.

 

My question is - why is Eddie able to get full speed through UDP 443, whereas my server can't? Is Eddie doing something clever to get around the traffic shaping and if so, can I tweak my openvpn settings to make my server do the same? I'd rather not be pushing everything through SSH if I can avoid it.

 

Anyone got any bright ideas?

 

Thanks

R

[rustintimberlake 13]

Try SSL 443 instead. Virgin seem to packet inspect UDP 443 and throttle it if OpenVPN is detected.

 

I find that if I set custom directive at "mssfix 1442" and protocol at SSL 443, I get 200Mbit easily if the Airvpn servers are not congested. But bear in my mind that for your speeds to be high over OpenVPN your CPU must be powerful enough.

 

Use this URL to check the if  "TCP/IP OS Fingerprinting" reveals info about your use of OpenVPN. If it shows something like "Linux 3.11 and newer | Language: Unknown | Link: Unknown | MTU: 1382 | Distance: 7 Hops" then you've masked your connection well and you should be free from throttling.

 

Have a look at speedguide.net's TCP/IP Analyzer too.

 

Let us know how you get on.