ANSWERED Every VPN is slow for me, despite the well-reviewed VPNs I'm trying. Is it possible my ISP is causing this? I feel like someone's playing a joke on me

[Bansisingh 3]

I keep reading reviews about great VPNs maxing out a user's connection, but I can't get anywhere close to what I'm reading about. After trying quite a few VPNs and being disappointed with the speeds I figured I would just go with AirVPN, since it gets such fantastic reviews, and I've seen people talking about maxing out their 50 and 100 Mbit connections.

 

I'm on a 50 Mbit connection that usually gets around 54 Mbit, but the max I can get with AirVPN is 10 Mbit. I've tried different ports, their client vs. OpenVPN, numerous servers, and the results are the same, 2 to 10 Mbit.

 

I'm in Vancouver, BC, and even when I'm connected to one of their Vancouver servers (Cetus, Gemma, Homam), I'm getting 2-10 Mbit speeds. It just doesn't make sense to me based on what I've read about AirVPN.

 

Is it possible it has something to do with my ISP, Telus? Do they mess with VPN traffic?

 

I would really like to start using a VPN regularly for privacy, but none of the speeds I've gotten will allow me to do so without being incredibly frustrated all the time.

 

EDIT: I'm literally on AirVPN as I type this, with a download speed of 1.45 Mbit (using AirVPN's speed tester), connected to a 1 Gbit server/connection that's local, has a 29ms response time, and only has 11% capacity right now. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

EDIT 2: It seems as though the issue is with one of the main network providers in my area. If I avoid local servers and use ones that are further away, where the problem servers are bypassed, my VPN speeds double. The speeds still aren't close to what other people have talked about getting, but it may be manageable now. Thanks to everyone who helped me troubleshoot this!

[Staff 9972]

Hello!

 

Nowadays, traffic shaping is a common practice. Several ISPs have evaluated that investing in traffic shaping techniques is better than investing in infrastructure expansion. Overselling becomes easier and the devastating congestion impact gets mitigated by enforcing penalties to all protocols which are rarely used by the majority of customers or that are more onerous for the infrastructure.

 

Protocols and traffic types are discovered in real time via SPI and DPI.

 

A VPN impairs traffic shaping techniques because it makes both SPI and DPI impotent. Therefore, ISPs that share the above vision (wild overselling and traffic shaping) need to shape VPN themselves, unconditionally. OpenVPN has a typical fingerprint, so it's easy to identify it with DPI. However, we provide connection modes which make OpenVPN not discernible. The most effective and at the same time efficient is a connection with "tls-crypt" which encrypts the whole OpenVPN Control Channel. It is available on entry-IP addresses 3 and 4 of our VPN servers.

 

Please test the following one (in Eddie desktop edition):

- from Eddie main window select "Preferences" > "Protocols"

- untick "Automatic"

- select the line with entry-IP address 3, port 443, protocol TCP. The row will be highlighted in blue

- click "Save"

 

tls-crypt will circumvent specific OpenVPN shaping, while TCP will get rid of UDP shaping, which is another commonly targeted protocol.

 

UDP might be shaped or not in your line, so it's worth that you try it too.

 

Eddie Android edition 2.0 connects to entry-IP address 3 by default. You might anyway need to change the protocol from UDP to TCP in the "Settings" if UDP is throttled.

 

Kind regards

[win8 7]

I am curious how the traffic issue will get solved  .... 

[DeathStalker77 0]

I am trying this now - as I am (by default) getting basically the same abysmally SLOW speeds I got with PIA (I am on a 1gb up/down line and I basically get ~10Mbits for up speed).

 

============

 

Made that change - got some known leechers with good DL BW, and still seeing slow speeds - and that's with a server close to my location.  I like the options and the interface, but I'm not seeing what I would need to in order to spend twice as much   Was seriously hoping for more.

[LZ1 672]

I am trying this now - as I am (by default) getting basically the same abysmally SLOW speeds I got with PIA (I am on a 1gb up/down line and I basically get ~10Mbits for up speed).

 

============

 

Made that change - got some known leechers with good DL BW, and still seeing slow speeds - and that's with a server close to my location.  I like the options and the interface, but I'm not seeing what I would need to in order to spend twice as much   Was seriously hoping for more.

Hello!

 

For torrenting, did you remember to do port-forwarding?

[DeathStalker77 0]

Yes, port is forwarded and confirmed open.

[DeathStalker77 0]

I don't see why this was moved to OFF-TOPIC …..

[OpenSourcerer 1435]

I don't see why this was moved to OFF-TOPIC …..

 

.. even I am a bit astounded.. there is nothing off-topic here, so what the actual hell, mods/Staff/whoever?

Mistakes were made.

 

There are a few topics mentioning Telus/Teksavvy/Shaw:

Download speed heavily reduced with AirVPN

Canadian ISP Shaw throttling VPN connections

Edited ... by giganerd

[LZ1 672]

The thread has been moved to troubleshooting, where it's more appropriate.

[Staff 9972]

The thread has been moved to troubleshooting, where it's more appropriate.

 

That's correct. We're not sure but maybe the previous move was a mistake.

 

Kind regards

[DeathStalker77 0]

Thank you VERY much for the (very quick!) correction

[Flx 76]

Is it possible it has something to do with my ISP, Telus? Do they mess with VPN traffic?

Telus is just as bad as Bell and Rogers. You are not alone in this, happens to everybody in Canada.(Vancouver Toronto Montreal etc.)

Yes they mess with VPN traffic....they "don't like it".

[Staff 9972]

 

Is it possible it has something to do with my ISP, Telus? Do they mess with VPN traffic?

Telus is just as bad as Bell and Rogers. You are not alone in this, happens to everybody in Canada.(Vancouver Toronto Montreal etc.)

Yes they mess with VPN traffic....they "don't like it".

 

Hello!

 

If you set the following connection mode:

 

- entry-IP address 3

- protocol TCP

- port 443

 

you will make OpenVPN fingerprint non-detectable, not even with DPI. Thus you will dramatically lower the likelihood that they can detect your traffic as "VPN traffic".

 

Also remember to rotate servers periodically to avoid high volumes of traffic to/from the same IP address.

 

Kind regards

[Astora 0]

^ Still working with Rogers.

 

Advanced Settings

 

Thank you good sir!

[LZ1 672]

Stickied.

[kbps 29]

On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, AirVPNconsumer said:

I am curious how the traffic issue will get solved  .... 

As I understand, your ISP is not actively looking for VPN connections on this port with this type of traffic, so it does not try to shape it.