Jump to content
Not connected, Your IP: 3.238.130.41
AirSpider

Virgin Media + OpenVPN = Fail?

Recommended Posts

The router that Virgin provides is pretty poor I have the Superhub1 but I have put it in modem mode and I'm using an Asus rt-n66u to do the actual routing.

 

It is a bit weird and I think the only way to find out whats going on is to try out some other VPN providers preferably one that allows different protocols so I can if the problem lies with OpenVPN being on some weird traffic shaping from Virgin or if its something else.

Share this post


Link to post

I have a Virgin 30MB connection and find that if I log on to Open/Air VPN through a German or Dutch server using port 443 UDP then I suffer no loss of speed and I get my full 30MB's.

If I use 443 TCP I can expect to lose about 33%-50% of my 30MB's and my download speed will be about 15-20MB's.

When using American servers you can add up to another 50% loss of speed so getting anything over 12-15MB from an American server is good,I find the servers in Virginia to provide the best performance.

Other server locations including European ones are all very much hit and miss and on a day to day basis and a connection that gives 20MB's on one day may only return 2-3MB's the next.

I find you have to sniff about a bit for the best server on any given day if you like to swop your connection location around but if you are only using light traffic it's no problem to connect to  a lower speed server anyway.
If you are expecting to be streaming video or downloading larger file sizes you can pretty much guarantee good speeds from the main European server locations,at least up to 30MB's anyway.

I am expecting an upgrade to 50MB's soon though so hopefully that will not impinge on the quality of service I have received so far.

Share this post


Link to post

I have a Virgin 30MB connection and find that if I log on to Open/Air VPN through a German or Dutch server using port 443 UDP then I suffer no loss of speed and I get my full 30MB's.

 

If I use 443 TCP I can expect to lose about 33%-50% of my 30MB's and my download speed will be about 15-20MB's.

 

When using American servers you can add up to another 50% loss of speed so getting anything over 12-15MB from an American server is good,I find the servers in Virginia to provide the best performance.

 

Other server locations including European ones are all very much hit and miss and on a day to day basis and a connection that gives 20MB's on one day may only return 2-3MB's the next.

 

I find you have to sniff about a bit for the best server on any given day if you like to swop your connection location around but if you are only using light traffic it's no problem to connect to  a lower speed server anyway.

If you are expecting to be streaming video or downloading larger file sizes you can pretty much guarantee good speeds from the main European server locations,at least up to 30MB's anyway.

 

I am expecting an upgrade to 50MB's soon though so hopefully that will not impinge on the quality of service I have received so far.

 

thanks much appreciated you may have got some work arounds going !

 

can I ask do you get consistant and reliable speeds on that german server on a day to day basis though ?

 

would be great to hear back if you get consistant speeds with your 50meg upgrade.

Share this post


Link to post

hey guys, Ive just landed here and noticed this thread, Im on virgins 100mbit service and receive 120mbps without VPN, with Airvpn enabled I am seeing 100mbit+ speeds even during traffic shaping hours. Im currently putting together some info which I'll loop back round with once its complete. 

Share this post


Link to post

Hi refresh,

yes mate,I always get at least 20MB's from a German or Dutch server,I think there are T1 hubs in those locations and that could help but I may be talking out of my butt too.

I tried the Romanian server as I hear that country has particularly good internet speeds but I can never get good speeds from there.

Another thing to consider if you're only getting low speeds is have you forwarded a port because that helps tons.

Share this post


Link to post

Ive just updated my blog with speed data & speediest results, http://www.irj972.co.uk/articles/VPN-performance

 

For the sake of sharing info here though via AirVPN last night at about 9PM GMT on a Saturday evening I had a 120mbps connection pulling some test data down at 14MB/s.

 

This was from my Macbook pro over wifi to my airport extreme and connected via viscosity software having imported a standard connection - no tweaking tuning, port forwarding, SLL, SSH etc. 

 

It was so quick I didn't even bother benching any other providers. I like AirVPNs philosophy so happy to support them etc. 

Share this post


Link to post

I'd say try port forwarding the result can be very surprising and I would guess that's where your other 100MB's are waiting.

Share this post


Link to post

thanks McLoEa

 

that is great to hear you get 20mbs on the german/dutch servers that could be quite important regarding the port forwarding thing.

Share this post


Link to post

Ive just updated my blog with speed data & speediest results, http://www.irj972.co.uk/articles/VPN-performance

 

For the sake of sharing info here though via AirVPN last night at about 9PM GMT on a Saturday evening I had a 120mbps connection pulling some test data down at 14MB/s.

 

This was from my Macbook pro over wifi to my airport extreme and connected via viscosity software having imported a standard connection - no tweaking tuning, port forwarding, SLL, SSH etc. 

 

It was so quick I didn't even bother benching any other providers. I like AirVPNs philosophy so happy to support them etc. 

 

am confused did you not say earlier you got 100meg with air switched on and now 14mbs?

 

Otherwise that is a major loss of speed and performance I would say try port forwarding also.

 

also the link returns bad gateway error

Share this post


Link to post

thanks for letting me know my VPS has thrown a wobbler....

 

for clarification whilst I fix my VPS, I connected at 120mbps (mebagits per second) on Virgin last night and downloaded an 8Gb test file at 14MB/s (megabytes per second) - the capitals are important

Share this post


Link to post

sigh.....sorry about that, looks like I was hit by my first server attack which crashed my VPS. I'll look at how to make it more resilient this week. Hopefully the bots will leave it alone for a while....

Share this post


Link to post

I couldn't access your link yesterday either lrj972 but today it's showing download speeds of 111.82Mb/s with AirVPN engaged in which case I'll say Woot!!

To refresh,

I grabbed a 12GB file over a 20Mb/s connection in an hour last week and my client was showing download speeds of 4Mb/s which surpasses the previous best I had of 3.7Mb/s.

Although it would be nice to have instantaneous downloads ,i.e. click it and it's there, I can remember when it took 18 hours to get a 1GB file over a Virgin connection.That's going back a fair while now and I'm generally satisfied with the speeds I get today and allowing for a 33% decrease for having a VPN engaged is not a worry for me. Oh the excitement when my first download  completed at over 1Mb/s!

I guess when I go to 50Mb/s supposedly at the end of this month I'll be even happier.

Share this post


Link to post

Woot exactly - I was pretty surprised at just how fast AirVPN was - I was expecting it to be around 40mbps so very pleasantly surprised. Now to the task of building a router than can route 120mbps and has headroom for Virgins increase towards 200mbit later this year.

 

Its interesting to note as well that after tweeting about AirVPN performance my VPS was hit with a DoS attack for the first time since creating it around Christmas time. Coincidence?????

Share this post


Link to post

I need to work out my megabytes from my megabits otherwise this gets confusing !

 

McLoea that is good to hear regarding the speeds, I am glad to hear you will be getting the 50meg update I would be interested to hear how the speed is after this update while under air

 

lrj972: link is working now its great to see you can make full use of the bandwith under air and with no tweeks, but it does also confuse why some air customers under virgin get a major hit or unusable service and a few don't. Could be that port forwarding businesss still.

Share this post


Link to post

I think I should post a ps to this thread.

 

I use speedtest.net for my  results and I generally check 2 or 3 times.

The speeds I mentioned in this thread are all the fastest speeds I get after a few checks.

 

Share this post


Link to post

A pic would be great, did you also check actual real speeds during torrents or downloads?

 

Someone one page 1 suggested speedtest is inaccurate on virgin bb testing

Share this post


Link to post

AirVPN has slowed for me from the 120Mb/s I posted 6 months ago. So not  a 50Mb/s but hopefully interesting none the less.

 

I won't claim to be an expert but the thinkboardband test suggests to me that there is a significant contention for bandwidth on the AirVPN server. Possibly there is a VirginMedia problem too but I can't think of a test to spot that.

 

 

139717032174360192157.png

 

Obviously I would like it to run at 120Mb/s but I think that is a little bit too much to expect for the money. For me it has always been above the 4 Mb/s that AirVPN promise. Connection quality is more important for me than raw speed.

Share this post


Link to post

Here's a link to aGoogle+ hangout with Vint Cerf,

link not being allowed it seems but a quick youtube search for Vint Cerf and google hang outs should take you there

he's the guy we have to thank for the IP/TCP protocols and he talks about the IPv4 that I would imagine the majority of people here are still on as being the beta model of the internet and that IPv6 is the real thing.

Worth a watch.

Share this post


Link to post

AirVPN has slowed for me from the 120Mb/s I posted 6 months ago. So not  a 50Mb/s but hopefully interesting none the less.

 

I won't claim to be an expert but the thinkboardband test suggests to me that there is a significant contention for bandwidth on the AirVPN server. Possibly there is a VirginMedia problem too but I can't think of a test to spot that.

 

 

139717032174360192157.png

 

Obviously I would like it to run at 120Mb/s but I think that is a little bit too much to expect for the money. For me it has always been above the 4 Mb/s that AirVPN promise. Connection quality is more important for me than raw speed.

 

Did you try port 443 UDP with Germany server ?

Share this post


Link to post

139729948187452158684.png

 

Port 443 UDP with German (Frankfurt).

 

11 MB/s With speedtest

 

 
My connection has definitely slowed from six months ago. I really don't know why. Its ok at the moment but I would be very unhappy if it was Virgin shaping OpenVPN.
 
If AirVPN staff are reading I want to make clear the speed is still OK at the moment and I value line quality, jitter/packet loss/consistency etc, over raw speed. Quality is also ok at  the moment.
 
Without VPN speedtest.net gave a solid 126Mb/s to the same Frankfurt speedtest.net (leaseweb) server. 

Share this post


Link to post

Hi nickspam

 

Just making sure I got the numbers right 11MBs(what you get) is almost equivelent to 70-80Mpbs on your Virgin 120Mpbs line right ?

 

120Mpbs should be roughly 14MBs (larger MB)

 

I agree still I would rather have stability and reliability over a poor line.

Share this post


Link to post

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Security Check
    Play CAPTCHA Audio
    Refresh Image

×
×
  • Create New...