need help?

mikemikeee

I currently have a 150 MBs connection. I can generally download at about 16mb/s on a given day.

However, when I connect to my VPN, I get only about 2mb/s. This is a config setup through my router using OpenVPN and PIA. Here is my config.

client

dev tun

proto udp

remote us-seattle.privateinternetaccess.com 1197

resolv-retry infinite

nobind

persist-key

persist-tun

cipher aes-256-cbc

auth sha256

tls-client

remote-cert-tls server

auth-user-pass

comp-lzo

verb 1

reneg-sec 0

crl-verify crl.rsa.4096.pem

ca ca.rsa.4096.crt

disable-occ

[Deleted User]

What's your router model? Unfortunately, it's likely that you're hitting a hardware bottleneck, as the processors most routers use tend to be very underpowered and not able to handle encryption well.

Even high-end consumer routers typically max out around ~50mbps. To saturate your line, you'll have to use a device that supports AES-NI (hardware accelerated encryption). A pfSense box or one of the few consumer routers with AES-NI, like the ASUS AC86U might improve your speeds significantly.

DeathStalker

@PIAColleen - how about the ASUS AC-3100 (RT-AC88U)?

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

@DeathStalker in terms of running a VPN, the 86U is probably better than the 88U for a few reasons - the 88U doesn't have hardware accelerated encryption, and it has a lower clock speed than the 86U. OpenVPN is single threaded, so clock speed is the most important aspect of a processor to obtain the best possible performance. 

I know the OpenVPN team is looking toward multithreading for future versions, but that's a long way off. Right now, AES-NI + high clock speeds = optimal speeds using OpenVPN.

DeathStalker

PIAColleen said:

@DeathStalker in terms of running a VPN, the 86U is probably better than the 88U for a few reasons - the 88U doesn't have hardware accelerated encryption, and it has a lower clock speed than the 86U. OpenVPN is single threaded, so clock speed is the most important aspect of a processor to obtain the best possible performance. 

I know the OpenVPN team is looking toward multithreading for future versions, but that's a long way off. Right now, AES-NI + high clock speeds = optimal speeds using OpenVPN.

Oh that bites - this was the #1 router when I got it a little over a year ago   I know my speeds cap out at <40MB/s on a 1gb line (at least over VPN) - I get full speeds without VPN (using the PIA app itself).

Omnibus_IV

@DeathStalker, have you thought about running the VPN on your local machine? I know that is not really what you want, but it might improve your performance. Just a thought.