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Ultimate VPN Speedtest: Comparing Windscribe PRO, Ivacy, FastestVPN, PIA, NordVPN OpenVPN UDP speed
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Ultimate VPN Speedtest: Comparing Windscribe PRO, Ivacy, FastestVPN, PIA, NordVPN OpenVPN UDP speed

So in this video I run a OpenVPN UDP speedtest from 5 VPN providers:
Windscribe PRO, Ivacy, FastestVPN, Private Internet Access and NordVPN.

Speedtest Servers used:
Germany: 10G Servers (Nuremberg)
Japan: 20G OPEN PROJECT (Tokyo)
USA: ISPnet (New York)

For that I tested 3 locations (Germany, Japan, USA) from each provider with their respective openvpn config and run 3 tests per location and provider always to the same Speedtest Server in the respective location. I then calculated the average Download/Upload/Ping per provider and location and also noted the individual results of each test run.

The results can be seen in the end of the video as I doubt you wanna stick with it for another hour.

I've also summed them up here: https://i.gyazo.com/8b731d5bc19d4643d...

Of course not everything is about speedtests when comparing VPNs. Features, logging policy, country of company origin, support, pricing etc are important as well but thought this would be interesting to compare :-)

Needlessly to say these results are not set in stone and will obviously vary on the servers resource usage etc. They are but an estimate.

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Comments

  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @K4Y5
    There you go mate :-) Hope it was worth the wait^^
    As you can see Ivacy won none of the tests in speed, still I recommend it for being affordable, comfortable to use and able to unblock :)

    Thanked by 1K4Y5
  • Just note, OpenVPN for Windows is "broken". It often gets low speeds.

    I noticed I was getting max. 70Mb/s with privateinternetaccess.com using OpenVPN. Then I tried their software and I was getting full 160Mb/s. After that I checked the commandline of openvpn.exe (executed by PMA software) and it had: --sndbuf" "262144" "--rcvbuf" "262144"

    It seems to be a common problem: https://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/40099/why-openvpn-is-so-slow-cool-story

    I fixed it by editing the openvpn config files, adding:

    sndbuf 393216
    rcvbuf 393216
    push "sndbuf 393216"
    push "rcvbuf 393216"
    
  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @DrDirector said:
    Just note, OpenVPN for Windows is "broken". It often gets low speeds.

    I noticed I was getting max. 70Mb/s with privateinternetaccess.com using OpenVPN. Then I tried their software and I was getting full 160Mb/s. After that I checked the commandline of openvpn.exe (executed by PMA software) and it had: --sndbuf" "262144" "--rcvbuf" "262144"

    It seems to be a common problem: https://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/40099/why-openvpn-is-so-slow-cool-story

    I fixed it by editing the openvpn config files, adding:

    sndbuf 393216
    rcvbuf 393216
    push "sndbuf 393216"
    push "rcvbuf 393216"
    

    Interesting indeed because I have often encountered providers software to be slower than openvpn gui (with Nordvpn and ivacy for example).

    Thanked by 1DrDirector
  • MikeAMikeA Member, Patron Provider

    @DrDirector said:
    Just note, OpenVPN for Windows is "broken". It often gets low speeds.

    I noticed I was getting max. 70Mb/s with privateinternetaccess.com using OpenVPN. Then I tried their software and I was getting full 160Mb/s. After that I checked the commandline of openvpn.exe (executed by PMA software) and it had: --sndbuf" "262144" "--rcvbuf" "262144"

    It seems to be a common problem: https://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/40099/why-openvpn-is-so-slow-cool-story

    I fixed it by editing the openvpn config files, adding:

    sndbuf 393216
    rcvbuf 393216
    push "sndbuf 393216"
    push "rcvbuf 393216"
    

    I had an issue with the driver but after reinstalling Windows and installing PIA again the speed issues never happened so if it's related they might've changed something to fix it.

    Thanked by 2Ympker Hamed
  • DrDirectorDrDirector Member
    edited June 2018

    MikeA said: I had an issue with the driver but after reinstalling Windows and installing PIA again the speed issues never happened so if it's related they might've changed something to fix it.

    I actually tested it yesterday on a clean/different computer with Win10, and it was also affected by this "low speeds" bug (getting around 30Mb/s). After editing sndbuf/rcvbuf it was getting over 80Mb/s (the CPU in that computer is bad, so I guess that was the issue too).

    Either way, worth to test :P
    @Ympker, I would appreciate if you tested some speeds with before/after config file edit. Don't need to record a video, just share information if you also notice differences :)

    Thanked by 2MikeA Ympker
  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @DrDirector said:

    MikeA said: I had an issue with the driver but after reinstalling Windows and installing PIA again the speed issues never happened so if it's related they might've changed something to fix it.

    I actually tested it yesterday on a clean/different computer with Win10, and it was also affected by this "low speeds" bug (getting around 30Mb/s). After editing sndbuf/rcvbuf it was getting over 80Mb/s (the CPU in that computer is bad, so I guess that was the issue too).

    Either way, worth to test :P
    @Ympker, I would appreciate if you tested some speeds with before/after config file edit. Don't need to record a video, just share information if you also notice differences :)

    Maybe sometime I will :P For today I can't see speedtests no more xD

  • lionlion Member

    sndbuf and rcbuf only affect linux clients

  • DrDirectorDrDirector Member
    edited June 2018

    @lion said:
    sndbuf and rcbuf only affect linux clients

    No.

    Without sndbuf/rcvbuf in config:

    With sndbuf 393216, rcvbuf 393216:

  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @DrDirector said:

    @lion said:
    sndbuf and rcbuf only affect linux clients

    No.

    Without sndbuf/rcvbuf in config:

    With sndbuf 393216, rcvbuf 393216:

    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

  • @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Strange. For me it helps a lot. Did you restart OpenVPN after editing the config? Maybe when using "reconnect" it doesn't re-load the file. Anyway, don't worry about it. It might be random and depend on ISP too.

    Thanked by 1Ympker
  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @DrDirector said:

    @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Strange. For me it helps a lot. Did you restart OpenVPN after editing the config? Maybe when using "reconnect" it doesn't re-load the file. Anyway, don't worry about it. It might be random and depend on ISP too.

    Even restarted pc

    Thanked by 1DrDirector
  • @DrDirector said:

    You not changed to VPN before test?

    @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Maybe your VPN doesnt support it, or gets the max speed allready.

    Thanked by 1heiska
  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @ascicode said:

    @DrDirector said:

    You not changed to VPN before test?

    @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Maybe your VPN doesnt support it, or gets the max speed allready.

    Maybe :P I guess I am satisfied with the speedtest results for normal use anyway. Don't need anything above 50 Mbit/s really xD

  • @Ympker said:

    @ascicode said:

    @DrDirector said:

    You not changed to VPN before test?

    @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Maybe your VPN doesnt support it, or gets the max speed allready.

    Maybe :P I guess I am satisfied with the speedtest results for normal use anyway. Don't need anything above 50 Mbit/s really xD

    Would you recommend NordVPN or Ivacy?

  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @Silvest said:

    @Ympker said:

    @ascicode said:

    @DrDirector said:

    You not changed to VPN before test?

    @Ympker said:
    Just did a test run before going to bed and it didn't change anything for me (Windows 10).
    Results were not better than the ones Ive already got. Tested it with Ivacy and FastestVPN.

    Maybe your VPN doesnt support it, or gets the max speed allready.

    Maybe :P I guess I am satisfied with the speedtest results for normal use anyway. Don't need anything above 50 Mbit/s really xD

    Would you recommend NordVPN or Ivacy?

    The better of the two is NordVPN. Overall probably the most vpn servers any provider has, supports Flix, actually good 24/7 Live Chat support, fast speeds (see test in op). Costs monthly. Ivacy is 29,99$ one time payment lifetime at stacksocial. Of course you don't get the same performance but I for one will let my nordvpn sub expire. Not because they are bad but because Ivacy Lifetime offers all I need :)

  • defaultdefault Veteran

    Lifetime... Whenever I see "lifetime" I think of running away, even though it's very tempting. In my opinion it's impossible to offer lifetime bandwidth and services in such a greedy economy. Humanity is not ready for such altruism and voluntarily dedication. But then again probably I am the black sheep, thinking too pessimistic.

  • YmpkerYmpker Member
    edited July 2018

    @default said:
    Lifetime... Whenever I see "lifetime" I think of running away, even though it's very tempting. In my opinion it's impossible to offer lifetime bandwidth and services in such a greedy economy. Humanity is not ready for such altruism and voluntarily dedication. But then again probably I am the black sheep, thinking too pessimistic.

    Well you are not tied to one VPN provider. If Ivacy would close down you can still change. Imho the 30$ is already worth it if it just runs for a year. Ive been with them for 2?! now. If it makes you feel better their Stacksocial lifetime plan is actually only 5 years. However once these are over you can contact support to renew for another 5 years free of charge and so on (it says so in product description, this is not some secret).. So only the inactives will be kicked. Another reason why I can't see Ivacy closing shop anytime soon is because they resell purevpn and afaik I know and read about the pure vpn reseller program, reseller don't need make any investment of their own. It will be only deducted from what they earn (and only after they are established). But don't take my word for it.

    Plus they seem to have been around since 2007 (their 2007 website is also vpn company).

    That much time is enough for me to trust in them making my 29,99$ bucks worth it :P

  • About the OpenVPN native speed issue its already reported on github. It seems a strange issue not affecting all devices:

    https://github.com/Angristan/OpenVPN-install/issues/241

    Thanked by 1DrDirector
  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    @K4Y5 just let me know that there also is a trial plan for Ivacy available at 2.5$ so there is no need to pay the ~10$ for one month plan to test: https://www.ivacy.com/vpn-trial/

  • YmpkerYmpker Member
    edited July 2018

    There are two minor errors in the table which I fixed in the following pic:

    1.) The winners of the category "Ping" in Germany are in fact Ivacy and NordVPN with 29 each and not PIA with the highest 36 lol

    2.) In Japan Upload test the winner was not marked green

    It would be great if a mod could exchange the updated pic with the current one in the OP :)

    @MasonR @AnthonySmith

  • @nqservices said:
    About the OpenVPN native speed issue its already reported on github. It seems a strange issue not affecting all devices:

    https://github.com/Angristan/OpenVPN-install/issues/241

    Well, speed isn’t only affected by the buffer size. Other factors include:

    • the size of your encryption key

      • the CPU you have (weaker CPUs struggle with larger keys)
    • etc

  • Nordvpn faster then i expected my speeds with them wheren't that great PIA results seem similiar to what i get.

    thanks for sharing the results and information

    Thanked by 1Ympker
  • @wantvpsinseychelles said:
    Nordvpn faster then i expected my speeds with them wheren't that great PIA results seem similiar to what i get.

    thanks for sharing the results and information

    Np

  • eoleol Member

    @Ympker said:
    Even restarted pc

    Restart?
    You need to turn it off and off again.

    Thanked by 1NobodyInteresting
  • Thanks for taking the time to do these tests and share the results with us, sir!

    I can reach over 200Mbps from my 350Mbps line using the Hidden Router, so all these openvpn based VPNs just look funny in comparison :-)

    Thanked by 2eol Ympker
  • @eol said:

    @Ympker said:
    Even restarted pc

    Restart?
    You need to turn it off and off again.

    True :(

  • Ivacy currently costs $24 for "Lifetime" subscription.
    https://stacksocial.com/sales/ivacy-vpn-lifetime-subscription-5

    PROMO CODE: DN40
    Ending In: 1 day.

    Well, I just bought even though I currently don't need :/

  • @DrDirector said:
    Ivacy currently costs $24 for "Lifetime" subscription.
    https://stacksocial.com/sales/ivacy-vpn-lifetime-subscription-5

    PROMO CODE: DN40
    Ending In: 1 day.

    Well, I just bought even though I currently don't need :/

    It's really good for unblocking Flix and BBC. Nice buy :)

    Thanked by 1poisson
  • @DrDirector said:
    Ivacy currently costs $24 for "Lifetime" subscription.
    https://stacksocial.com/sales/ivacy-vpn-lifetime-subscription-5

    PROMO CODE: DN40
    Ending In: 1 day.

    Well, I just bought even though I currently don't need :/

    Bought it again as a birthday gift for a friend :P

    Thanks for the nice discount code!

    Thanked by 1poisson
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