Surfshark VPN WireGuard vs. IKEv2 vs. OpenVPN TCP vs. OpenVPN UDP: Which Protocol Should I Choose?

What is a VPN protocol?

A VPN protocol is a set of instructions that determines the authorization, authentication, encryption, traffic capturing, and transportation methods under which your VPN client establishes your connection to a VPN server.

There are 6 major VPN protocols: Wireguard, OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, IKEv2, and SSTP. As time has passed, the benefits of some services have put them in the forefront, while the flaws of others have marked them as ones to avoid. Among them, the two most popular VPN protocols today are WireGuard and IKEv2/IPSec. OpenVPN is a close second, which theoretically provides the same results, but is more difficult to use.

What VPN protocols does Surfshark VPN support?

Surfshark currently supports different VPN protocols, although by default it is in “Automatic” mode, where the software itself will choose both the closest and fastest VPN server, and will also choose the best protocol, we ourselves can force the protocol to use.

The VPN protocols that Surfshark VPN supports are the following:

• WireGuard®

• IKEv2 (or IKEv2/IPsec)
  

• OpenVPN TCP
  

• OpenVPN UDP
  

• Shadowsocks - top choice in restrictive countries

What is WireGuard?

The most recent major tunneling protocol, WireGuard offers by far the best connection speeds, while maintaining security. Like OpenVPN, WireGuard is open-source. It uses state-of-the-art cryptography that outshines the current leaders, OpenVPN and IPSec/IKEv2. Surfshark has finally adopted this latest security protocol and is offering it on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices to improve its speed further and ensure users’ security.

In practice, Surfshark's WireGuard adoption means the cheap VPN should deliver exceptional speeds and quick connection times plus further security for its users.

What is IKEv2?

IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange version 2) is a VPN encryption protocol that handles request and response actions. It makes sure the traffic is secure by establishing and handling the SA (Security Association) attribute within an authentication suite – usually IPSec since IKEv2 is basically based on it and built into it.
IKEv2 is a protocol that's safe to use.

It supports 256-bit encryption, and can use ciphers like AES, 3DES, Camellia, and ChaCha20. What's more, IKEv2/IPSec also supports PFS + the protocol's MOBIKE feature makes sure your connection won't be dropped when changing networks.

What is OpenVPN?

OpenVPN is one open-source protocol that remained popular until the entry of WireGuard. This protocol is constantly under the development stage and keeps getting improved by professionals. It’s called open-source for a reason. OpenVPN comes in two main flavors: OpenVPN TCP and OpenVPN UDP.

What is UDP?

UDP is the acronym for User Datagram Protocol and does not perform error correction. As a result, the packets are received without any retries or acknowledgments. This makes UDP faster but less reliable than TCP.

These characteristics make OpenVPN UDP well suited for audio and video streaming tasks, and indeed gaming.

What is TCP?

TCP is the acronym for Transmission Control Protocol. Unlike UDP, TCP performs error correction. Additionally, its re-transmission mechanism ensures both ends can receive packets. However, the increased reliability results in increased latency.

OpenVPN TCP is an ideal protocol for higher security where latency is not the priority, such as general web surfing and emails.

Better VPN services support both OpenVPN TCP and UDP, and allow the user to choose between them as needed, depending on the application.

OpenVPN TCP vs. UDP

TCP creates a stream of data packets and ensures that they reach their destination in the order they’ve been sent out. In theory, this means more stable communication.
On the other hand, UDP is volatile and connectionless, sending data packets out in no specific order and without validation. This makes it faster and superior for time-sensitive transmissions.

What is Shadowsocks?

Shadowsocks is a free and open-source encryption protocol project. Shadowsocks especially works for countries that have severe internet restrictions like China. If you don’t live in any of those regions, you’re better off using the above-listed protocols instead of Shadowsocks.

Does Surfshark use PPTP,L2TP, or IPSec？

Doesnot!

PPTP, IPSec, and L2TP are all older protocols. Older tunneling protocols no longer provide a satisfactory level of security. Surfshark doesn’t even use PPTP, L2TP, or IPSec. Newer protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2 account for your needs.

What is the fastest VPN protocol on Surfshark?

Surfshark WireGuard is currently considered to be the fastest protocol around. Its average download and upload speed drops are 12% and 43%, respectively.These are very good scores.
One of the mobile users’ fan favorites – IKEv2 – is also present in Surfshark. Surfshark average download speed is 27%, and 83% for upload.

Which VPN protocol is the most secure on Surfshark?

The truth is, all three VPN protocols – WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN – achieve equal security, albeit some in various ways and using different cryptographic suites. A protocol is considered secure when it has no known vulnerabilities, and all three fall under this category.

Which protocol is most suitable for the router？

Home routers that have an OpenVPN client to route all traffic through the VPN. This is ideal for routing our TV traffic through the VPN, and being able to watch Netflix or Disney + in the US, among many other countries.

Which VPN protocol to choose for Android or iPhone?

One of the best options for mobile tunneling protocol is IKEv2. It can seamlessly switch between wifi and cellular data. So, even when you’re phone auto-connects to your router when you come back home, you leak no information if you’re using a VPN.

Why choose Surfshark VPN？

Surfshark is a paid subscription VPN service, the main feature of this service is its low price and the great performance in terms of speed and latency that its VPN servers have all over the world.

 Thanks to this service, we will be able to connect to the VPN servers that are in your own country, or in almost any country in the world, since it is one of the services that has the most servers spread all over the world. 

With its virtual private network service, we can surf the Internet with security and privacy, since all traffic is encrypted point-to-point from the client to the VPN server, in addition, we have additional features such as the ability to block advertising, avoid tracking of Internet operators and much more, such as the possibility of defining a white list with the programs that we want to use the Internet connection of our operator.

Surfshark is compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS operating systems, although we also have extensions for the Chrome and Firefox web browsers.

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