Add ExpressVPN Lightway Protocol

[Thomas01]

@RMerlin ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol is now open source. Can you please add support for it to the Asus Merlin Firmware?

 

[L&LD]

Are you familiar with the read me first faq?

[FAQ] READ ME FIRST before posting a question

Model support Q: Will you support the RT-xxxxxx that was just announced? A: See detailed answer in post #3. Q: Will you support router XYZ from this non-Asus manufacturer? A: No. Asuswrt-Merlin only targets Asus-supported models, due to both technical and legal reasons. Q: I'm having...

www.snbforums.com

Q: Will you add feature XYZ?
A: Chances are that no, since adding new features is a very low priority for this project. Just keeping code in sync with Asus has become nearly a full-time task for this project, and the increasing amount of closed source parts makes it increasingly harder to make significant changes to the firmware.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol is now open source. Can you please add support for it to the Asus Merlin Firmware?

No. The world does not need a 100th semi-proprietary VPN protocol that will most likely never be used by anyone else.

 

[Thomas01]

Are you familiar with the read me first faq?

[FAQ] READ ME FIRST before posting a question

Model support Q: Will you support the RT-xxxxxx that was just announced? A: See detailed answer in post #3. Q: Will you support router XYZ from this non-Asus manufacturer? A: No. Asuswrt-Merlin only targets Asus-supported models, due to both technical and legal reasons. Q: I'm having...

www.snbforums.com

I did read it. There is nothing wrong with asking.

 

[Thomas01]

No. The world does not need a 100th semi-proprietary VPN protocol that will most likely never be used by anyone else.

Thanks for replying! I was just wondering because ExpressVPN is slower when connected through the router with OpenVPN vs directly on my PC with ExpressVPN app using Lightway. Hopefully ExpressVPN will add or switch to Wireguard so I can get better speeds using VPN on my router.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, there may be something wrong with asking. That is why the READ ME FIRST post was created.

You also don't state what router you're using. But any Asus router will be slower than a VPN on a PC.

Wireguard requires a current (388.xx or newer) firmware which only certain AX class routers qualify for.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Thanks for replying! I was just wondering because ExpressVPN is slower when connected through the router with OpenVPN vs directly on my PC with ExpressVPN app using Lightway. Hopefully ExpressVPN will add or switch to Wireguard so I can get better speeds using VPN on my router.

ExpressVPN offers Lightway; NordVPN has NordLynx; Hotspot Shield uses Catapult Hydra, and VyprVPN has its own Chameleon. But we all seem to come back to OpenVPN because it's tried, true and tested... and PLENTY fast. But one of the other downsides with these "closed' proprietary protocols is that they were designed by these large VPN providers... yeah they might be fast or supposedly secure, but who knows what kinds of backdoors or monitoring capabilities were built into these. I'm sure nation states are just as interested, and would have to assume that something is going on there.

What is the right VPN protocol for you?

WireGuard, obviously. Or Lightway. NordLynx? No, OpenVPN...

www.techradar.com

 

[azuza]

According to an "early version" of Wikipedia entry for Lightway or Wireguard, ExpressVPN doesn't believe wireguard is "truly secure" or something.

I came across this a couple years ago.

 

[RMerlin]

ExpressVPN doesn't believe wireguard is "truly secure" or something.

That's because these companies are using Wireguard for something it was never intended to be used for. The goal behind Wireguard is to allow to connect two remote sites together over an encrypted tunnel, and nothing more. There is no guarantee that it will hide a client's "true" identity - it was not designed with this goal in mind.