Hi.
My device: Asus AX88U Pro running latest stock firmware
My base internet speed: 500Mbps symetrical Download/Upload.
I would like to know, whether OpenVPN or Wireguard is better for me personally and my use case.
I want to have my two TVs which use Chromecast with Google TV stick to be using VPN client (VPN Fusion) through the router - because using native android VPN app on them, the speeds are really bad.
Without VPN, just using the WIFI, my TVs get about 100Mbps download which is sufficient enough for my needs. When I tested both OpenVPN and Wireguard, they both also get me 100Mbps - so no change in this aspect.
However when researching implentations of these VPN protocols, I found many threads where users were stating that just running Wireguard alone, was slowing down their entire network. A lot of these, were old threads, where Nat Acceleration and Hardware Acceleration was disabled for the whole network if using Wireguard - later apparently there was a bypass made, so only devices connected to Wireguard client would have those disabled, while the rest of the network would have them enabled. OpenVPN as far as I read, uses Nat Acceleration and Hardware Acceleration natively so no change at all.
I tried to do some tests, having Wireguard or OpenVPN enabled, as far as I could tell, I saw no real difference to rest of my network - my comptuters, phones, all acting normal, speeds same as always - maxed out if nothing is being used, or shared if other devices are using so all normal.
Of course my own testing methodology is suboptimal as I don't know how to do it properly, so I wanted to asks the experts here. I also care about not having any IP/DNS leaks (with both wireguard and openvpn I saw no leaks), want to have lowest ping possible (with both protocols using Mullvad, ping was the same), stability, and also I don't want to be stressing the CPU of the router out. I actually plugged a WATT meter to the router, on idle with or without either protocol or both just enabled, always 9.3w - if I download something using wifi, with VPN disabled or enabled for either OpenVPN or Wireguard, power draw would increase to range of 13.7w-14.2w so stress wise seems similar?
Does anyone also know if wireguard client has a kill switch? I know openvpn does because the mullvad server I was using once went down for a day, so all my devices configured to it would not work - unsure if the same would happen with wireguard or if it would switch to my base internet (which I don't want).
1. Which protocol offers more stability for my network? I have two TVs which will be streaming at once 4K content, multiple mobile phones being used, three gaming computers which might also be streaming/downloading. I care about ping, no packet loss, stable speed.
2. Which protocol is safer? I don't want to have any IP/DNS leaks, and I don't want my router to be disabling some important features like nat acceleration/hardware aes for other interfaces (unless the bypass is sufficient).
3. Which protocol has less CPU overhead - less stress on the router itself?
4. What protocol do you recommend I use and why?
Sorry for the long read, I tried to keep it as short as possible which explaining my usage. Thank you for anyone who takes their time to read and assist me in advance.
Kind regards.
My device: Asus AX88U Pro running latest stock firmware
My base internet speed: 500Mbps symetrical Download/Upload.
I would like to know, whether OpenVPN or Wireguard is better for me personally and my use case.
I want to have my two TVs which use Chromecast with Google TV stick to be using VPN client (VPN Fusion) through the router - because using native android VPN app on them, the speeds are really bad.
Without VPN, just using the WIFI, my TVs get about 100Mbps download which is sufficient enough for my needs. When I tested both OpenVPN and Wireguard, they both also get me 100Mbps - so no change in this aspect.
However when researching implentations of these VPN protocols, I found many threads where users were stating that just running Wireguard alone, was slowing down their entire network. A lot of these, were old threads, where Nat Acceleration and Hardware Acceleration was disabled for the whole network if using Wireguard - later apparently there was a bypass made, so only devices connected to Wireguard client would have those disabled, while the rest of the network would have them enabled. OpenVPN as far as I read, uses Nat Acceleration and Hardware Acceleration natively so no change at all.
I tried to do some tests, having Wireguard or OpenVPN enabled, as far as I could tell, I saw no real difference to rest of my network - my comptuters, phones, all acting normal, speeds same as always - maxed out if nothing is being used, or shared if other devices are using so all normal.
Of course my own testing methodology is suboptimal as I don't know how to do it properly, so I wanted to asks the experts here. I also care about not having any IP/DNS leaks (with both wireguard and openvpn I saw no leaks), want to have lowest ping possible (with both protocols using Mullvad, ping was the same), stability, and also I don't want to be stressing the CPU of the router out. I actually plugged a WATT meter to the router, on idle with or without either protocol or both just enabled, always 9.3w - if I download something using wifi, with VPN disabled or enabled for either OpenVPN or Wireguard, power draw would increase to range of 13.7w-14.2w so stress wise seems similar?
Does anyone also know if wireguard client has a kill switch? I know openvpn does because the mullvad server I was using once went down for a day, so all my devices configured to it would not work - unsure if the same would happen with wireguard or if it would switch to my base internet (which I don't want).
1. Which protocol offers more stability for my network? I have two TVs which will be streaming at once 4K content, multiple mobile phones being used, three gaming computers which might also be streaming/downloading. I care about ping, no packet loss, stable speed.
2. Which protocol is safer? I don't want to have any IP/DNS leaks, and I don't want my router to be disabling some important features like nat acceleration/hardware aes for other interfaces (unless the bypass is sufficient).
3. Which protocol has less CPU overhead - less stress on the router itself?
4. What protocol do you recommend I use and why?
Sorry for the long read, I tried to keep it as short as possible which explaining my usage. Thank you for anyone who takes their time to read and assist me in advance.
Kind regards.
Last edited:
