PPTP vs Openvpn client performance

[jraymond4321]

Hello,

I've loaded the asus merlin firmware on my RT-N66U router. I am currently running 380.65.

I am using the router to connect to a vpn server in Brazil from the USA, primarily to watch streaming TV (via Kodi on an android TV box).

When I use the PPTP client, I experience almost no buffering. However, when I use the Openvpn client to connect, I experience extreme buffering.

I'd prefer to use the Openvpn, so I can use selective routing so that only the tv request go through the VPN.

Right now, the Asus router is sitting behind my main Linksys router. If I can get the Asus to work with the selective routing, I'll make it the primary router and remove the Linksys.

Any ideas if there are some settings or something I can try with the Openvpn to improve the streaming performance?

I've switched from PPTP to Openvpn, and checked my ping and download speeds, and the seem to be similar with both protocols.

I had the same issue with 380.64. I upgraded to .65 today after seeing the support for Openvpn 2.4, but it did not improve anything.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zirescu]

What cipher are you using to connect to the VPN server? The N66U is underpowered for dealing with encryption enabled with OpenVPN.

 

[jraymond4321]

Hello,

the advanced settings are:
Accept DNS Configuration - Disabled
Cipher Negotiation - Enable with Fallback
Negotiable Ciphers - AES-128-gcm:AES-256-GCM:AES-128-CBC:AES-256-CBC
Legacy Fallback Cipher - AES-128-CBC
Compresion - None
TLS Renegotiation time - -1
Connection Retry - -1
Verify Server Certificate - No
Redirect Internet Traffic - Policy Rules
Blocck routed clients if tunnel goes down - No


From the log, looks like it is using the AES-256-CBC Cipher

Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'AES-256-CBC' initialized with 256 bit key

Purevpn is the service I am using it with.

 

[Zirescu]

I was going to suggest the following: "You could try setting the Cipher Negotiation to Disabled and setting it to AES-128-CBC" but I reviewed the setup instructions from PureVPN and it looks like the default Cipher they're using is AES-256-CBC so you might be stuck using PPTP on the N66U. The other option is to update to more powerful router.