What VPN Connection Types Does SirVPN Offer?

WireGuard

WireGuard is a new protocol designed as an easier, faster, and more secure option than its predecessors. This general purpose protocol is ideal for running on a diverse range of platforms and devices with easy implementation. Using state-of-the-art cryptography, WireGuard is far more secure than other available protocols. WireGuard is also noted for providing faster speeds than OpenVPN, and is also significantly less complex than IPSec. WireGuard also improves the battery life of mobile devices due to its stateless nature.

Available for: macOS,Windows,iOS,Android

IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2)

IKEv2 is a modern protocol that uses IPSec. With this protocol, we support MOBIKE, allowing your mobile devices to switch between cellular and Wi-Fi networks without interrupting your VPN connection. As our protocol of choice at SirVPN, IKEv2 is secure and fast.

Available for: macOS,Windows,iOS,Android

OpenVPN

OpenVPN is widely-adopted industry standard SSL VPN. Since OpenVPN is SSL-based, the traffic looks very similar to a secure website in your browser. SirVPN supports TCP and UDP connection types on multiple ports, as well as OpenVPN Scramble. See below for more information on these three VPN connection types.

Available for: macOS,Windows,Andoid
  • TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

    TCP, especially using port 443, most closely resembles encrypted web traffic. While TCP may lead to slower VPN speeds on high latency networks, such as Wi-Fi hotspots at hotels or coffee shops, it does protect against packet loss. SirVPN offers OpenVPN TCP connections on multiple ports to help ensure maximum compatibility with routers.

  • UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

    UDP connections are often faster than TCP-based OpenVPN connections due to UDP having less overhead the TCP. Please be aware that some routers may block UDP ports and there is a small chance for packet loss.

  • Scramble

    Scramble is a patch on top of OpenVPN. This patch helps to further mask the OpenVPN protocol, making it harder to detect as VPN traffic. Both UDP and TCP connection types are available for use with OpenVPN Scramble. SirVPN offers OpenVPN UDP connections on multiple ports to help ensure maximum compatibility with routers.


SSTP (Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol)

SSTP is a protocol originally developed by Microsoft. Like OpenVPN, it is a SSL/TLS VPN, which means it will look like encrypted web activity over the network. Unlike OpenVPN, SSTP encapsulates the VPN traffic in a HTTP session, so it will look exactly like traffic coming from your favorite web browser.

Available for: macOS,Windows,iOS,Android

IPSec (IP Security)

This is the older, less secure form of IPSec, sometimes called Cisco IPSec. It has been replaced by IKEv2. For legacy reasons, we still support IPSec.

Available for: macOS,iOS

L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol)

While L2TP by itself is insecure, L2TP over IPSec is more secure. This protocol is considered a legacy protocol and is most useful on older devices where newer protocols may not be available. If you are concerned about speeds, or other protocols are not producing the speeds you need, this may be an alternative you can try.

Available for: macOS,Windows,iOS,Linux,Android