VPN so slow

[doulos9]

I am using a VPN to work around my ISP's restrictions for web servers. I only use that server for a private cloud server which I occasionally need to access from outside my (home) network. The relative speeds between using VPN, and not, are huge. I know I will get some reduction in speed due to encryption, but I wouldn't have expected what I actually get.

If I run a speed test with each is get the following:
ISP- 230+ Mbps down/12+ Mbps up.
VPN- <10 Mbps down/ 10+ Mbps up.

I am using the default configuration for OpenVPN.

Any suggestions on how to speed this up?

Note: I am in Oregon and the VDS is a 1-core Debian in Seattle.

[doulos9]

Reinstalled VPN - Seattle one core Ubuntu 14.04

Speedtest while connected to VPN:

Speedtest while NOT connected to VPN:

Not that much difference in upload speed - which is when I need it the most (while away from home), but really curious if anyone else has such slow download speeds through VPN.

[Edge100x]

Which of our sets of instructions are you using for your setup?

If you're using TCP, have you tried UDP mode? And vice-versa?

(As a side note, speedtest isn't a great testing site, but it's sad that their star rankings aren't able to test for VPN usage. 4.5 stars based on users actually testing through their home connections makes us look worse for no reason.)

[doulos9]

Which of our sets of instructions are you using for your setup?

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=11034

If you're using TCP, have you tried UDP mode? And vice-versa?

UDP - using all default settings.

(As a side note, speedtest isn't a great testing site, but it's sad that their star rankings aren't able to test for VPN usage. 4.5 stars based on users actually testing through their home connections makes us look worse for no reason.)

What IS a good speedtest for VPN? I only ran speedtest when I tested a download and found it to be really slow (relative to direct download w/o VPN from the same server).

[Edge100x]

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=11034

I understand that you used that article, but there are two sets of instructions. I was asking which of the two you used. Regardless, it would be worth trying the other set.

If you're using TCP, have you tried UDP mode? And vice-versa?

UDP - using all default settings.

It would be worth trying TCP, and other settings.

For most people, it works great out of the box, but your specific connection may require tweaking due to packet mangling that your router or ISP is doing.

Others here -- including NFO staff -- have much more experience than I do with troubleshooting OpenVPN, so I can't help all that much more personally.

We've also heard some reports that SoftEther works well, though it has a bit more complicated setup.

What IS a good speedtest for VPN? I only ran speedtest when I tested a download and found it to be really slow (relative to direct download w/o VPN from the same server).

The stars thing is just a display annoyance and doesn't reflect upon your result.

In terms of speed tests, I like dslreports.

If you check which Speedtest IP was used, you may find that they were using Comcast's internal one, which could be why your speed looked so high for the direct connection. But, your speed should still be a lot higher proxying through our links, since our upstreams in Seattle buy directly from Comcast.

[doulos9]

I used [the first] set of instructions [from the KB article].