How Can I Improve Speeds for a Router-Based VPN?

This article includes tips that can help you improve your PIA VPN speeds if you have manually configured the VPN on a router. 

Jump To….

• Check the basics first
• Ways to Improve Router-Based VPN Speeds

  • Use UDP When Possible

  • Add OpenVPN Custom Options

  • Use an IP Address Instead of a Hostname

Check the Basics First

Before adjusting your VPN settings, rule out other causes of slow speeds:

• Run a speed test without the VPN: Disconnect from PIA and run a speed test. This helps you establish your base internet speed so you can compare it against speeds when the VPN is connected.
• Try connecting to a closer server: The further the VPN server is from your location, the slower the connection. Try connecting to a server in a nearby country or region and test again.
• Check how many devices are connected: If many devices are sharing the VPN connection simultaneously, try disconnecting some and testing again to see if speeds improve.
• Check your router's CPU and memory usage: If your router is consistently running at high CPU or memory usage, it may not have enough processing power to handle VPN encryption efficiently. In this case, a router upgrade may be the only solution.

If your speeds are still slow after checking the above, try the options below.

Ways to Improve Router-Based VPN Speeds

The options below may help improve performance on some router-based VPN setups. Results vary depending on your router hardware, firmware, VPN protocol, server distance, and internet connection.

Use UDP When Possible

If your router uses OpenVPN, choose a UDP (User Datagram Protocol) configuration file when possible. UDP is usually faster than TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and is the preferred option for most VPN connections. TCP may be useful on restricted networks, but it can reduce speeds.

Add OpenVPN Custom Options

Some router firmware lets you add extra OpenVPN options to a VPN client profile. Depending on your firmware, this field may be called Custom Configuration, Additional Config, Advanced Options, or Custom Options.

If your router does not have a custom OpenVPN options field, skip this section.

1. Log into your router’s admin page.
2. Open the router’s VPN or OpenVPN client settings.
3. Select the PIA OpenVPN client profile you use.
4. Find the custom OpenVPN options field.
5. Add the following options, each on its own line:
   fast-io
sndbuf 300000
rcvbuf 300000
6. Save or apply the changes.
7. Restart the VPN connection. If the router does not reconnect, restart the router.
8. Test your VPN speed again.

The sndbuf and rcvbuf options set the send and receive buffer sizes for OpenVPN, which can improve throughput on some router setups.

If speeds become worse or the VPN connection becomes unstable, remove these 3 lines, save the changes, and restart the VPN connection again.

Use an IP Address Instead of a Hostname

If your router has DNS issues, using a VPN server IP address instead of a hostname may help. The guide below uses Linux, but the steps are similar on Windows and macOS.

1. Open your PIA OpenVPN configuration file in a text editor. 

   • Windows: Right-click the file and select Open with > Notepad.
   • macOS: Right-click the file and select Open with > TextEdit.
   • Linux: Right-click the file and select a text editor such as Kate or Gedit.

   

2. Find the line that starts with remote. This line contains the server hostname and port number. For example:
   remote aus-melbourne.privacy.network 1198

   

3. Open your terminal and run the following command. Replace hostname with the server hostname from the remote line:
   nslookup hostname
   Example:
   nslookup aus-melbourne.privacy.network

4. Copy one of the IP addresses returned by the command.

   

5. In your router’s VPN settings, replace the server hostname with the IP address.
6. Save or apply the changes.
7. Restart the VPN connection. If the router does not reconnect, restart the router.

If the IP address stops working later, repeat these steps and try another IP address returned by nslookup, or switch back to the original hostname.