China VPN & VPN Protocols: How they Work

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What are VPN protocols?

VPN Protocols are an important feature to consider when choosing a personal virtual private network (VPN) provider. VPN protocols are the method by which one’s computer communicates with a VPN server. Protocols are responsible for handling encryption as well as data integrity for protocols that offer that functionality. The main differences between VPN protocols are the devices that support them, the encryption they offer and the data integrity checks they offer. Another factor to consider is whether one’s network, company, school or government blocks any protocols. Three VPN protocols have become industry standards.

The Point to Point Transfer Protocol

The point to point transfer protocol (PPTP) is a very popular VPN protocol. This is largely because it is supported natively in common operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, DD-WRT, iOS and Android. PPTP is lightweight, very fast, and easy for an inexperienced user to setup. It only offers 128-bit encryption, but that may be sufficient if basic protection is all that is needed. If a user in France opens a VPN connection to an Asian VPN server, PPTP will ensure a fast connection requiring minimal CPU processing, but will have lower encryption than more robust protocols.

Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol and Internet Protocol Security

Internet protocol security (IPsec) and the layer 2 tunneling protocol (L2TP) are commonly used together as L2TP/IPsec. This combination has the benefit of proving stronger encryption and security than PPTP. L2TP/IPsec does require more custom configuration than PPTP but there are times that the extra security is important. For example, when connecting to a Chinese VPN server or any Asian VPN, one may want the security that 256-bit L2TP/IPsec provides. For example, L2TP/IPsec permits a user in France to visit Chinese websites securely via a Chinese VPN. Another key feature of L2TP/IPsec is its data integrity checking. It encapsulates the data twice to ensure it isn’t changed in transit.

The OpenVPN Protocol

OpenVPN is a very strong and efficient VPN protocol. Like L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN offers 256-bit encryption as well as a slightly faster 160-bit encryption. OpenVPN also provides much greater stability and speed than L2TP/IPsec. Its only drawback is that it isn’t supported on all platforms, including most mobile devices. If a user in France creates an OpenVPN connection with Chinese VPN server or any Asian VPN server, they can securely access the Internet as if they are in Asia. Like L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN also provides data integrity checking ensuring data isn’t intercepted or changed. OpenVPN uses more efficient digital certificates to accomplish this rather than encapsulating the data twice. This is one reason OpenVPN provides faster speeds.