It seems like the best features of these VPNs all require using their apps. That’s obviously not possible on a router. As far as I can tell, all three services support WireGuard. So which VPN is better for being used on a router via WireGuard? Has there been any testing or in-depth analysis on which VPN is more secure in this situation?
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They are all equally good for all intents and purposes. There are small differences in feature set but that’s only experienced via the app on each device. But if using Wireguard, they are equal in quality including privacy and security.
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Unlike ProtonVPN, IVPN and Mullvad also offer the option of multiple hops in manual configurations. There’s also the added bonus of filtered DNS IPs with dozens of different combinations in Mullvad. GitHub - mullvad/dns-blocklists: Lists and configuration for our DNS blocking service
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I don’t see any other option besides WireGuard. I’m wondering why there isn’t more innovation? Is it because of the WireGuard protocol?
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Thank you for pointing that out. What’s the reason for Proton not offering multihop in a WireGuard configuration?
very much is possible, if you’ve got the configs.
I did a similar thing with opnsense to this How To Setup pfsense OpenVPN Policy Routing With Kill Switch Using A Privacy VPN and it works great.
Been meaning to write a guide for PG about it, it worked with both OpenVPN and wireguard for me.
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Sorry for necroing this, but did you ever get around to making that guide? I’ve been thinking of setting something similar up and would love to read into my options.
I did not, however I did look at this again recently.
I still plan on doing it though and recently did do it again in a VM, (necessary for screenshots etc).
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Oh yes, I saw it when I looked closely at the screenshot. They didn’t mention it in the text and here. It’s great that this option is available!
Just going to add for people using Proton, the port forwarding feature is not officially supported on a router. You can get it to work though.
The Port forwarding feature is not officially tested and supported for routers, therefore, I will be unable to provide any specific steps for setting it up on your router, nor guarantee that it will work as intended.
This is a quote from Proton Support when I was first setting it up on my router using OpenWrt. This response was from February 2025.
Just bumping this thread and wanna say I’ve been using both Mullvad and Proton extensively this year. Mullvad is more of a recent thing. Both have been pretty good, but I’ll give streaming to Proton and browsing to Mullvad. For whatever reason, I get way more captchas with Google and Proton. It’s gotten to the point where I would say it’s annoying and unusable. Mullvad has been way better.
The fact that Mullvad has multihop with a router configuration as mentioned earlier should give it the edge over Proton for browsing. Proton has some work to do. That’s for sure.
No one here has addressed it, but had there been any detailed comparisons between these three VPNs in terms of performance?
I’m thinking of giving iVPN a try for a month just to see what it’s like. I have a feeling that for routers, it’s basically a fight between iVPN and Mullvad. What do you guys think?
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I can’t offer much other than a comparison between Nord from a year or so ago and Proton.
Proton has 2 kinds of connections - just “regular” which is (as I understand it) routed through other companies and then “secure core” which is apparently routed over Proton-owned equipment, again, as I understand it. All the secure core options are listed on the Linux desktop app for some reason use 2 country codes. So like NL-IS and then Iceland (IS) is your exit node. There are “NL-OPEN” options that bounce me to lower use nodes for exit. So seems like a double-bounce, but the Android apps don’t note the 2-country aspect.
Proton VPN with a secure core server with OpenWRT on a router is fine. Speed is fine, but my ISP also isn’t exactly lighting fast either. Streaming services haven’t bucked me nearly as frequently as on Nord, but randomly I’ll get errors like authentication failed and we’ve been off the VPN for who knows how long and I have to do manually reconnect. Could be my router, I’m not sure. YT is maybe 30-40% success rate when not signed in. YMMV. Captchas…. hard to say. Not uncommon, but not everywhere all the time by any means.
As for servers, you can either use a country-level server, or a specific server with a router. I’ve found more success and less “are you a bot?” when on a specific server for a while.
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To add more context and nuance to the VPN discussion:
What you all should know (because it never gets mentioned) is that all three (Proton, IVPN, and Mullvad) vary greatly depending on which country or corner of the world you live in. Not to mention some of the unique and different features all three offer in their clients on macOS and Windows.
Examples:
Proton works great for browsing, streaming, and torrenting but not in all countries in my experience. It worked best in North America for me but every time I try using it from the Gulf, it simply refuses to connect on iOS and macOS. Mullvad and IVPN work best in the Gulf for me.
Plus, Proton’s Stealth feature to avoid CAPTCHA works well but only Mullvad’s and IVPN’s obfuscation features work well in the Gulf. Proton does work on my GrapehenOS so I am guessing it is the closed sourced nature of iOS that makes it impossible for the VPN makers to make the best app for the device/OS. But Mullvad and IVPN work on iOS so I could be wrong or still not sure why Proton won’t work. Perhaps that depends on how strongly the country is blocking Proton connections? I still have no idea why.
And in South Asia, Proton and IVPN work better than Mullvad because I don’t know why Mullvad never gives me good speeds there. Proton’s extensive locations and servers are an added bonus too.
Mullvad while not supporting port forwarding still is working really well if not better than Proton right now for me where I am when it comes to torrenting. Or maybe I am just getting lucky with the country and connection I have.
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All of this is to say, these VPNs have varying feature sets and work differently somewhat in different parts of the world so there is no single good one to choose for your needs - I recommend trying them out for a month each before deciding for long term use/commitment. You never know what may work better. Everyone’s mileage may vary and that’s important to note when assessing what everyone says about their experience with the various VPNs (not to mention operating systems and set ups they may have on each device)
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I’m using ProtonVPN with a secure core config on my Opnwrt router via wireguard and while it works well, Ping is (obviously) high with 40-50ms and bandwidth is reduced to 80mbps from 250.
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Isn’t the secure core a multihop option?
It seems to be, yes. For the Linux desktop VPN app they suggest you search for Secure Core options by searching for the hyphen that’s between two 2-letter country codes. So I search for “-” and get “NL-IS” and “CH-DE” etc. I’m sure Proton has documentation on this somewhere more detailed and definitive than me guessing.