Astrill Setup Manual:VPN Protocols supported by Astrill
OpenWeb
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
OpenWeb is simple and fast protocol, suitable for web surfing and streaming videos websites (such as YouTube, Vimeo, Vevo, and many others). Works with all major browsers (such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari), and works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems. This protocol usually offers faster surfing speeds than other protocols, and has much more features. OpenWeb encrypts your data both ways using proprietary encryption algorithms such as BlowFish and AES. If you are familiar with proxies, OpenWeb protocol works in similar way. The advantage of OpenWeb protocol is that there is no connection or disconnection from and to VPN servers, you simply switch to any server instantly and surf immediately, it's that fast. Another great advantage of OpenWeb protocol is that, it has lots of useful features, such us browser selection, site filter, ads blocker, and media recorder.
OpenVPN
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, Routers (DD-WRT, Tomato, TomatoUSB, ASUS Merlin, RMerl/asuswrt-merlin)
OpenVPN protocol is most secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling all applications on your computer, and also works with P2P applications (BitTorrent, such as uTorrent, BitComet and many others clients). OpenVPN protocol works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Routers with DD-WRT and Tomato firmware, and can also work on iPhone/iPad and Android devices ( but requires jail-breaking your iOS and Android devices Now it's possible to load OVPN file onto OpenVPN iOS app). OpenVPN protocol uses industry standard SSL encryption (AES and BlowFish). The main advantage of OpenVPN protocol is that it has advanced split routing/split tunnelling features and can tunnel all applications on your computer. Also it has lots of other useful features, such as site filter, application filter, port forwarding, web cache, easy router setup wizard, and VPN Sharing.
PPTP
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, Routers (DD-WRT, Tomato, TomatoUSB, ASUS Merlin, RMerl/asuswrt-merlin)
PPTP protocol is basic and fast, suitable for tunnelling internet traffic on your mobile devices (such as Apple iPhone/iPad, and many Android mobile devices). In general PPTP is a very basic VPN protocol based on PPP. PPTP was the first VPN protocol supported on the Microsoft Windows platform. The PPP payload is encrypted using Microsoft's Point-to-Point Encryption protocol (MPPE). MPPE implements the RSA RC4 encryption algorithm with a maximum of 128 bit session keys. PPTP protocol works on iPhone/iPad, Android devices, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Routers with DD-WRT and Tomato firmware. The only advantage of PPTP is that is can be used on any device or system that supports PPTP VPN protocol. The big disadvantage is, since PPTP is first basic VPN protocol which uses TCP port 1723 and GRE (Protocol 47), which can be easily blocked by simply restricting the GRE protocol.
L2TP
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android
L2TP protocol is very secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling internet traffic on your mobile devices (such as iPhone/iPad, and many Android mobile devices). Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP), is combination of two older tunnelling protocols PPP and PPTP. L2TP protocol works on iPhone/iPad, Android devices, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Routers and other devices which support L2TP protocol. L2TP payload is encrypted using the standardized IPSec protocol, either the 3DES or AES encryption algorithm for confidentiality. L2TP/IPSEC encapsulates data twice making it more secure, but at the same time less efficient and slightly slower than other protocols. The advantage of L2TP protocol is the security and also L2TP protocol is widely supported in many devices, therefore there is no installation required - you simply configure and connect.
Cisco IPSec
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS
Cisco IPSec protocol is very secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling internet traffic on your mobile devices (such as iPhone/iPad, and other mobile devices). Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is a protocol suite for securing Internet Protocol (IP) communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet of a communication session. IPSec also includes protocols for establishing mutual authentication between agents at the beginning of the session and negotiation of cryptographic keys to be used during the session. It can be said that IPSec is as secure as OpenVPN . IPSec protocol works on iPhone/iPad devices, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Routers and other devices which support IPSec protocol. The advantage of IPSec protocol is the security and also IPSec is widely supported in many devices, therefore there is no installation required - you simply configure and connect.
SSTP
Supported Platforms: Windows
SSTP protocol is most secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling all applications on your computer, and also works with P2P applications (BitTorrent, such as uTorrent, BitComet and many others clients). Secure Socket Tunnelling Protocol (SSTP) is a form of VPN tunnel that provides a mechanism to transport PPP or L2TP traffic through an SSL 3.0 channel. SSTP protocol was developed by Microsoft, and is equivalent to OpenVPN. SSTP was first introduced by Microsoft since Windows Vista SP1, soon followed Linux and Mac OS X implementations for SSTP. The main advantage of SSTP protocol is that it is secure as OpenVPN protocol, and also adopts all features of OpenVPN protocol. On top of that, SSTP is firewall friendly and works behind restrictive firewalls at schools, cafes, hotels, airports. Astrill has implemented SSTP protocol for Linux. We will soon provide Linux/Macintosh as well as Android clients for SSTP.
StealthVPN
Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
StealthVPN protocol is most secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling all applications on your computer, and also works with P2P applications (BitTorrent, such as uTorrent, BitComet and many others clients). StealthVPN protocol works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. StealthVPN is an additional layer of encryption on top of OpenVPN, thus it is more secure and also it is harder to block. StealthVPN is our customized version of OpenVPN protocol. Which works undetected as a protocol, and is our solution for China (and other countries which block standard OpenVPN protocol). The main advantage of StealthVPN protocol is that it still works even if standard VPN protocols get blocked. Giving you extra stealth and security. Also you still get to enjoy all extra features and functionality as you did with OpenVPN protocol, such as site filter, application filter, port forwarding, web cache, and VPN Sharing.
RouterPro VPN
Supported Platforms: Routers (DD-WRT, Tomato, TomatoUSB, ASUS Merlin, RMerl/asuswrt-merlin)
RouterPro VPN protocol is most secure and fast, suitable for tunnelling all applications on your computer and mobile devices, and also works with P2P applications (BitTorrent, such as uTorrent, BitComet and many others clients). RouterPro VPN protocol works on Routers with DD-WRT, Tomato, TomatoUSB, ASUS Merlin, and RMerl/asuswrt-merlin firmware. StealthVPN is an additional layer of encryption on top of OpenVPN, thus it is more secure and also it is harder to block. RouterPro VPN is our customized version of OpenVPN protocol. Which works undetected as a protocol, and is our solution for China (and other countries which block standard OpenVPN protocol). The main advantage of RouterPro VPN protocol is that it still works even if standard VPN protocols get blocked. Giving you extra stealth and security. Additionally our OpenVPN binary is optimized, therefore gives you better speed throughput than original OpenVPN binary on routers.