Exede satellite internet VPN performance review
NOTE: if you are looking for general (non-vpn) performance info about Exede, here is my Exede review. 🙂
Exede VPN Performance
If you are like me and sometimes need to use a VPN for work or privacy you may be interested in how VPN over Exede works. So here are a few results from testing a VPN connection over Exede.
Summary: It is not the ideal VPN solution, but it is reliable and can get the job done in a pinch.
Details:
DL speeds and ping times:
- 80-120KB/s actual download speeds
- 900-1400ms ping times (pinging yahoo)
- Speedtest results
- Speedtest.net results while connected to the VPN were not wholly indicative of real world performance IMHO, but here they are nonetheless for comparison purposes
Overall performance:
- browsing the web over VPN = Fair
- FTP over VPN = Fair
- SSH etc. over VPN = Good
- Remote desktop/VNC/Teamviewer/Logmein = Laggy
Despite the somewhat slow speeds and high latency, the connection was solid and did not drop/disconnect.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- This was using a PPTP VPN connection, I have been unable to get L2TP and IPSec connections to work
- Exede non-VPN performance is MUCH better than these results, the VPN over satellite connection degrades speed and performance significantly.
- VPN performance can be affected by the connection at the other end not just Exede
- These results were from the Exede NOC to Washington DC, I will try other VPN connections in the future and add additional results
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Maybe this isn’t a smart question, but you were using TCP on these tests right? I you’d used UDP wouldn’t it have worked better?
Hi Martin,
Yes, most of these use scenarios were TCP based. If you have an application that can utilize UDP then yes I would imagine it would do quite a bit better 🙂
Best regards,
-JD
Some VPNs, such as AirVPN, use UDP. For some applications it’s possible to encrypt prior to use, for instance if you were to have a sensitive file at work you could use openssl over SSH to encrypt it, then you would not need to use a VPN or any encryption during download.
Hi Martin, thanks for the tip!
I am definitely going to have to checkout AirVPN. 🙂
Best regards,
-JD
Hello – I’m located in upstate NY and work primarily from home, in a rural area. My current set up is a Verizon 3G Pantech UM150 with a Cradlepoint CTR350 router. Although I currently have unlimited data, I can’t take the slow speeds and throttling anymore – I’m looking to upgrade my service, even though I’ll have a data cap. I have 4G LTE in my area, but Exede offers better data limits for less $$. Problem is – I need to use VPN. My VPN is Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client using clientless SSL-tunnel DTLS-tunnel. Any idea how this would perform on Exede12?
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your comment and for your great question. I did some reading about AnyConnect (see links at bottom of comment) and I am afraid it would not be a good match with Exede.
I am not 100% sure it would work with a SSL-tunnel DTLS-tunnel, even if it did work would likely be too slow for anything except light web pages or reports. I say this because VPN over even low-latency connections can seem slow, and over an inherently high-latency (500ms+) satellite connection it would likely be too much of a hindrance for you. If there is any way for me to test it from here I would be happy to, but I understand if your IT person does not want to setup a test account etc!
Depending on your usage scenario, you might want to investigate a combination of 4G LTE for work/VPN and Exede Evolution for personal and limited work use (unlimited web/email/photos, w/5GB data cap for file downloads) with unlimited data downloads from 3AM to 8AM (if you are an early riser like me you can get a lot of work done from 6AM to 8AM with that unlimited data). Unfortunately I know it is expensive to pay for TWO data services 🙁
So, sorry to not have better news Wendy but hopefully this will at least give you a bit more information! 🙂
Best regards,
-JD
AnyConnect links:
https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2023948
http://nmav.gnutls.org/2013/11/inside-ssl-vpn-protocol.html
http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?t=40513
Thank you for your reviews on Exede and other thoughts.
Alas, PPTP is being phased out of many corporate environments because of its security issues. IPSec is truly secure, and many, like myself, will not be given the PPTP option. And I work from home. I really don’t want to have to drive into work. 🙁 — I know #FirstWorldProblems
We are, at the moment, on cable. But we are moving in the next 6 months or so…
What we suspect we’ll do is install Exede (thanks for the positive reviews) and *also* install WISP (it appears to be available) or DSL (also appears to be available).
What we are thinking is that we’ll use Exede for general usage and that WISP or DSL for work.
That scenario is probably a bit pricey, but it may be cheaper than driving into work everyday. We’ll see.
Again, thanks for your succinct thoughts and sharing your experiences. Truly great writeups. Kudos.
Hi Todd,
Thank you kindly for your comment and the info 🙂 I am very glad that I could help, have a great week! So sorry for such a delayed reply. Hope everything is going well 👍
Best regards,
-J.D.
Does the VPN (PPTP) method still work for you today? I have been using a VPN connection for a couple of months without issues but something seems to have changed on the Exede network as of 2/15/2015 and the connection is not working now. However, if I take my computer to another location/provider I have no problems establishing the VPN connection.
Hey EC, this is a known issue that cropped up with Exede at various points. PPTP specifically has been increasingly blocked or broken on satellite networks since many providers stopped supporting it. If you can switch to an OpenVPN or IKEv2 based VPN that’s usually more reliable over satellite. I can’t say exactly what Exede changed in February 2015 but PPTP being singled out sounds like a protocol-level block.
Hey JD, I’m considering getting Exede internet at my home. I use a VPN for work (at Chrysler or Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) when I’m at home. Do you know if my VPN is compatible with Exede internet?
Hey KitCat, it depends on what VPN protocol your employer uses. PPTP over Exede was unreliable and increasingly blocked at the time. SSL/TLS-based VPNs (like Cisco AnyConnect) generally fared better. The latency will still be high since satellite adds 600+ ms, which can cause VPN timeouts on some corporate setups. I’d contact your IT department and ask if they can test a connection before you commit to Exede.