I first want to say that I searched for answers before posting here but nothing I found helped and most of it wasn’t relevant to my configuration.
I recently signed up for ExpressVPN service because privacy and, well, why not? Instead of installing their software on my computer, I opted to use the OpenVPN configuration with my router, a Ubiquiti Edgerouter X.
The VPN works, hides my location, and does what it’s supposed to do, but my download speed tops out at ~20mb/s. Websites load noticeably slower and videos now buffer. To compare, when I deactivate it, my speed reaches ~100mb/s. Even my wife asked me, “did you do something weird with the internet?”
Is it normal to see such a significant drop in speed when using a VPN? I feel like if this happened to more people, there would be more posts complaining about it.
It might be worth mentioning that I am running Pi Hole from a VM on my network but there doesn’t appear to be any difference with it on or off.
Try the VPN on a reasonably powered computer, then see.
Quite possible your router CPU is pegged:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/l3vgq1/edgerouter\_x\_openvpn\_client\_speed/
Has this issue myself…the “app” that you install on your PC/phone/etc has the “smart location” feature which dynamically selects the best server location for speed & connectivity.
When you go the OpenVPN route you lose that functionality, so it may simply be a case of being connected to a server that isn’t the most appropriate for your use case.
What the other person responded with may also be the case, as that’s totally reasonable as well.
I’m having the same problem. Usual speed without VPN on is 250 . Getting 30mb give or take. Speed for router was 30mb on 5g connection w factory firmware. Downloaded the most current firmware directly from manufacturer. Speeds were great. Then downloaded express VPN firmware which was older than current downloaded and speeds dropped back to 30mbps.