New Update ExpressVPN with its Lightway Turbo and Surfshark with 100Gbps servers

HarborFront

Level 73
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Forum Veteran
Oct 9, 2016
6,214
23,182
7,179
Far East

Fast just got faster – introducing ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo​

ExpressVPN's innovation is a big reason we consider it one of the best VPNs and this has continued with the introduction of Lightway Turbo.

Lightway Turbo is a new feature added to the existing Lightway protocol that significantly improves bandwidth and speeds, without sacrificing performance.

Alongside this, ExpressVPN is enhancing veteran protocol OpenVPN, with the aim of boosting speeds and efficiency.

9iBgmSzhHMWftsinZL8wFY-1280-80.jpg.webp


Supercharged speeds​

ExpressVPN never seems to be satisfied with its Lightway protocol and for users, this is a good thing. ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol already makes it one of the fastest VPNs we've tested and Lightway Turbo takes things to the next level.

The new feature leverages multiple pathways to increase bandwidth, delivering greater speeds and performance for users.

Multiple tunnels to VPN servers are simultaneously established, enabling the creation of multiple Lightway connections to multiple servers. This increases available bandwidth and improves data transmission speeds.

Due to network traffic being distributed across these concurrent tunnels, users will experience a more robust, responsive, and accelerated VPN connection. ExpressVPN's internal testing saw improved speeds of up to 330%.

"With Lightway Turbo, we've engineered a solution that increases bandwidth without compromising on latency to deliver what our users have been asking for – lightning fast speeds that maintain real-time performance," said Pete Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN.

"While rewriting our protocol in Rust across multiple platforms, we've simultaneously developed Lightway Turbo to provide immediate and significant speed improvements, enhancing our users' everyday VPN experience."

Lightway was recently remade in Rust, allowing for improved performance, as well as greater security. ExpressVPN has also implemented post-quantum encryption across all platforms. Alongside super fast speeds, your data will be protected by industry-leading post-quantum encryption standards.

Read more below


Surfshark is upgrading its network with super-fast 100 Gbps servers​


Surfshark has announced that it is introducing 100 Gbps servers to its network. This represents a tenfold increase on the existing 10 Gbps servers currently used by the VPN (virtual private network) provider.

The rollout is currently in a testing phase and is running on a handful of servers, with Amsterdam in the Netherlands being the first location to benefit from the new high-speed hardware, according to the company. As the new technology is embedded in the network, Surfshark should see greater bandwidth capacity and the potential for higher maximum connection speeds.

Read more below

 

Fast just got faster – introducing ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo​

ExpressVPN's innovation is a big reason we consider it one of the best VPNs and this has continued with the introduction of Lightway Turbo.

Lightway Turbo is a new feature added to the existing Lightway protocol that significantly improves bandwidth and speeds, without sacrificing performance.

Alongside this, ExpressVPN is enhancing veteran protocol OpenVPN, with the aim of boosting speeds and efficiency.

9iBgmSzhHMWftsinZL8wFY-1280-80.jpg.webp


Supercharged speeds​

ExpressVPN never seems to be satisfied with its Lightway protocol and for users, this is a good thing. ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol already makes it one of the fastest VPNs we've tested and Lightway Turbo takes things to the next level.

The new feature leverages multiple pathways to increase bandwidth, delivering greater speeds and performance for users.

Multiple tunnels to VPN servers are simultaneously established, enabling the creation of multiple Lightway connections to multiple servers. This increases available bandwidth and improves data transmission speeds.

Due to network traffic being distributed across these concurrent tunnels, users will experience a more robust, responsive, and accelerated VPN connection. ExpressVPN's internal testing saw improved speeds of up to 330%.

"With Lightway Turbo, we've engineered a solution that increases bandwidth without compromising on latency to deliver what our users have been asking for – lightning fast speeds that maintain real-time performance," said Pete Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN.

"While rewriting our protocol in Rust across multiple platforms, we've simultaneously developed Lightway Turbo to provide immediate and significant speed improvements, enhancing our users' everyday VPN experience."

Lightway was recently remade in Rust, allowing for improved performance, as well as greater security. ExpressVPN has also implemented post-quantum encryption across all platforms. Alongside super fast speeds, your data will be protected by industry-leading post-quantum encryption standards.

Read more below


Surfshark is upgrading its network with super-fast 100 Gbps servers​


Surfshark has announced that it is introducing 100 Gbps servers to its network. This represents a tenfold increase on the existing 10 Gbps servers currently used by the VPN (virtual private network) provider.

The rollout is currently in a testing phase and is running on a handful of servers, with Amsterdam in the Netherlands being the first location to benefit from the new high-speed hardware, according to the company. As the new technology is embedded in the network, Surfshark should see greater bandwidth capacity and the potential for higher maximum connection speeds.

Read more below

Interesting upgrades from both ExpressVPN and Surfshark

Thanks for sharing – this is actually a nice example of two different approaches to the same end goal: more speed and capacity.

ExpressVPN – Lightway Turbo
From what’s described:

  • Lightway Turbo is essentially adding multipath / multi-tunnel capabilities on top of Lightway.
  • Multiple Lightway connections to multiple servers are used in parallel, and traffic is distributed across them.
  • They’re claiming up to 330% speed improvements in internal tests.
  • They’ve also:
    • Rewritten Lightway in Rust (better memory safety, often better reliability).
    • Rolled out post-quantum encryption across platforms.

A few practical notes:

  • The multipath idea can help with:
    • Throughput (more aggregate bandwidth).
    • Resilience (if one path is congested or flaky).
  • Real-world gains will still depend on:
    • Your ISP speed and routing.
    • Distance to the servers.
    • How well client and server load balancing is implemented.
  • “Up to 330%” is vendor testing, so independent benchmarks (incl. by Tom’s Guide and others) will be more telling.

Conceptually, it’s a protocol-level innovation – they’re trying to squeeze more out of the network logic itself, not just upgrade hardware.

Surfshark – 100 Gbps servers
Surfshark’s move is more about raw infrastructure:

  • Upgrading part of their network from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps ports.
  • Currently limited/tested in a few locations (e.g. Amsterdam).
  • Goal: more bandwidth per server, better capacity under heavy load.

Important nuance:

  • A 100 Gbps server doesn’t mean a single user can hit anywhere near 100 Gbps.
  • It does mean:
    • Less congestion when many users share the same server.
    • More headroom for peak hours and heavy use.
  • Actual user speed will still be limited by:
    • Your line speed.
    • Latency / distance to server.
    • Server load balancing and peering quality.

So Surfshark is mostly scaling capacity, while ExpressVPN is trying to boost efficiency and throughput per connection via protocol improvements.

What this means for users

  • If both work as advertised, we should see:
    • ExpressVPN: higher single-connection speeds and responsiveness, especially on Lightway Turbo.
    • Surfshark: more consistent speeds at busy locations/times as more 100 Gbps nodes roll out.
  • Claims need to be validated by independent testing – so it’ll be worth watching:
    • Upcoming speed benchmarks from review sites.
    • User reports here on MalwareTips once people start testing these features.

If you’re using either service:

  • Have you noticed Lightway Turbo yet in ExpressVPN’s client (and any visible speed difference)?
  • Or any change on Surfshark endpoints like Amsterdam, especially at peak times?

Real-world feedback from members will probably be more valuable than marketing numbers in the short term.
 
Surfshark connecting to Netherlands is fast alright

But I can't go to YouTube. It says ask me to Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. This helps protect our community. Learn more

Maybe Amsterdam is a European country...............

OK will switch to ExpressVPN

:rolleyes:

Download a 1.97GB movie is super fast with ExpressVPN using Dual Tunnel. Maybe Malaysia server is nearer to me and can watch YouTube without the need to Sign In...............not a European country

1765713290738.png


:D
 
Last edited:
I find that in the UK that regardless of which server in the UK I use Mullvad servers in London is actually faster than ExpressVPN (in turbo mode) in any UK server, not by a huge margin but it is there - In addition which for me is more important I can still use split tunneling with Mullvad at all times whereas with ExpressVPN split tunneling has to be disabled to use Turbo or as least it was that case a couple of weeks ago? I also like Express though but at the moment here Mullvad has the edge for me & seems to have a more reliable history, but that's just MHO.
 
I have both too. Surfshark looks cheap and somehow feels more shady than ExpressVPN, IMO. I know who owns ExpressVPN btw, but still Express is the best for my use case. Mullvad and IVPN are good for privacy, but their speeds are inconsistent, no streaming support, limited locations.

Using their new Qt-based Windows app (open beta) for a couple of hours, and even this is better than the stable version for me. Download speed has increased somehow on the wg protocol, and I don't want to see the old GUI anymore. It's been like what, 14 years? Finally, some major GUI changes and it looks fire, IMO.

Untitled.png

Untitled.png

Untitled.png
 

You may also like...