Advice Request UDP or TCP on a VPN

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amirr

Level 27
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Jan 26, 2020
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Hi, I read this article:
and

Most major VPNs like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, select UDP by default.
Support agent told me:
"All VPN providers highly recommend UDP as it’s more reliable and faster than TCP.
TCP is only needed when UDP is completely blocked like in some airports, hotels, or in some countries. "

the second link above says:
". On unreliable networks, however, you may have a better experience switching to TCP."
The first link above says:
"A real-life comparison to this method would be to pick up the phone and call a friend. You have a conversation and when it is over, you both hang up, releasing the connection."

Then, I have this question:
In which situations its best to switch to TCP?
e.g. Downloading a torrent via a torrent application? Or otherwise, the video downloaded by torrent wouldn't download fully?
 

sepik

Level 11
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Aug 21, 2018
505
Hello,
I think UDP causes less "overheat" compared to TCP. UDP is good for for example dns resolvin, network games, streaming videos etc. TCP is good if you more "reliable" connection, because TCP contains handshakes, packet acknowledgements etc.

Kind regards,
-sepik
 

amirr

Level 27
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Jan 26, 2020
1,628
Hello,
I think UDP causes less "overheat" compared to TCP. UDP is good for for example dns resolvin, network games, streaming videos etc. TCP is good if you more "reliable" connection, because TCP contains handshakes, packet acknowledgements etc.

Kind regards,
-sepik
After doing a lot of tests and research, I decided to stick with OpenVPN-UDP, instead of TCP.

I must not be obsessed and worried that I would have packet loss or corrupted video download or file download, etc., if I use UDP.
Wireguard is UDP for now, and if it could make a file or movie download corrupted, the developers would not release it to public
 
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ForgottenSeer 77194

I believe it's impossible to have a corrupted video or file download, when udp or tcp is used in vpns, because they carry tcp packet which carries the packets of the file or video you download. As long as the connection without a vpn uses tcp you are guaranteed to have a reliable transfer of data whether the vpn uses tcp or udp.
 
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amirr

Level 27
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Jan 26, 2020
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I believe it's impossible to have a corrupted video or file download, when udp or tcp is used in vpns, because they carry tcp packet which carries the packets of the file or video you download. As long as the connection without a vpn uses tcp you are guaranteed to have a reliable transfer of data whether the vpn uses tcp or udp.
How do I know if the connection without a vpn uses tcp?
 
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ForgottenSeer 77194

I assume by the application protocol used. For example, http always uses tcp, dns udp and tcp, etc.
 
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ForgottenSeer 77194

It depends on the program used, you can check your firewall for active connections whether the software uses tcp or udp, if it uses both you cannot tell but anyway, a software developer should have used the correct protocol if the transfer of data need's reliability or not. If he didn't, you shouldn't even use the software anyway.
 
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amirr

Level 27
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jan 26, 2020
1,628
I believe it's impossible to have a corrupted video or file download, when udp or tcp is used in vpns, because they carry tcp packet which carries the packets of the file or video you download. As long as the connection without a vpn uses tcp you are guaranteed to have a reliable transfer of data whether the vpn uses tcp or udp.
So why this video says something different:
 
F

ForgottenSeer 77194

So why this video says something different:

I made a mistake when i typed corrupted video, I meant any file or download you want to save on the computer, where you want the whole and correct file without corruption.
In this video it explains that a loss of frames or data is acceptable for the audience (they won't notice much a difference), and the speed and performance of delivery of data is more important than the reliability of the delivery. As he said this happens often in real time communication or watching videos and playing video games.
Tcp is used for forums, forms, online transaction, messaging etc when you want the receiver to get exactly the data that you have sent them.
 
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