Question 1

How do VPN protocols differ?

Accepted Answer

They differ in **how they establish encryption, how much code they contain, how fast they are, and how well they cope with changing networks** — and the differences are large enough that protocol choice affects real-world experience more than provider marketing suggests.

**The protocols in current use:**

**WireGuard.** Modern, and deliberately **very small** — a few thousand lines of code against hundreds of thousands for older protocols. That matters because a smaller codebase is easier to audit and has less surface for vulnerabilities. It uses a fixed set of modern cryptographic primitives with no negotiation, which removes an entire class of downgrade attacks. **Fast, with quick connection establishment**, and the practical default for most users.

**Its known trade-off:** it assigns static internal IP addresses and keeps some connection state, which has privacy implications providers address with their own layers on top.

**OpenVPN.** Long-established, extensively audited, highly configurable, and available over TCP or UDP. **Its TCP mode can traverse restrictive networks** by resembling ordinary traffic, which is why it persists. Slower, with a large codebase.

**IKEv2/IPsec.** Fast, and notably good at **handling network changes** — it reconnects seamlessly when moving between Wi-Fi and mobile, which is why it is common on phones.

**L2TP/IPsec and PPTP.** Older. **PPTP is broken and should not be used**, and its presence in a provider's list is a warning sign.

**Proprietary protocols**, several of which are built on WireGuard with modifications, usually to address the trade-off above or to resist blocking.

**What actually matters when choosing:**

**Speed**, where WireGuard generally leads.

**Reliability on mobile**, where IKEv2 and WireGuard handle roaming well.

**Getting through restrictive networks**, where obfuscated or TCP-based options are needed.

**Battery life**, where efficient protocols matter on phones.

**The protocol is not the main question, though.** What a VPN protects depends far more on the **provider's logging, jurisdiction and audit history** than on which protocol carries the traffic.

Question 2

What is the difference between a proxy and a VPN?

Accepted Answer

A proxy intercepts traffic for a specific application; a VPN captures traffic from the whole device and encrypts it. The practical difference is scope and encryption, and confusing the two leads

Question 3

How is internet filtering and censorship actually implemented?

Accepted Answer

Through several techniques operating at different layers, each with different costs, different accuracy and different ease of circumvention — and most real systems combine them. The techniques, in

Question 4

What is the difference between TCP and UDP?

Accepted Answer

TCP guarantees delivery; UDP does not — and that single trade-off determines which one every internet application uses. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). A connection-oriented, reliable protocol:

Question 5

What actually happens during a TLS handshake?

Accepted Answer

The client and server agree on how to encrypt, prove who the server is, and establish a shared key — all before any application data is sent. It happens in milliseconds and is the reason a padlock

Question 6

Who actually runs the internet?

Accepted Answer

Nobody, and several bodies with narrow remits — which is the accurate answer rather than an evasive one. There is no central authority; there are institutions that coordinate specific scarce

Question 7

What are peering and transit?

Accepted Answer

The two ways networks connect to each other — and the distinction is essentially who pays whom. The internet is a network of networks. No single organisation runs it. Around a hundred thousand

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