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This is very welcome news! I had a seamless time using wireguard (via a streisand installation) on my honeymoon in Italy on my phone and more importantly, my wi

This is very welcome news! I had a seamless time using wireguard (via a streisand installation) on my honeymoon in Italy on my phone and more importantly, my wife's phone. It worked seamlessly. Next up I'd like to see this be an easy config option in Unifi's network managment tools

chadlavi 7y ago
After switching to wireguard I've been really blown away at how much better the experience is on a phone than other VPN methods. It's always on on my phone as long as I'm not using my home wifi, and I just never need to think about it.
- ndarilek 7y ago
  Do you have an automated way for turning it off when you're on home wifi? Trying a similar setup, and it isn't immediately clear other than via manual activation how to not use Wireguard in that situation. Thanks.
  - kylek 7y ago
    The built-in "on-demand activation" is quite good. Can set it to specific SSIDs (white or blacklist) or cellular. I've it on for everything except my home SSID. Edit: I'm talking about the iOS version, not sure what platform you're using.
    - 416chad 7y ago
      No such luck on Android, you need to use tasker or similar. Really a nuisance but not a deal breaker. It would be dreamy to set up the client to not use specific SSIDs.
      - forbiddenlake 7y ago
        I want to point out that the intents on the official Wireguard Android app are not exposed, so I, not being rooted, can't use Tasker to automate it. However, there are other Android apps that implement Wireguard that do expose their intents. I use Viscerion with Tasker quite happily.
    - chadlavi 7y ago
      Yep, this is what I do. It just doesn't connect when I'm connected to my home WiFi
    - blueberry_47 7y ago
      What iOS client are you using? I am using the Wireguard one (the the twisty snake/dragon) and don't see any of these options. Is this stuff that is done in the config files? Sorry, all new to me.
      - chadlavi 7y ago
        It's in there! Scroll down to the "On-demand activation" section of the settings for your connection
        blueberry_47 7y ago
        There it is! Thank you!
  - apexalpha 7y ago
    On Android this can be easily achieved by Tasker. Personally I have the luxury of running the VPN server at home, so I can just always leave it on.
    - xur17 7y ago
      Why does this allow you to allows leave it on?
      - iudqnolq 7y ago
        Presumably minimal latency from phone on home wifi to server on home wifi. I actually have no idea if this is true, or how I'd evaluate it. Does anyone understand how the internet and wireguard works well enough to know if this is true?
        xur17 7y ago
        That's what I was wondering. I've actually done this using OpenVPN (connected to my home VPN server while on home wifi), and it worked fine. Biggest issue was battery impact, but wireguard might be better in that regard?
      - apexalpha 7y ago
        Well since I connect to my home network anyway I can just leave it on at home and there's no difference in performance.
  - kryogen1c 7y ago
    I havent used it so i cant vouch for it personally, but IFTTT has been recommended to me highly.
- loeg 7y ago
  On iOS it's still a userspace client, as I understand it, and the additional battery drain was very noticeable for me.
  - chadlavi 7y ago
    I noticed a HUGE battery drain with other VPN clients like PIA's app or just OpenTunnel, but either my 3 year old iPhone X has a great battery, or the battery drain from WireGuard has been unnoticeable for me.
    - loeg 7y ago
      1 year old iphone 8 here and Wireguard was noticeable (vs no VPN). I did not try other VPNs.
      - lucb1e 7y ago
        I use an iPhone SE for work with a WireGuard VPN, no noticeable drain (beyond that battery life is generally pretty bad compared to my Android, even when WiFi/data/bluetooth/gps are turned off).
Diederich 7y ago
> I had a seamless time using wireguard (via a streisand installation) ... I've been using Wireguard via https://github.com/trailofbits/algo https://github.com/trailofbits/algo for a while now. Of all of the VPN experiences over the last couple of decades, Wireguard has been light-years ahead of the rest. First: it's fast. If the server is up and you don't have packet loss, you can't tell when it is turned on. For fun, I wrote some trivial automation to automatically and randomly switch between a few wireguard back ends, and I generally can't detect it. Second: it's easy. For me, an experienced technical user. I don't know enough about the ecosystem to recommend it to less technical people, though given how basically sound it is, I'll be surprised if there aren't really easy and robust front-ends coming up.
- jedberg 7y ago
  > Second: it's easy. To give you some perspective, it's so easy that my four year old knows how to turn it on when we're traveling and she wants to watch PBS Kids.
  - iudqnolq 7y ago
    At the terminal with wg-quick, in NetworkManager, on a phone? Just wondering how impressive your kid is.
    - tptacek 7y ago
      On my Macbook there's a drop-down menu hanging off a menu bar icon. I feel like I could definitely show a little kid how to get themselves on the VPN.
      - iudqnolq 7y ago
        I didn't know that. Ubuntu user.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
    - 7y ago
Jnr 7y ago
I don't remember exactly when I started using it but it feels like forever and I have forgotten about all the VPN nightmares that I had before. I can't wait for Wireguard support in all kinds of routers and other appliances.
stjohnswarts 7y ago
It works great on mullvad for me, never any issues. I just installed the PPA for Ubuntu 18.04 and everything else was easy peasy. Some people say it's faster for them but I don't see that on my Gigabit connection, just a bit less CPU compared to openvpn, but neither really uses all that much, it's a fraction of a single processor on my 6 core machine.

chadlavi 7y ago

After switching to wireguard I've been really blown away at how much better the experience is on a phone than other VPN methods. It's always on on my phone as long as I'm not using my home wifi, and I just never need to think about it.

ndarilek 7y ago
Do you have an automated way for turning it off when you're on home wifi? Trying a similar setup, and it isn't immediately clear other than via manual activation how to not use Wireguard in that situation. Thanks.
- kylek 7y ago
  The built-in "on-demand activation" is quite good. Can set it to specific SSIDs (white or blacklist) or cellular. I've it on for everything except my home SSID. Edit: I'm talking about the iOS version, not sure what platform you're using.
  - 416chad 7y ago
    No such luck on Android, you need to use tasker or similar. Really a nuisance but not a deal breaker. It would be dreamy to set up the client to not use specific SSIDs.
    - forbiddenlake 7y ago
      I want to point out that the intents on the official Wireguard Android app are not exposed, so I, not being rooted, can't use Tasker to automate it. However, there are other Android apps that implement Wireguard that do expose their intents. I use Viscerion with Tasker quite happily.
  - chadlavi 7y ago
    Yep, this is what I do. It just doesn't connect when I'm connected to my home WiFi
  - blueberry_47 7y ago
    What iOS client are you using? I am using the Wireguard one (the the twisty snake/dragon) and don't see any of these options. Is this stuff that is done in the config files? Sorry, all new to me.
    - chadlavi 7y ago
      It's in there! Scroll down to the "On-demand activation" section of the settings for your connection
      - blueberry_47 7y ago
        There it is! Thank you!
- apexalpha 7y ago
  On Android this can be easily achieved by Tasker. Personally I have the luxury of running the VPN server at home, so I can just always leave it on.
  - xur17 7y ago
    Why does this allow you to allows leave it on?
    - iudqnolq 7y ago
      Presumably minimal latency from phone on home wifi to server on home wifi. I actually have no idea if this is true, or how I'd evaluate it. Does anyone understand how the internet and wireguard works well enough to know if this is true?
      - xur17 7y ago
        That's what I was wondering. I've actually done this using OpenVPN (connected to my home VPN server while on home wifi), and it worked fine. Biggest issue was battery impact, but wireguard might be better in that regard?
    - apexalpha 7y ago
      Well since I connect to my home network anyway I can just leave it on at home and there's no difference in performance.
- kryogen1c 7y ago
  I havent used it so i cant vouch for it personally, but IFTTT has been recommended to me highly.
loeg 7y ago
On iOS it's still a userspace client, as I understand it, and the additional battery drain was very noticeable for me.
- chadlavi 7y ago
  I noticed a HUGE battery drain with other VPN clients like PIA's app or just OpenTunnel, but either my 3 year old iPhone X has a great battery, or the battery drain from WireGuard has been unnoticeable for me.
  - loeg 7y ago
    1 year old iphone 8 here and Wireguard was noticeable (vs no VPN). I did not try other VPNs.
    - lucb1e 7y ago
      I use an iPhone SE for work with a WireGuard VPN, no noticeable drain (beyond that battery life is generally pretty bad compared to my Android, even when WiFi/data/bluetooth/gps are turned off).

Diederich 7y ago

> I had a seamless time using wireguard (via a streisand installation) ... I've been using Wireguard via https://github.com/trailofbits/algo https://github.com/trailofbits/algo for a while now. Of all of the VPN experiences over the last couple of decades, Wireguard has been light-years ahead of the rest. First: it's fast. If the server is up and you don't have packet loss, you can't tell when it is turned on. For fun, I wrote some trivial automation to automatically and randomly switch between a few wireguard back ends, and I generally can't detect it. Second: it's easy. For me, an experienced technical user. I don't know enough about the ecosystem to recommend it to less technical people, though given how basically sound it is, I'll be surprised if there aren't really easy and robust front-ends coming up.

jedberg 7y ago
> Second: it's easy. To give you some perspective, it's so easy that my four year old knows how to turn it on when we're traveling and she wants to watch PBS Kids.
- iudqnolq 7y ago
  At the terminal with wg-quick, in NetworkManager, on a phone? Just wondering how impressive your kid is.
  - tptacek 7y ago
    On my Macbook there's a drop-down menu hanging off a menu bar icon. I feel like I could definitely show a little kid how to get themselves on the VPN.
    - iudqnolq 7y ago
      I didn't know that. Ubuntu user.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - 7y ago

Jnr 7y ago

I don't remember exactly when I started using it but it feels like forever and I have forgotten about all the VPN nightmares that I had before. I can't wait for Wireguard support in all kinds of routers and other appliances.

stjohnswarts 7y ago

It works great on mullvad for me, never any issues. I just installed the PPA for Ubuntu 18.04 and everything else was easy peasy. Some people say it's faster for them but I don't see that on my Gigabit connection, just a bit less CPU compared to openvpn, but neither really uses all that much, it's a fraction of a single processor on my 6 core machine.