WireGuard VPN gets native port to the Windows kernel

WireGuard, a high performance and easily configured VPN protocol, is getting a native port from Linux to the Windows kernel, and the code has been published as experimental work in progress. A WireGuard implementation for Windows already exists and can be found here, based on what Jason A Donenfeld, the creator of WireGuard, …

[John Sager]

Ace VPN!

I've been using it for some years now on Android and Linux in a road-warrior setup, and after messing about with IPSec on Linux and Cisco, WireGuard is a lot easier to set up. Reading the mailing list it's getting lots of use by others for secure virtual networks over the top of the Internet.

[HildyJ]

Good for Microsoft

Good for Microsoft for trying to play nice with Linux and OSS, for essentially admitting that other solutions are better than theirs, and for improving their product without buying out the competitor.

[David 132]

Re: Good for Microsoft

I may have misunderstood, but I don't believe Microsoft have any involvement in this, any more than they do in any other hardware drivers. This is just the WireGuard creator rewriting the tool to run as a kernel-level driver rather than as a userspace module.

So your warm fuzzy feeling about Microsoft might be premature!

[HildyJ]

Re: Good for Microsoft

Having reread the article after the down votes, I think you are correct.

I apologize.

[ayay]

WireGuard is the best

Fast, reliable, easy, runs on a toaster. Or almost.

Get any OpenWRT-supportrd router and have it in, performance will be decent at least. Most often, it'll be awesome. Now try OpenVPN. Yes, I know, I've cried too.

People way smarter than I am vouch for its security, so what are - the not-corporatey fellows who are looking for something reliable and secure, not a stamp of approval from the likes of SolarWinds - waiting for?

[Degenerate Scumbag]

Re: WireGuard is the best

It will indeed run on any OpenWRT supported router, and the performance will be significantly better than other VPNs, but it's still likely to bottleneck your traffic if you're running it on a typical MIPS based home router.

For serious performance you need an architecture with SIMD support. This used to mean X86, but now there are reasonably priced routers coming on to the market based around ARM V8-A, which has NEON, ARM's SIMD implementation. These devices are capable of running Wireguard at full flow gigabit speed.

[spireite]

Re: WireGuard is the best

Fullflow Gigabit speed hardly matters when the vast majority don't have the same net bandwidth into their router surely?

If I'm running on a typical MIPS router, hooked into bog-standard 76/80 fibre, it's not going be noticeable is it?

[NoneSuch]

Reg: As it is Open Source, what is the author being paid for having his code included in commercial software with an install base of several hundred million?

I assume zero.

[s2bu]

Oh, they're productizing it too:

https://www.edgesecurity.com/#wireguard

[david 12]

Easy to set up

IPSEC on Windows used to be /much/ easier to set up, before security concerns led to separation of function and strict walls between kernel and user. Kernel functions have really limited ability to pop up debug information, and user functions have really limited ability to query kernel functions. Which, for a secure channel, was clearly intentional. It will be interesting to see how wireguard survives the translation.