Connection & Servers1 min read06 / 06

VPN protocols explained

What WireGuard, VLESS, XTLS-Vision, and REALITY are and when each is used.

SecureFox runs four protocols. The app picks one automatically based on your network — you don't have to choose unless you want to force a specific one in advanced settings.

WireGuard

The fastest option on clean networks. Lightweight UDP-based tunnel, very low overhead. Used when the network doesn't actively block VPN traffic.

VLESS + XTLS-Vision

The default on hostile networks. Carries the data path inside a TLS connection that looks indistinguishable from regular HTTPS to deep-packet-inspection systems.

REALITY

An obfuscation layer that sits on top of VLESS. The TLS handshake mirrors a real, non-VPN destination (e.g. cloudflare.com), so passive observation doesn't reveal a VPN target. See REALITY: bypass DPI on hostile networks for more.

XTLS-Vision (zero-copy splice)

A data-path optimisation inside VLESS. The kernel splices bytes between sockets without copying through user space, so the throughput cap is the CPU's memory bandwidth, not crypto.

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