What Is VPN Obfuscation & How Does it Work?
VPN obfuscation refers to a set of advanced features that disguise your VPN traffic as normal HTTPS, UDP, or TCP web traffic. This allows you to get past a VPN blocker and connect to a VPN, even in countries with highly restricted internet.
Obfuscation can require complicated configuration and resources, which means it’s only offered by some VPN services.
Importantly, not all obfuscation tools work in the same way. There are several different methods to bypass VPN blocks, some of which are more effective than others. The most common obfuscation techniques include Shadowsocks proxies, OpenVPN over TLS, SSTP, and OpenVPN Scramble.
When you connect to a normal VPN server, your ISP can’t see what you’re doing online because a secure and encrypted tunnel is created. However, it can see that you are using a VPN from the way your data looks. Your traffic might have recognizable encryption patterns, or it might be using well-known VPN service ports that give it away.
When you connect to a VPN using obfuscated servers or protocols, it will change the way your data packets look. As a result, your ISP won’t be able to detect you’re using a VPN and will let you pass a strict VPN block.
When obfuscation is implemented, the VPN signature and other signs of a VPN connection disappear. Deep packet inspection can no longer tell that you’re using a VPN and you have access to the unfiltered internet.
If you’re in an environment with strict online restrictions, such as the UAE or Turkey, this will let you access the internet and unblock restricted websites without your ISP or government being alerted to your web activity.
To show this, we used deep packet inspection software called WireShark to examine our VPN traffic with obfuscation enabled and disabled.
Here’s a screenshot of our VPN traffic without obfuscated servers, protocols, or proxies:

Without obfuscation, the packet inspection tool could detect an OpenVPN connection.
Here’s a screenshot of our VPN traffic after connecting to an obfuscated VPN server:

With obfsproxy enabled, Wireshark was unable to detect an OpenVPN connection.
Without obfuscation, the packet inspection software was able to detect both WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols – exposing our connection to a VPN service. With obfsproxy obfuscation enabled, Wireshark was unable to pick up on the VPN protocol that was being used. Instead, it only detected a TCP connection.
What Are Obfuscated Servers?
Obfuscated servers are specialized servers that camouflage your VPN connection. They make it more difficult for your ISP or national government to detect your VPN connection.
Your ISP might use DPI to inspect the data packets on their network. If so, they would be able to see what you’re doing online, including whether you are torrenting or streaming.
Depending on the country you’re based in and the laws that apply, your ISP might be selling this data to third-party advertisers or reporting your activity to the authorities and other government agencies.
Are Obfuscated Servers Slower?
Obfuscated servers apply extra layers of encryption and code, which can slow down your internet connection.
In our obfuscation speed tests, we found that every VPN’s speed is affected differently by obfuscation technology.
In general, the VPNs that are best at bypassing firewalls (Astrill VPN, ExpressVPN, and Windscribe VPN) have fast to average speeds – even with obfuscation enabled.

We tested VPN speeds with obfuscation turned on and off to see the difference.
As you can see in the table above, connecting to an obfuscated server reduced the speeds of every VPN we tested. However, there are large fluctuations in exactly how much they were affected.
For example, Surfshark and ExpressVPN experienced minimal speed loss when connecting to short and long distance servers with obfuscation enabled. In contrast, PIA’s speeds dropped from 88Mbps on a local US connection to a disappointing 15Mbps on a long-distance UK connection.
We found that Surfshark had the most impressive download speeds. With NoBorders mode enabled, our speeds only dropped by 1% when connected to a local server.
However, there is a trade off: Surfshark is incredibly bad at bypassing the Great Firewall of China. In the past year, Surfshark has successfully circumvented the Great Firewall of China just 18% of the time, which suggests it’s only so fast because it’s not doing a great job at obfuscating its connection.
Every VPN has its own obfuscation technology that works in different ways. If speed is your main concern, we recommend using Surfshark, Astrill VPN, or ExpressVPN.
Is Obfuscation 100% Reliable?
VPN obfuscation technology is not 100% reliable. In fact, some VPN services go through regular cycles of working and then failing to successfully obfuscate your VPN connection and bypass firewalls.
However, as long as the VPN has a strong no-logs policy and is based outside the 14 Eyes Alliance, your IP address and online activity will be safe from prying eyes.
To further mitigate risks associated with your VPN traffic leaking, we recommend using a VPN with a working kill switch, too.