VPN basics · Plain-English answer
WireGuard is a modern, open-source VPN protocol that uses current cryptography in a deliberately small codebase of a few thousand lines. It is faster to connect, quicker in throughput, and easier to audit than older protocols like OpenVPN, which is why many VPN services have adopted it as their default.
Older VPN protocols grew large and configurable over decades, which makes them slower and harder to audit for security flaws. WireGuard took the opposite approach. It uses one fixed set of modern cryptographic primitives, including ChaCha20 for encryption and Curve25519 for key exchange, and keeps the implementation small enough that experts can review it in full.
The result is a protocol that connects almost instantly, handles switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data gracefully, and is now built into the Linux kernel itself.
In everyday use, WireGuard means faster downloads, lower latency, and less battery drain on phones compared with older protocols. Connections also recover quickly when your network drops, so the VPN feels less intrusive.
ROOT VPN is built on WireGuard across all servers. If you want to see the difference yourself, connect and run the checker at /tools/speed-test/ to compare your speeds with the VPN on and off.
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