Most Australian businesses using a VPN today are running OpenVPN. Not because someone sat down recently and chose it — but because an IT provider set it up years ago, it mostly works, and no one has touched it since. That is understandable. VPNs are infrastructure: invisible when they are working, painful when they are not.
But "mostly works" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. If your staff are connecting from laptops and mobile phones, switching between office Wi-Fi, home NBN, and 4G, a VPN protocol chosen in 2012 may be introducing speed problems, connection drop-outs, and configuration headaches that feel normal but are not. WireGuard, a protocol that only reached mainstream Linux in 2020, has changed what a business VPN can actually perform like.
This article is a direct comparison — WireGuard vs OpenVPN — written from an Australian managed IT perspective. It covers speed, security, configuration complexity, and the Australian-specific factors (CGNAT, NBN plan types, static IP availability) that global comparison articles almost always skip.
What Each Protocol Is
OpenVPN has been around since 2002. It is the default choice on most business VPN deployments and is supported by virtually every enterprise firewall, router, and UTM device on the market. It uses TLS/SSL encryption built on the OpenSSL library, supports both TCP and UDP transport, and has been audited extensively over two decades. Its maturity is its greatest strength — and also part of why it is slow to evolve.
WireGuard was created by security researcher Jason Donenfeld and merged into the Linux kernel in version 5.6, released in 2020. Where OpenVPN's codebase runs to over 400,000 lines of code (including its OpenSSL dependency), WireGuard is approximately 4,000 lines. It uses UDP only, runs a deliberately minimal set of modern cryptographic algorithms, and is configured with public/private keypairs rather than certificates and a certificate authority infrastructure. It is not trying to be everything to everyone — and that restraint is precisely what makes it fast and maintainable.
Speed: Why WireGuard Is Faster in Practice
WireGuard's speed advantage is real, measurable, and especially meaningful for Australian businesses.
The primary reason is protocol design. WireGuard runs over UDP only. OpenVPN can run over either UDP or TCP, but many deployments use TCP because it traverses restrictive firewalls more reliably — particularly on port 443, which is rarely blocked. The problem is that TCP adds overhead: every packet must be acknowledged, retransmitted if lost, and delivered in order. When you stack TCP for VPN transport on top of TCP for the application traffic inside the tunnel, you get TCP-over-TCP — a situation with well-documented performance degradation on any connection with latency or packet loss.
Australia has latency. Whether your team is connecting from a regional fixed wireless service, a 4G connection in the field, or a residential NBN plan with variable congestion, your VPN protocol's transport layer matters more here than it does for a business in central London with sub-5ms links.
WireGuard's UDP transport handles packet loss gracefully without the acknowledgement overhead. Combined with its simpler cryptographic stack — Curve25519 for key exchange, ChaCha20 for encryption, Poly1305 for authentication, and BLAKE2 for hashing — it imposes significantly less CPU load than OpenVPN. This is relevant on lower-powered hardware including firewalls, small business routers, and remote sites running edge devices.
In practical terms: remote workers connecting over 4G or from home will notice WireGuard connections feel more responsive. VoIP calls, RDP sessions, and access to internal file servers are all affected by VPN latency. WireGuard reduces that latency consistently.
Security: Modern and Minimal vs Mature and Complex
Both protocols are secure when correctly configured. The more meaningful question is where each protocol's security risk lies.
OpenVPN's security surface is its complexity. It supports a wide range of cipher suites and configuration options, which means a correctly configured OpenVPN deployment is strong, but an incorrectly configured one may be weaker than it appears. OpenSSL, which OpenVPN depends on, has had significant vulnerabilities over the years (Heartbleed being the most prominent). The library is actively maintained, but the attack surface is large.
WireGuard takes a different approach: it offers no choices. The cryptographic algorithms are fixed — modern, well-reviewed, and not negotiable. There are no legacy cipher suites to accidentally enable. The small codebase means fewer places for vulnerabilities to hide, and the code has been independently audited. The trade-off is limited flexibility: if a future vulnerability were found in one of WireGuard's specific algorithms, there is no fallback. In practice, the algorithms chosen are considered among the most robust available.
For most Australian SMBs, WireGuard's fixed, audited, minimal approach represents a lower operational security risk than a complex OpenVPN deployment that may have accumulated configuration drift over years.
Configuration and Maintenance
OpenVPN configuration is not trivial. A proper deployment involves a certificate authority, server and client certificates, certificate revocation lists, and a meaningful number of parameters that must be set correctly. Managing this across a team of remote workers — rotating certificates, onboarding new devices, revoking access when staff leave — adds ongoing administrative overhead.
WireGuard configuration works like SSH keys: each peer has a public/private keypair. Adding a new remote worker means generating a keypair, adding their public key to the server config, and distributing the client config file. Revoking access means removing their public key from the server. There is no certificate infrastructure to maintain.
For small IT teams, or businesses relying on a managed IT provider, WireGuard's simpler operational model means less chance of misconfiguration and faster troubleshooting when something does go wrong.
Protocol Comparison at a Glance
| Feature | WireGuard | OpenVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Codebase size | ~4,000 lines | 400,000+ lines (incl. OpenSSL) |
| Transport protocol | UDP only | UDP or TCP |
| Encryption | ChaCha20 / Poly1305 | AES-256-GCM (via OpenSSL) |
| Key exchange | Curve25519 | TLS/SSL certificate infrastructure |
| Speed | Faster — lower overhead, better on mobile | Slower, especially in TCP mode |
| Roaming (IP changes) | Handled transparently | Requires reconnection |
| Configuration complexity | Low — keypair based | High — CA, certificates, CRL management |
| Firewall traversal | UDP only — may be blocked in locked-down environments | TCP 443 mode bypasses most firewalls |
| Enterprise compatibility | Growing — not universal on legacy UTMs | Broad — supported nearly everywhere |
| Best for | Modern deployments, mobile workers, performance | Regulated environments, restrictive networks, legacy infrastructure |
When WireGuard Is the Right Choice
WireGuard suits most Australian business VPN deployments being designed or redesigned today.
It is the clear choice when your team includes mobile or remote workers who move between Wi-Fi and 4G. WireGuard handles IP address changes transparently — a worker who walks from their desk to a 4G connection does not lose their VPN session. OpenVPN requires reconnection.
It suits businesses where VPN performance matters: if staff are accessing internal systems, large file shares, or real-time applications through the VPN, WireGuard's lower latency overhead makes a tangible difference. It suits small IT teams or managed IT environments where configuration simplicity reduces risk and ongoing maintenance cost. And it suits new deployments where there is no existing OpenVPN infrastructure to migrate away from — starting fresh with WireGuard is straightforward.
For a fuller guide to deploying WireGuard in an Australian business context, see Pickle's WireGuard VPN guide for Australian businesses.
When OpenVPN May Still Be the Better Call
WireGuard is not the right answer in every situation, and it is worth being honest about where OpenVPN still holds the advantage.
If your business operates in a highly regulated environment — financial services, healthcare, government — and your compliance framework or auditors explicitly require OpenVPN, that is a real constraint worth respecting.
If your staff regularly connect from networks with very restrictive outbound firewall rules — such as hotel Wi-Fi, airport networks, or some enterprise guest Wi-Fi deployments — OpenVPN running over TCP on port 443 can traverse those restrictions when WireGuard's UDP traffic is blocked. This is a genuine edge case, but a real one for businesses with heavily travelling staff.
If your business has significant existing OpenVPN infrastructure — a certificate authority, managed client configurations across dozens of devices, integrations with SIEM or logging systems — the migration cost may simply not justify the performance gain at this time.
And if your network perimeter relies on legacy UTM hardware from vendors that have not yet added WireGuard support, OpenVPN may be the only viable option until hardware is refreshed.
The Australian Context: CGNAT, Public IPs, and Why Your Internet Plan Matters
This is the section that global VPN comparison articles consistently skip. It matters enormously in Australia.
A VPN server needs a publicly reachable IP address. This is non-negotiable for both WireGuard and OpenVPN. Remote clients need to connect to something — and if your office internet connection is behind Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), that something does not exist.
CGNAT is common on Australian residential NBN plans and some entry-level business broadband products. The ISP assigns a private IP address to your connection and shares a single public IP among multiple customers. From outside your network, there is no way to reach your VPN server directly.
Businesses that have inadvertently put a VPN server behind CGNAT either cannot run one at all, or rely on workarounds — reverse tunnels, third-party relay services — that add complexity and latency.
Pickle's business internet products avoid this by design. Business Broadband and Enterprise Ethernet include a static public IP address. Fixed Wireless includes a public IP with Pickle's own DDNS server — meaning even without a fully static IP, your WireGuard or OpenVPN server is always reachable at a stable hostname that Pickle's DDNS keeps current. No CGNAT complications, no workarounds, no third-party relay.
If you are evaluating VPN deployment and your current internet service does not include a public IP, the VPN protocol decision is secondary to solving that first. View Pickle's business internet products to see what is available at your address.
VPN infrastructure also intersects with the Australian Signals Directorate's Essential Eight cybersecurity framework. If your business is working towards Essential Eight compliance, VPN is relevant to several controls — particularly around restricting administrative privileges and multi-factor authentication for remote access. Pickle's Essential Eight guide for Australian small businesses covers how these controls map to real-world deployments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is WireGuard actually secure enough for business use?
A: Yes. WireGuard uses a fixed set of modern, independently audited cryptographic algorithms — Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, and BLAKE2. It has been reviewed by security researchers and is used in production by organisations of all sizes. Its small codebase reduces the attack surface compared to OpenVPN. Both protocols are secure when properly configured; WireGuard's minimal design makes misconfiguration less likely.
Q: Can I run WireGuard on my existing firewall or router?
A: WireGuard support is now included in most modern firewall platforms and many enterprise routers. It is native to Linux (kernel 5.6 onwards) and supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. If you are running older UTM hardware, check your vendor's release notes — some legacy devices do not yet support WireGuard natively, though third-party firmware sometimes fills that gap.
Q: What is CGNAT and how do I know if my business connection is behind it?
A: CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT) means your ISP assigns your connection a private IP and shares a single public IP among multiple customers. You can check by looking at the WAN IP address on your router and comparing it to your public IP as seen by an external site. If they differ — and particularly if your router's WAN IP falls in the 100.64.0.0–100.127.255.255 range — you are behind CGNAT.
Q: Do I need to replace OpenVPN if it is currently working?
A: Not necessarily. If your OpenVPN deployment is stable and staff are not experiencing performance issues, migration may not be a priority. WireGuard is worth evaluating if you are setting up a new VPN, if mobile or remote workers are complaining about speed or dropped connections, or if you are refreshing your internet service and want to deploy VPN correctly from the outset.
Q: Can Pickle manage both WireGuard and OpenVPN deployments?
A: Yes. Pickle's managed IT services cover VPN design, deployment, and ongoing management for both protocols. We can assess your current setup, recommend the right protocol for your environment, and handle the configuration and maintenance.
Talk to Pickle About the Right VPN for Your Business
The protocol decision is only part of the picture. Your internet connection, existing infrastructure, compliance requirements, and team's working patterns all affect what will actually work — and work well — for your business.
Pickle can assess your current setup, identify whether your internet service supports a VPN server, and recommend and deploy the right solution for your environment.
Call 1300 688 588, email [email protected], or visit thinkpickle.com.au/products/business-internet to start the conversation.