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VLESS Reality or Hysteria2: which to pick

There is nothing to choose in advance: both protocols are already in your subscription link. The app shows servers of both kinds in one list, and switching between them is just changing server in the client. The differences only matter when something works worse than usual.

VLESS Reality

Reality disguises the connection as an ordinary HTTPS request to a real third-party site. From the network's point of view the traffic looks like a visit to a popular resource, with no separate "VPN-like" fingerprint. It runs over TCP, so it gets through almost anywhere the ordinary web works.

That makes it a sensible default: on corporate and guest networks that cut non-standard protocols, Reality usually comes up without trouble.

Hysteria2

Hysteria2 runs over QUIC, which means over UDP. Its strength is packet loss: where a TCP connection starts to stall and the speed sags, Hysteria2 holds steadier. It shows most on mobile networks, with a weak signal, and on congested public Wi-Fi.

The flip side is that not every network passes UDP. Some corporate and guest access points restrict or block it entirely, and then Hysteria2 servers simply will not connect while Reality keeps working.

How to choose in practice

  1. Start with the server the app suggests by default, or with the nearest location.
  2. If the connection drops, pages load in fits or the speed wanders, try a server of the other kind on the same or a neighbouring location.
  3. If no Hysteria2 server connects while Reality works, UDP on that network is almost certainly the reason. Stay on Reality.
  4. If it is the other way round, with Reality bogging down on mobile internet while Hysteria2 runs briskly, stay on Hysteria2.

Habits worth having

  • Do not stick to one server. Compare latency in the client across several locations and pick the one that answers fastest.
  • Some apps, Karing among them, can pick a node automatically by latency, which saves you the manual sweep.
  • Before looking for a problem on your side, check the server status page: it shows load, uptime and latency per location.
  • After extending access, refresh the profile or subscription inside the app so it picks up the current server list.

If you have not installed an app yet, start with the setup guides, which walk through importing the link on each platform.

Read next

What a VPN is and what it is forIn plain words: how a VPN works, what it protects on other people's networks, and what not to expect from it.How OBFSN is put togetherYour account and the bot, the subscription link, devices, payment: what access is made of and where you manage each part.What speed depends onWhat limits speed through a VPN: your ISP's channel, the distance to the location, the mobile network and load.Is it safe to use, and what we can seeWhat the encryption protects, what data the service needs to run, and how to keep control of your link.