- Mullvad VPN just added Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation (LWO)
- It promises to defeat VPN blocks without losing performance
- LWO is currently available on all desktop platforms and Android
Mullvad VPN has just added Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation (LWO) to its WireGuard protocol connections. Its goal is to help users bypass increasingly sophisticated VPN blocks, such as those found in restrictive networks and national firewalls.
Although WireGuard is directly blocked at the protocol level, LWO should help bypass it. However, the new function is not only efficient. It’s also much less punitive than other blurring methods, allowing for fast connection speeds even on low-powered devices.
How does Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation work?
Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation (LWO) is Mullvad’s newest anti-censorship feature. It is built directly on top of it WireGuard protocol.
Instead of wrapping traffic in additional layers, as some other VPN obfuscation methods tend to do, LWO takes a more efficient approach.
“In general, blurring comes with significant processing costs that affect throughput. LWO is extremely easy to be a barely measurable point,” a Mullvad representative told TechRadar.
In practice, Mullvad explains, LWO warps the WireGuard headers into place to prevent header fingerprinting. This makes LWO a suitable option to use in restricted networks where WireGuard is blocked at the protocol level.
Even better, perhaps, these extra steps make your connection more resistant to censorship without slowing it down.
We are pleased to add Lightweight WireGuard Obfuscation, aimed at helping users bypass firewalls and censorship. This new feature is now available on all desktop platforms and Android. Read more here: https://t.co/tQg13bGRuk12 November 2025
The addition of LWO marks the fourth WireGuard obfuscation update for Mullvad. Most recently, Mullvad also introduced QUIC obfuscation, which differs from LWO in a key way.
“QUIC obfuscation wraps the WireGuard tunnel into a QUIC tunnel. This is computationally very expensive and affects throughput,” Mullvad told us, suggesting only using QUIC obfuscation “in restricted networks that restrict the majority of traffic types but allow web traffic.”
QUIC was initially only available on desktop, but has expanded to mobile in October, including both Android and iOS apps.
These changes reflect Mullvad’s firm commitment to WireGuard. The VPN service will phase out OpenVPN encryption in January 2026, making WireGuard the only encryption protocol.
How to activate the new LWO protocol in Mullvad?
Currently, LWO is available to Mullvad users on desktop and Android devices, but a Mullvad representative told us it’s coming to iOS in the first quarter of 2026.
LWO starts if your device can’t connect otherwise, so the app will automatically try to use LWO after a few failed connection attempts.
If you would like Mullvad to use LWO by default, you can enable it by going to Settings > VPN Settings > WireGuard Settings > Obfuscation > LWO.
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