Sola Protocol

What Sola Is

Sola is SingLink’s own next-generation, high-performance VPN transport protocol. It is built on real network experience accumulated during SingLink 2.0’s long run in production, with a redesigned core transport architecture.

It is not a rename of SingLink 2.0, and it is not a simple parameter tweak. It is an architecture-level rebuild spanning connection handling, data transport, how the protocol responds to network fluctuation, and how it cooperates with the client — aimed at cutting the performance loss the protocol itself introduces.

The Four Ways Sola Improves on Beta

Sola’s overall performance exceeds the Beta protocol, concentrated in four areas: speed, latency, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization. The table below summarizes the direction of each improvement.

These describe the direction of improvement relative to Beta, not specific figures. Actual results vary by region, carrier, device, and server load.

What These Four Gains Mean for a User

Speed, latency, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization are not abstract engineering terms — each maps to something a user directly feels.

• Higher speed: large downloads, software and OS updates, and cloud sync finish faster
• Lower latency: this is what governs how long you wait after you click or send — especially noticeable in chat, AI conversations, and remote desktop
• Less packet loss: fewer stalls in video, fewer broken calls, fewer long connections that keep reconnecting
• Higher bandwidth utilization: more of the bandwidth a user is already paying for actually gets through the VPN instead of being lost to the protocol itself

Which Plans Unlock Sola

Sola is available on Plus and above: Plus, Pro, and the stackable Max and Rich data packs. Max and Rich add data on top of Plus-level benefits and inherit the same protocol access as Plus and above.

The Free Plan and the Fast plan do not include Sola nodes. Those tiers are positioned for entry-level and light use and are configured around Beta; the node resources Sola needs are better allocated to plans built for heavier, sustained use.

Actual node availability is shown in real time inside the client.

Workloads Sola Is Built For

Sola is designed to balance peak speed with sustained performance, which makes the difference more noticeable for a few kinds of workloads.

• Streaming and video: 4K and high-bitrate content depends on sustained throughput and low packet loss, which cuts down on buffering and stutter
• Real-time collaboration: video calls, voice, and remote desktop are sensitive to latency and jitter, and Sola treats responsiveness as a goal separate from peak speed
• Large transfers and cloud sync: backups, cross-border transfers, and team file collaboration care most about whether the protocol itself is wasting available bandwidth

How to Pick a Sola Node

In the client’s node list, choose a node marked with the Sola protocol, favoring one with lower latency and lighter load.

For long-running tasks like downloads and sync, favor a node with better bandwidth utilization. For real-time tasks like calls, voice, or gaming, prioritize stable latency over the highest peak speed.

Node performance varies by region, carrier, and local network conditions, so it is worth testing a few candidate nodes against your own use case before settling on one.

Sola Mini, and How It Relates to Sola

A Sola Mini node builds on the Sola protocol with an extra disguise layer, used to further reduce the likelihood that the protocol’s traffic gets identified.

A simple way to think about it: Sola provides the core transport performance, and Sola Mini turns on an additional disguise layer on top of the same transport architecture. They share the same underlying design; the difference is whether that extra layer is enabled.

Whether Sola or Sola Mini is the better choice in a given network depends on how much that network identifies and interferes with VPN traffic; neither one departs from Sola’s overall architecture or performance goals.

How Sola Relates to the SingLink 2.0 Protocol

SingLink 2.0 is SingLink’s formal protocol generation and the technical foundation Sola evolved from. Sola is the next-generation protocol formed by an architecture-level rebuild on top of the 2.0 technology stack and its production experience.

2.0 covers the full transport system — authentication, smart routing, and Session and Stream management. Sola focuses on pushing four transport performance metrics further within that system: speed, latency, packet loss, and bandwidth utilization.

The two are not a replacement relationship: 2.0 is the protocol generation and technical foundation, Sola is the next-generation protocol built for deeper transport performance, and plan access for each is configured independently.

Frequently asked questions