A QUICker SASE client: re-building Proxy Mode
Blog post from Cloudflare
Cloudflare has re-engineered its Cloudflare One Client's proxy mode to enhance user performance without compromising security by transitioning from a WireGuard-based approach to using QUIC for direct Layer 4 proxying. This change eliminates the inefficiencies of previous methods that relied on converting application-layer TCP traffic into Layer 3 packets, which resulted in sluggish performance, particularly on media-heavy sites. By integrating QUIC and HTTP/3, Cloudflare now maintains traffic at Layer 4, allowing for modern congestion control and flow control and enabling significant performance improvements, such as doubling download and upload speeds and reducing latency. These advancements are particularly beneficial for users requiring coexistence with third-party VPNs, high-bandwidth application partitioning, and developers needing efficient proxy support for CLI tools or scripts. The update is available for devices running Windows, macOS, and Linux, with users encouraged to upgrade to the latest client version to capitalize on these enhancements.