Overview
Alongside XTLS-Vision-Reality and XHTTP, RAGE servers can also offer Hysteria 2 — a transport built on QUIC (which runs over UDP). Where the TCP-based transports can stall on bad connections, Hysteria 2 is designed to keep moving through packet loss, congestion, and high latency.
Servers that support it are tagged H2 in the server list.
Quick recommendation: Pick a server tagged H2 when your connection is unstable, high-latency, or your network throttles long-lived TLS connections — especially on mobile data or congested Wi-Fi. For everyday use on a clean network, VLESS (XTLS-Reality) is still the fastest choice.
How It Works
Hysteria 2 carries your traffic inside QUIC, a modern UDP-based transport (the same foundation as HTTP/3). To the network it looks like ordinary HTTP/3 traffic, so it blends in with everyday web browsing.
The key difference from TCP-based transports is how it handles bad networks. TCP treats every lost packet as a sign of congestion and slows down — which is the right call on a healthy link, but cripples throughput on a lossy one. Hysteria 2 uses its own congestion control (Brutal) that keeps sending at a target rate even when packets are dropped, so a noisy connection stays fast instead of collapsing.
It can also apply optional obfuscation (Salamander), which scrambles the QUIC packets so they don't look like a recognizable protocol to deep packet inspection.
Advantages
- Thrives on lossy networks — Keeps throughput high where packet loss would stall TCP-based transports
- Strong under congestion — Brutal congestion control holds a target rate instead of backing off
- Fast to connect — QUIC establishes sessions quickly and recovers from drops gracefully
- Slips past TCP-focused filtering — UDP/QUIC takes a different path than the TCP transports
- Built-in obfuscation — Optional Salamander masking resists deep packet inspection
Limitations
- Relies on UDP, which some networks block, throttle, or deprioritize
- Higher CPU usage than XTLS-Reality, which can mean a little more battery use
- Its aggressive congestion control can crowd out other traffic on the same link
- Not every server offers it — look for the H2 tag
Best For
- Mobile data and congested public Wi-Fi with packet loss
- High-latency or long-distance connections
- Networks that throttle long-lived TLS connections but allow UDP/QUIC
- Any situation where VLESS or XHTTP feels slow or keeps dropping
Transport Comparison
| Feature | XTLS-Vision-Reality | XHTTP | Hysteria 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server tag | VLESS | XHTTP | H2 |
| Base | TCP / TLS | TCP / HTTP | UDP / QUIC |
| Speed on a clean network | Excellent (near-native) | Good (slight overhead) | Very good |
| Speed on a lossy network | Drops sharply | Drops | Holds up well |
| Latency | Very low | Moderate | Low |
| Firewall compatibility | Good | Excellent | Good (if UDP is allowed) |
| Battery usage | Low | Moderate | Moderate |
| Best use case | Daily use, streaming, gaming | Restricted / HTTP-only networks | Lossy, congested, high-latency networks |
Choosing Hysteria 2
Use an H2 server when:
- Your connection keeps dropping or feels slow on VLESS / XHTTP
- You're on mobile data, hotel/airport Wi-Fi, or another lossy network
- You have a high-latency or long-distance route to the server
- Your network throttles long-lived TLS connections but lets UDP through
Stick with VLESS or XHTTP when:
- You're on a clean home network — VLESS (XTLS-Reality) is the fastest and lightest
- Your network blocks or heavily throttles UDP (use XHTTP for HTTP-only networks)
- Battery life is the top priority on mobile
Switching to Hysteria 2 in RAGE
The transport is shown next to each server name in the server list. To use Hysteria 2, simply pick a server tagged H2:
- Servers marked H2 use the Hysteria 2 (QUIC) transport
- Servers marked VLESS use XTLS-Vision-Reality, and XHTTP servers use the HTTP-based transport — see the transport comparison guide
Technical Deep Dive
Why QUIC and UDP
QUIC runs over UDP and builds reliability, encryption, and stream multiplexing into a single layer. Because it isn't tied to TCP's congestion model, a single dropped packet doesn't force the whole connection to slow down — only the affected stream pauses while everything else keeps flowing. That's what makes it feel stable on networks that punish TCP.
Brutal Congestion Control
Standard congestion control treats packet loss as "the network is full, slow down." On a clean link that's correct; on a lossy mobile or Wi-Fi link it's the wrong call, because the loss is noise, not congestion. Brutal sends at a target rate and keeps it up despite loss, trading a bit of fairness for steady speed where TCP-based transports would grind to a halt.
Obfuscation and Masking
Hysteria 2 traffic looks like HTTP/3 by default. With the optional Salamander obfuscation enabled, the QUIC packets are further scrambled so deep packet inspection can't fingerprint them as a known proxy protocol.