Improve Remote Desktop MacOS Linux Mint latency by using X2Go instead of RDP or VNC. On a Proxmox VM with virtio drivers and a few tweaks, I measured under 40ms round-trip, down from 200ms+ with the other protocols.
Why RDP and VNC lag on Linux Mint
RDP on Linux (xrdp) adds an extra layer of translation and often falls back to software rendering. VNC is just slow because it sends raw framebuffer updates. Both are fine for occasional use, but if you’re typing or moving windows, the delay is annoying as hell.
X2Go: the fix for low latency
X2Go uses the NX protocol, which compresses X11 traffic and caches screen regions. It feels almost native on a LAN. Install it on Linux Mint 22.3:
sudo apt install x2goserver x2goserver-xsessionOn macOS, grab the X2Go client from the official site. Connect using SSH as the transport — it’s encrypted and avoids extra ports.
Proxmox tuning for the VM
Make sure the VM uses virtio for disk and network. Also enable the VirtIO RNG device — it helps with entropy and can reduce stutter. I covered that here.
Set the CPU type to ‘host’ for better performance. If you see clock skew warnings, check this fix.
Latency numbers (my quick test)
- VNC (TigerVNC): ~180-220ms
- RDP (xrdp): ~120-150ms
- X2Go: ~30-40ms
Measured by pinging the VM while interacting, plus subjective feel. X2Go was clearly better.
If you’d rather pay for this
NoMachine offers a free version that’s also low latency, but the paid ‘Enterprise’ tier adds stuff like multi-user and central management. It’s around $50 per year per seat. Honestly, for a homelab, X2Go is free and just as good. Don’t bother paying unless you need support.
