For whatever reason you want to use a VPN, you’ll want to choose one that’s fast enough so as not to affect your download speed or the speed of your games. Also, with the use of VPN you can get deals or cheapers games (from Steam, Epic Games, Origin…) at much lower prices. Here’s what you need to keep in mind: There is usually a drop in performance because your connection is transferred to the VPN server before you install the website or service you want.
“Usually” is a useful term for that phrase because a few months ago when some VPN services were installed and new policies were said to be faster than before. So much so that now there is hardly any connection latency.
These new protocols – responsible for encrypting and transmitting data over the Internet – are largely based on WireGuard, but some VPN companies have implemented their own protocols.
The result is that VPN services can now provide high speeds – at hundreds of megabits per second – so they shouldn’t slow down your Internet at all.
However, there are some things to understand about VPNs and Internet functionality before making a final decision.
Internet speed
First, the speed of your Internet connection will determine that you will see the greatest difference when connecting to a VPN.
This sounds obvious, but it’s worth checking out. If your home broadband connection is very fast (say 200Mbps due to the controversy) then you will definitely know when you connect to a VPN that works at 50Mbps.
But if your broadband provider only provides you with 40Mbps connectivity, then a VPN service connection that works at 50Mbps will not affect your download speed.
Unfortunately, this is a very simple idea of how everything works and there are many factors that affect speed.
Server range
This is a very important factor in most cases. It is also the reason why most VPN applications automatically choose the nearest server if you don’t select them yourself – a server close to your virtual reality location will provide the highest speed.
You can easily verify this by trying using the Speedtest.net website (or application) to monitor your download and upload speed when you connect to a VPN server in the same country as you, and then back up when you connect to a server on the other side of the world.
You can expect to get very close to your average broadband speed when you connect to a local VPN server – in USA in our 100Mbps test queue we often see 75Mbps up to 100Mbps filled with many VPN services through servers.
But if you try the speed on Australian or Asian servers, the speed can drop to 10Mbps or less.
The physical distance is still valid even with policies like WireGuard – you will only get the fastest advertised speed when you connect to a server that is very close.
If the location of the server doesn’t matter, because you want the privacy and security that only VPN provides, then no problem: you can choose the nearest server.
However, if you need to select a server in the U.S. or somewhere thousands of miles away to open websites or other content, then it’s worth choosing a VPN service that provides an instant connection from that country to yours. However, if again, it should be faster, or simply faster, at your broadband speed.
What affects the speed of a VPN?
As mentioned above, some things contribute to the speed you’ll get on a VPN at any given time. Although there is some consensus, the speed of your Internet connection varies all the time.
This may be due to the number of people using a particular VPN server, the time of day, or the day of the week.
That’s why it’s so hard to say how fast each VPN service is. You’ll have to test each server several times at different days and times. And the servers are being upgraded, and additional servers are being added to the states, which means that performance may change from month to month.
Keep this in mind when you see the results of the speed tests. online – Valid only on the day they were run, and they should be multiple checkpoints. They should also show the location of the tests, as the speed of the US VPN server
If you dig deeper, you will see that the performance varies depending on the protocol used. As mentioned, WireGuard is one of the latest protocols and can be twice as fast as OpenVPN and older policies, in part because it requires less processing power from your device to encrypt the data, which can also mean that the process can occur much faster.
In addition, not all protocols can be used on all devices, so you may also be dependent on the device on which you need to use a VPN to determine the reception speed.
What are the fastest VPN services?
I hope you can now see why it is not easy to answer this question. The speed will depend on the exact location and location of the VPN server you want to connect to, and on the device you are using. That said, the following services are among those that provide fast VPN speed, no matter what location:
- ExpressVPN (Its Lightway protocol is currently under construction)
- NordVPN (just released WireGuard)
- IvacyVPN (own and operate their own servers and network. Perfect for Torrent.)
- PureVPN (recently posted on WireGuard)
Of course, there are other considerations when choosing a VPN provider, such as how much it costs, its privacy policy, features offered, and more. For a comprehensive shopping guide and other recommendations, read our roundup of the best VPN services.
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