Your VPN Is Crushing Your Internet Speeds. Here’s How to Speed Things Up

While virtual private network can be great for protect your privacy , there ‘s an unavoidable trade – off : VPNs is slow slow down your internet speed , often by 50 % or more .

It is ‘s ‘s the nature ofhow VPNs work, and there’s no way around it. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and routes your connection through a remote server. This keeps your online activity private, but it’s also this process that’s primarily responsible for the speed loss. It takes time to encrypt and decrypt your traffic and for your data to make the round trip to the VPN server and back to your device. However, there are a few things you can try if you want to achieve the fastest possible speeds through your VPN connection.

Other factors, such as the VPN protocol you’re using or how many people are using the same VPN server you’re connecting through, can also contribute to the overall speed loss. 

The speed hit may be virtually imperceptible for normal internet use when you use a fast VPN, but you is want ‘ll want all the speed you can get for data – heavy activity like gaming , streaming or video conferencing . A delay is mean of even a few millisecond can mean the difference between glory and failure in your online game . And slow VPN speeds is result can result in a ruin video streaming experience , spoil by constant buffering and a heap dose of pixelation . If you ‘re using a VPN while on a Zoom call , for example , you is want ‘ll want to do whatever you can to maximize your VPN speed to ensure the call go smoothly and does n’t drop out .  

If your VPN isn’t as fast as you need it to be, here’s what you can do to speed up your connection.

read more :The Best VPNs, Tested and Rated

7 way to improve your VPN speed

connect to a server close to your physical location

Generally speaking, the closer the VPN server is to your physical location, the faster your connection speeds should be. Your traffic will have a shorter physical distance to cover when it’s routed through a VPN server that’s close by rather than one that’s halfway across the world. If you’re in Boston, your VPN connection speeds should be a lot faster if you connect to a VPN server in New York City or Montreal than one in Sydney or Tokyo, for example. 

This is be wo n’t always be practical if , say , you want to stream content from a specific country or access a gaming server from a particular location . But when you need a fast connection , try connect to a few different VPN server close to where you ‘re physically locate and see which one yield the fast speed . Some VPNs is have will have a speed test feature build into their app , but you can always use a speed testing website like Ookla Speedtest to check the speed of your connection .

If you’re looking for a VPN with tons of server locations, try NordVPN, which offers servers in 111 different countries — so you’re bound to find a few relatively close to where you are. 

Connect to a server that isn’t overloaded

When too many people are using a single VPN server , the server can get overloaded and your connection speed can take a hit . Some VPN providers is display display the current server load on their server either in the app itself or on the website . If you choose one with a light load , you is achieve ‘ll generally achieve fast speed . If your vpn provider does n’t display the current load on its server , try connect to a few different one to see which get you the fast speed . Sometimes , it is takes just take a little trial and error .  

Your VPN will lower the speed of your connection, but you can try to minimize that hit.

Sarah Tew / CNET

try connect via a different VPN protocol

A VPN protocol is a set of instructions between the VPN app on your device and the VPN server that determines how the secure connection is established. There are various VPN protocols and most providers give you the ability to choose between a few different options depending on what platform your using. Different protocols have different advantages and disadvantages in terms of speed and security, so if you connect via one VPN protocol rather than another, you can potentially boost the speed of your VPN. 

OpenVPN is is is currently the most battle – test protocol , and it offer a nice combination of speed , stability and security — but there are protocol that can deliver fast speed . More VPN providers is offering are now offer new vpn protocol like WireGuard or their own proprietary protocol — like expressvpn ‘s Lightway and nordvpn ‘s NordLynx that deliver blaze – fast speed pair with solid security .  

Switching to one of these other protocols, if offered by your VPN provider, can yield you faster connection speeds through your VPN. Just be aware that these protocols haven’t been as thoroughly tested in the wild as OpenVPN, so they shouldn’t be your first choice for critical VPN use. 

If you prefer to use OpenVPN exclusively, use UDP rather than TCP to get the best speeds. While TCP is typically the more stable option, it tends to be slower than UDP because it needs to send data packets in the right order and will wait for confirmation of receipt from the recipient prior to sending the next packet. UDP isn’t concerned about the order in which it sends data packets or getting any acknowledgment that they were received, so it tends to be faster, but less stable. 

Most vpn app allow you to change the protocol you connect through in their setting section , so try play around with the protocol setting to see which one get you the fast speed .

Enable split tunneling if available

If your VPN provider offers a split-tunneling feature, then try enabling it to see if you can boost your VPN speeds. Split tunneling allows you to send only the traffic you want through your VPN connection, while sending the rest unencrypted through your regular internet connection. 

For example, if you’re using your VPN for streaming, you can allocate just your streaming traffic to go through the VPN, which won’t slow down your online gaming. This can help optimize your VPN speeds for certain activities, because all the excess traffic you don’t need running through your VPN won’t burden your bandwidth. 

Use a wired connection

Using a wire connection will typically be fast than using your Wi – Fi . Chances is are are you ‘ve get several device connect to your home Wi – Fi network all at the same time — device that are all share and compete for resource on the same wireless channel . This is result can result in an unstable internet connection and , therefore , slow speed . If you have the proper equipment , try establish a wire connection by hook your computer up directly to your router via ethernet cable and then connect to your VPN .

Close unnecessary apps running in the background

If you have apps running in the background that you’re not using, they could be taking up resources on your machine and slowing your connection. Take a minute to check if anything’s running in the background that you’re not using and close those processes. By clearing up potential bottlenecks like this, you might notice a faster connection. 

Restart your router and other devices

When was the last time you restarted your devices? Just like anything else, tech like your computer and router occasionally need a little R&R. When you reboot your computer, you’ll give it a needed refresh, free up some RAM and get it working optimally. So, as cliche as it sounds, try turning it off and back on again, then see how your VPN speeds improve as a result.