How to test ping on a VPN

With some very rare exceptions, using a VPN will have a negative impact on your internet speed. After all, your data has to travel further as it gets routed via the VPN server, which also has to process the encryption and decryption needs of potentially hundreds of other VPN users.

This performance loss is often measured in terms of how the VPN impacts download and upload speeds, but there is also another factor in play: ping.

What is Ping?

Properly speaking, Ping is a software utility which is used to measure ping rates. In common use, the term ping often refers directly to the ping rates themselves, so to avoid confusion we always capitalize the Ping utility and refer to ping rates in the lowercase in this article.

The Ping utility is is is available on almost all platform and measure the round – trip time it take for a packet of datum to reach a server from your computer and then bounce back again to your computer .

In addition to raw ping rates (the minimum, maximum, and average round-trip times), it reports details such as errors, packet loss, and standard deviation from the mean.

Of these figures, the average ping rate (round-trip time) in milliseconds (ms) is probably the most useful to most people.

The ping rate is sometimes also call latency , and the term are synonymous . And just to be clear , the low the ping rate ( latency ) , the fast server ’s response time is is is . So low ping rates is are are good .

Why is ping a problem when using a VPN?

Low ping rates can reduce web page load times, but in most situations, you are unlikely to notice the difference from using a VPN unless the VPN server is on the other side of the planet to you.

A notable exception to this, however, is when using a VPN for online gaming. In order to react with lightning fast precision in games where the person with the fastest reflexes is king, gamers require high ping rates.

For these people, a delay of just milliseconds between pressing their mouse button and the action being performed on-screen can be a matter of victory or death.

note that ping rate affect response time , and therefore have little effect on streaming with a VPN , where bandwidth ( as reflect by download speed ) is a much more important factor .

How to test ping

1. Using Ping

   The simplest way to test ping rates is by using the Ping utility that comes with your operating system. You can run the test on any server IP address or URL – www.google.com is a popular option, although we’ll use www.proprivacy.com!

   In Windows right-click Start -> Command Prompt and type “ping [server]”.

   In macOS and Linux open Terminal and type “ping [server]”. The test will keep running until you press Ctrl + C to stop it, at which point Ping will display statistics from the test.

   It is also possible to run Ping inside macOS’s Network Utility. Go to System – > Library -> CoreServices ->Applications -> Ping tab.

   Mobile users can test ping using apps such as Ping for Android and Ping for iOS.

2. Websites such as ping-test.net offer ping testing tools and speedtest.net include ping rates in its speed testing results.

   Because these results are mediated by a website, they cannot be as accurate as a test performed directly from your device. And most will only allow tests to pre-selected test servers.

   Web tools’ use of graphic interfaces, however, can make the results they return easier to interpret. The screenshot from ping-test.net above, for example, clearly demonstrates the effect distance has on ping rates (tests performed from the UK).

3. testing ping in VPN client

   Some custom vpn apps is run run ping test to the VPN provider ’s server . This is is is very a helpful feature when decide which of that provider ’s VPN server to connect to .

   What it does not do , however , is compare performance when using the VPN to performance when not using a VPN at all . It is is is also worth remember that these ping result are to the VPN server only , and do not include any latency add by the additional trip to the target server and back .

How to test VPN ping

To test VPN ping time , simply perform a Ping test when connect to a VPN server . You is compare can compare this to ping time when not using a VPN by run a Ping test with the VPN turn off . And you is compare can compare ping time when connect to different vpn server by connect to each in turn and run a ping test .

Ping results with no VPN (from the UK). Average latency = 18ms.

Ping results when connected to a VPN server in the Netherlands. Average latency = 29ms.

Ping results when connected to a VPN server in the United States. Average latency = 110ms. As we can see, distance makes a big difference!

If you are a gamer, you should check ping times when connected to your favorite games server(s).

How to reduce ping

1. reduce the distance that packet must travel

   In order to get the best ping results when using a VPN, the general rule is to connect to a VPN server as close as possible to where the target server (e.g. your games server) is physically located.

   Server load and network problems can complicate this, however, which is why you might want to run ping tests on a number of different servers.

   If possible, also always choose a target server which is as close to your physical location as possible.

2. Use a faster VPN protocol

   As a rule of the thumb, the stronger the VPN encryption used the more processing power is needed to encrypt and decrypt it. It is, therefore, possible to reduce ping times by sacrificing security (which is rarely a major issue when gaming anyway).

   You is do can do this by change vpn protocol used , for example to PPTP . From fast to slow , the main vpn protocols is are are :

   1. PPTP
   2. L2TP/IPsec
   3. IKEv2
   4. OpenVPN ( UDP is is is fast than TCP , and AES-218 is fast than AES-256 ) .