How to speed up your VPN connection

We’ll be upfront: Unless your web supplier is intentionally throttling your connection speeds, utilizing a digital personal community will decelerate your web. It’s the character of how VPNs work, and there is actually no method round it. However, there are some things that may give your VPN a little bit of a speed increase.

VPNs add a layer of encryption to your web connection whereas routing your information by a server in a distant location. This is the method that’s primarily liable for the speed loss — it takes time to encrypt and decrypt your site visitors, and it takes time for your information to journey to the VPN server and again. Other components just like the VPN protocol you are utilizing or the load on the VPN server you are connecting by can even have an effect on your connection speeds. 

Even although the speed hit may be virtually imperceptible for regular web use whenever you use a fast VPN, for data-heavy actions like gaming, streaming or video conferencing, you may need all of the speed you may get. A delay of even just a few milliseconds can imply the distinction between glory and failure in your on-line recreation, and sluggish VPN speeds can lead to fixed buffering and a heavy dose of pixelation in your video streaming. And in case you’re utilizing a VPN whereas on a Zoom call, you may need to do no matter you possibly can to maximize your VPN speeds to guarantee the decision goes easily and would not drop out. 

If your VPN is not as quick as you want it to be, this is what you are able to do to speed up your VPN connection.

Read extra: The best VPNs in 2022

7 methods to enhance your VPN speeds

Connect to a server nearer to your bodily location

Generally talking, the nearer the VPN server is to your bodily location, the quicker your connection speeds must be. Your site visitors can have a shorter bodily distance to cowl when it is routed by a VPN server that is shut by reasonably than one which’s midway internationally. If you are in Boston, your VPN connection must be quite a bit quicker in case you join to a VPN server in New York City or Montreal than one in Sydney or Tokyo, for instance. 

This will not all the time be sensible if, say, you need to stream content material from a particular nation or entry a gaming server from a specific location. But whenever you want a quicker connection, attempt connecting to just a few totally different VPN servers shut to the place you are bodily positioned and see which of them yield the quickest speeds. Some VPNs can have a speed check function constructed into their apps, however you possibly can all the time use a speed testing web site like Ookla Speedtest to verify the speed of your connection.

If you are searching for a VPN with tons of server areas, attempt ExpressVPN, which affords servers in 160 areas throughout 94 international locations — so that you’re certain to discover just a few comparatively shut to the place you might be. 

Connect to a server that is not overloaded

When too many individuals are utilizing a single VPN server, the server can get overloaded and your connection speed can take a success. Some VPN suppliers show the present server load on their servers both within the app itself or on the web site. If you select one with a lighter load, you may usually obtain quicker speeds. If your VPN supplier would not show the present load on its servers, attempt connecting to just a few totally different ones to see which will get you the quickest speeds. Sometimes, it simply takes just a little trial and error. 

Try connecting through a distinct VPN protocol

A VPN protocol is a set of directions between the VPN app on your system and the VPN server that determines how the safe connection is established. There are numerous VPN protocols and most suppliers provide the capability to select between just a few totally different choices. Different protocols have totally different benefits and downsides by way of speed and safety, so in case you join through one VPN protocol reasonably than one other, you possibly can probably increase the speed of your VPN. 

Today, the gold customary VPN protocol is OpenVPN. It is essentially the most battle-tested protocol, and it affords a pleasant mixture of speed, stability and safety — which is why many VPNs use OpenVPN as their default protocol. More and extra VPN suppliers are actually additionally providing newer VPN protocols like IKEv2 and WireGuard that promise quicker speeds alongside glorious safety. And some have even developed proprietary VPN protocols like ExpressVPN’s Lightway and NordVPN’s NordLynx that declare to provide the perfect of each worlds. 

Switching to considered one of these different protocols, if supplied by your VPN supplier, can yield you quicker connection speeds by your VPN. Just remember that — although their safety seems to be stable — these protocols have not been as completely examined within the wild as OpenVPN, so that they should not be your first selection for critical VPN use. 

If you like to use OpenVPN completely, use UDP reasonably than TCP to get the perfect speeds. While TCP is usually the extra secure choice, it tends to be slower than UDP as a result of it wants to ship information packets in the precise order and can watch for affirmation of receipt from the recipient prior to sending the following packet. UDP is not involved in regards to the order through which it sends information packets or getting any acknowledgement that they have been acquired, so it tends to be a lot quicker and extra environment friendly, however much less secure. 

Most VPN apps permit you to change the protocol you join by of their settings part, so attempt enjoying round with the protocol settings to see which of them get you the quickest speeds.

Enable cut up tunneling if out there

If your VPN supplier affords a split-tunneling feature, then attempt enabling it to see in case you can increase your VPN speeds. Split tunneling permits you to ship solely the site visitors you need by your VPN connection, whereas sending the remainder unencrypted by your common web connection. 

For instance, in case you’re utilizing your VPN for streaming, you possibly can allocate simply your streaming site visitors to undergo the VPN, which will not decelerate your on-line gaming. This will help optimize your VPN speeds for sure actions, as a result of all the surplus site visitors you do not want operating by your VPN will not burden your bandwidth. 

Use a wired connection

Using a wired connection will usually be quicker than utilizing your Wi-Fi. Chances are you’ve got obtained a number of units related to your house Wi-Fi community all on the identical time — units which might be all sharing and competing for assets on the identical wi-fi channel. This can lead to an unstable web connection and, due to this fact, slower speeds. If you could have the correct gear, attempt establishing a wired connection by hooking your laptop up instantly to your router through ethernet cable after which join to your VPN.

Close pointless apps operating within the background

If you could have apps operating within the background that you simply’re not utilizing, they may very well be taking up assets on your machine and slowing your connection. Take a minute to verify if something’s operating within the background that you simply’re not utilizing and shut these processes. By clearing up potential bottlenecks like this, you would possibly discover a quicker connection. 

Restart your router and different units

When was the final time you restarted your units? Just like the rest, tech like your laptop and router often want just a little R&R. When you reboot your laptop, you may give it a wanted refresh, free up some RAM and get it working optimally. So, as cliche because it sounds, attempt turning it off and again on once more, then see how your VPN speeds enhance consequently.

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