Is your VPN slowing down your Internet connection? We explain why

In a few years, the VPN have been able to conquer an audience seeking privacy on the Internet: teleworking, public Wi-Fi, geo-blocked sites or features; There are different reasons to use a VPN. However, the use of a VPN is often accompanied by a loss of internet connection speed. Is it really the VPN’s fault? What are the reasons for this slowdown? We will explain everything to you.

A loss of speed when using a VPN can come from several factors, both from the VPN service itself and from the user and their use of it. Circumventing geographic blocking, for example, will require connecting to a server that is sometimes very distant and protecting your data and privacy as much as possible will require robust encryption and therefore a little slower. It is also possible that servers are overloaded or that the VPN protocol used by default is not necessarily relevant for your use. This is often the case with free VPNs.

Distance and server load

One of the most obvious reasons for a loss of connection speed when using a VPN is the distance between you and the service’s server.

To understand exactly why this can happen, you first need to understand how a VPN works. It acts as a sort of gateway between the starting point, therefore the user, and his destination, the website he seeks to visit. Instead of being immediately sent to the website’s server, the request and associated data are encrypted and sent to a VPN server, which takes care of transmitting the request to the destination. This way of doing things allows the VPN server to become the source of the data and gives the impression to the destination that it is it which issued the request.

The user’s internet service provider will only see the connection and transmission of data, encrypted, to the VPN server; not allowing it to determine the sites or services visited or the data exchanged.

If you are using a VPN to bypass geo-blocking, you may need to connect to a server that is in another country or even another continent. In this case, it is possible that your connection will be slowed down, your request needing to “travel” to the VPN server, before being sent back to the server of the targeted service… which may itself be far away .

If you are using a VPN for a completely different reason, try connecting to a server closest to you or follow the recommendations of your VPN, which should offer you the optimal server.

Another possibility is server load. Depending on the time of day or your location, you may be connected to a server at the same time as a certain number of people. If you notice an unusual slowdown in your connection, the server may be overloaded. In this case, simply try connecting to other nearby servers, until you find the one that will slow down your connection as little as possible.

Of course, when choosing a VPN service, the speed of servers around the world, their geolocation and whether they are dedicated is crucial to connection speed.

Encryption and protocols

To protect your data, VPNs encrypt and decrypt it at different stages. An appreciable protection, but which can also be the cause of your connection slowing down when using a VPN.

It is important to keep in mind that the stronger the encryption, the longer the operations. Most VPNs choose to use AES-256 encryption, which is known to be strong and secure. If you are not specifically using a VPN for security but for reasons such as geoblocking, it is possible in some cases to change the encryption used. However, this is not recommended: there is a risk that your data will be even more exposed in the case of poor configuration and it would be a shame to do without additional protection for a small speed gain.

Some VPN services will also let you choose between different protocols. VPN protocols, distinct from the VPN services themselves, are responsible for determining how the connection between you and the VPN server will occur and what sort of protections will be used. While OpenVPN is often the default choice, other protocols such as WireGuard and Lightway are just as good. ExpressVPN developed Lightway to maintain an unparalleled level of security while promoting the fastest speeds. The VPN experience thus exceeds speed standards.

On OpenVPN, it is possible to improve this speed even further, in particular by choosing between TCP and UDP. UDP is faster, whereas TCP will be slower but more reliable in receiving data by detecting connection errors. For example, for live streaming, UDP will be the best choice, but TCP should be favored in the case of classic web browsing. OpenVPN works best by default with UDP.

Your Internet connection and your choice of VPN

Another potential culprit is your own Internet connection. It’s easy to check if this is the case: turn off your VPN, do a quick speedtest, and restart your VPN before doing the same speedtest to see if there’s a significant difference when it’s active or not. If you are connected via Wi-Fi, your connection will be slower and less stable, especially if you are physically far from the router. For an optimal experience with or without a VPN, it is advisable to be connected via Ethernet as soon as possible.

Also, your choice of VPN may be to blame. Maintaining an infrastructure has a cost and a free VPN will not offer the same quality of service and connection speed as a paid VPN. While free VPNs can be useful for very occasional use, regular use will benefit from a paid subscription in exchange for a more stable and faster service.

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