A Virtual Private Network, or simply a VPN, is a method of connection that improves your online security. Many people, even if not familiar with a concept itself, probably heard that it is supposed to be somehow useful for your Internet connection. Or that it allows accessing some websites or specific content banned for certain reasons in different countries. At the same time, even if there are many benefits of a VPN, it must take a while for all that magic to be performed. So even though your network is being protected, you end up with a slow Internet as a result. Who wants that, right? Well, let us find out how exactly a VPN affects the speed of your Internet.
The first thing you need to do is perform a Speedcheck test to see what your actual speed is with and without a VPN. Now, if on average you have a slow Internet connection, using a VPN will not change anything in regards to speed. If, on the other hand, everything runs fast, you might experience a slight decrease in speed. However, it depends on several other factors as well.
The first one of them is the level of encryption that a virtual private network provides. Encryption is the core element of a VPN, which ensures the secure transfer of data. The better the quality of encryption, the stronger and more reliable the protection of your information is. Yet at the same time, the more negative impact it has on your Internet speed. To avoid the drop, you may try choosing a lighter protocol of encryption.
The next aspect that can slow down the Internet connection is the geographical location of a VPN server. The more distance between you and the physical server you are connected to, the farther the data has to travel back and forth. In its turn, you will experience slower performance. So in order to avoid delays, it is better to choose the servers that are situated close to your current location. The ideal solution would be to select a server located in your country, unless you need to access the content that is blocked there. You can also run a number of speed tests connecting to various servers to find out the one that provides the best results.
Another common reason for a reduced Internet speed is the high load on the VPN server. If there are too many visitors accessing the server at the same time, it may easily get overloaded. Unfortunately, it is hard to find out if that is what is causing the delays, as in most cases you do not have access to the exact number of concurrent users. What you can do though is try connecting to other servers to see if the situation improves.
So, to sum it up, a virtual private network may affect the speed of your Internet connection quite a bit. However, if you choose a reliable provider who offers a decent VPN service, the decrease in speed before using a VPN and after should not be noticeable. Plus, at the end of the day, it is your online security that truly matters.