Does VPN Slow Down Internet Connection Speeds?

Does VPN slow down internet connection speeds? Will it hamper the internet’s overall performance? All these questions and more can be addressed depending on the kind of VPN you’re using! The speeds with which a VPN controls internet connections often depend on a matter of factors. Keep reading for more!

Does a VPN slow down internet?

In short, yes it can. There is a lot that a VPN can do to make your overall experience online a better one. For starters, when you connect to iProVPN, it helps secure your connection with the industry’s leading AES 256-bit encryption. When it encrypts your web traffic, it routes it through its secure VPN servers.

These virtual servers are sometimes closer to your physical location, while others are not. Either way, all movement of traffic from your device to the VPN and to the internet is for sure going to slow down the internet to an extent. However, if you’re equipped with a well-rounded provider like iProVPN, the speeds won’t slow down too much!

For example

When you test the speeds of your internet connection without a VPN, the results are always fast, depending on what package you’ve gotten, or depending on whether your ISP doesn’t throttle it. Let’s say you’ve got a result of 204Mbps for download speeds, and 179Mbps for Upload speed.

After you connect to a good VPN, the speeds will jot down between 80-90Mbps. That too, is considered desirable, considering the server you connected to is virtually far off from where you’re located. As mentioned, it also has a lot to do with the server you’re connected to.

When a good VPN encrypts your web-traffic, the entire encryption process is why a VPN slows down the speeds.

What are the binding factors that affect internet speed?

If you’re wondering “Can VPN slow down internet” then yes, it does. But, as discussed above, there are multiple factors that add to this occurrence, no matter what VPN you use. Here are a few aspects you could look into:

Multiple users on one server

Some VPNs offer a very minimalistic network of servers, while other VPNs offer a desirable number. We mention this to make our users understand that the speed of your internet can sometimes drop when there are too many users over one server.

This causes overloading, which is commonly noted amongst free VPNs. Free VPNs cannot avoid overcrowding especially since it hardly offers many servers to begin with. This causes latency issues apart from the other factors contributing to it.

When you use a premium VPN service like iProVPN, overcrowding and latency isn’t really an issue. All you need to do is click on the “Quick” or “Smart” connect button to get yourself the fastest and most suitable server – one that’s closest to you. Speaking of the closest server, let’s move on to the next factor contributing to VPN speed restrictions.

Distance between a virtual server and physical location

A VPN can produce different speeds depending on what server you’re connected to. This means that the shorter the distance between your VPN server and your physical location, the faster the speeds. If you connect to a server that is located farthest from you, the speeds can slow down to an extent – but again, it depends on what VPN provider you’re using. It again also depends on whether you’re using a premium or free provider.

For instance, if you’re located in India, and connect to a US server, chances are high that your internet speed slows down. The distance between the two countries is extremely vast, which in turn takes longer for data packets to travel. You should consider connecting to a server that is closest to the location you’re in – use the smart connect option for that. iProVPN offers over 250 servers in 30 countries. There is plenty for you to choose from.

ISP internet speed packages

It’s considered a VPN myth when it’s said that a VPN increases the overall speeds of the internet. That is not true because a perk a VPN offers in this circumstance is that it can help its users bypass something called ISP speed throttling. It controls the overall throttling of the internet and offers a more stable connection.

However, there are some users who claim that their speeds are much faster with the VPN than without. These results are not the VPN increasing your speed but rather it creating consistency over what the speeds should be, depending on the package you’ve paid for. It’s basically bypassing ISP throttling.

With that said, if your internet is slower than usual, way before you even got yourself a VPN, then it’s not entirely a VPN issue. If you’re paying for a slow internet package, there’s no way a VPN will increase the speeds, but a good provider can help keep it consistent.

As a matter of fact, you may have noted that one website gives you faster results, whereas another takes a longer time, especially if you’re downloading movies or live streaming it. Your ISP can control what websites you visit and limit your bandwidth and speeds drastically.

When you connect to a premium and top VPN provider, it passes all your web traffic through an encrypted tunnel. This allows you to bypass speed and bandwidth restrictions imposed by your ISP. Speaking of an encrypted tunnel, the speeds procured also depend on how well your VPN encrypts your traffic. Take a look at the next point for that.

Qualitative standards of VPN encryption

Encryption is one of the main features of any VPN and it helps the whole “VPN slowdown internet” issue. It’s the frontman of an operation that allows the process to run smoothly. A VPN with the best encryption standards allows your web traffic to remain anonymous, free from being attacked or accessible to hackers and other external threats. With this in mind, if the encryption is not up-to-par, and the overall protection is poor, it can to an extent contribute to your internet slowing down.

There are different levels of VPN encryption, with the advanced standard being AES. It comes with various strength decrees, consisting of 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit encryption. Of course, the higher the encryption level, the better the protection. For stable speeds, you can match 256-bit with some of the best protocols for it like IKEv2 and OpenVPN.

The better the protection, the better a VPN performs. With it, users can then bypass ISP throttling, secure their traffic, and keep the speeds consistent.

Is there a way to check your VPN speed?

How can you know for sure if your VPN actually works effectively? When you’re encountering the “does VPN slow down internet” issue, you can easily run a speed test. With the results depicting the ping time, you can check the latency periods with how each server performs. Compare it to your regular internet connection and then come to a conclusion. Here’s how to run a VPN speed test:

1. First, record the speed of your internet connection without a VPN.
2. You can run the test on “speedtest.net”
3. Turn on your VPN and connect to any server closest or farthest to you.
4. Run a speed test using the same link in point 2.
5. Compare the speeds before and after the VPN.
6. This will hand you your results!

VPN is slowing down internet speeds – How to improve it

1. Change the VPN
2. Connect to a different server, preferably one that is closest to you.
3. Change the VPN protocol.
4. Disable all background Firewall, Antivirus, or other add-ons that might be running in the background – it can clash with a VPN’s performance.

To conclude

So, does a VPN slow down internet speeds? Yes, it does. However, the results you receive depend entirely upon what internet package you’ve paid for, how good of a VPN you’ve connected to, and what server and settings you’re using.

All these factors contribute to it. iProVPN protects user data with top-of-the-line AES 256-bit encryption and helps bypass ISP speed and bandwidth throttling. Plus, it’s one of the more affordable providers that actually work, which is all the more reason to consider it.