A virtual private network (VPN) is a cybersecurity tool that hides your traffic and data from third parties, including government agencies, advertisers, and hackers. It works by allowing you to connect to servers in different parts of the world, which will spoof your IP address and protect your data. Not only does this have many applications for everyday use, but a VPN can also come in handy when gaming, as it can help reduce ping, prevent your ISP from throttling your connection, and even allow you to access content from others. countries.
However, while there are many advantages to using a VPN for gaming, there are some disadvantages, such as potentially slower speeds and even the risk of being banned from gaming servers for using one. Read on to find out if using a gaming VPN is right for you.
Advantages of playing with a VPN
There are a surprising number of benefits to using a VPN for gaming, from protecting you from cyber attacks to preventing your ISP from slowing you down due to lag or throttling your speed.
Below we explain in more detail how this works:
Lower lag and ping (latency) rates
One of the main features of a VPN is that it allows you to spoof your location by connecting to servers in that country. There are many benefits to this, including the potential to reduce ping (latency). Ping is a measure of how quickly your device can receive information from a server.
So connecting to a different server could speed things up by increasing the responsiveness of your overall gaming experience. It does this by directing your game traffic through the VPN server, thus establishing a more stable connection.
This can make a significant difference if you play competitive games, such as League of Legends, Overwatch or Valorant, as having reduced lag and ping could give you a very important advantage by allowing you to respond to what is happening in the game. faster than your opponents. Even a few milliseconds could make the difference between victory and defeat.
However, it’s important to note that there’s no guarantee that getting a gaming VPN can lower your ping. Depending on your location and the games you like, most gaming platforms do a decent job of routing your traffic to whichever server gives you the fastest ping, especially if you’re in the US, Europe, or the East Asia. It’s also worth checking if your favorite online games allow you to choose your own servers before you start playing.
Generally, the gamers who benefit the most from using a VPN to reduce lag are those who play competitive games and already have issues with high ping when playing. We would define a high ping as around 100 milliseconds or more. This is more likely if you live outside of the US, Europe, or East Asia, as you are probably too far away from the game’s servers.
A VPN could help you solve this problem by allowing you to route your traffic directly to a server in the same region as the game you want to play. This would reduce the amount of time it takes for your device to receive game information.
Likewise, if you connected to a server in a location further away from your game’s data centers, you could risk worsening your ping. So be sure to research where your game’s data center is before you start routing your traffic through one of your VPN’s servers.
If you don’t usually play competitive games, you may not feel the need to change servers unless you are already dealing with high ping.
Mitigate DDoS attacks
Online players are often the target of DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, often by other competitive players who might want to slow down their opponents. Therefore, if you are worried about being targeted by DDoS attacks, using a VPN to protect against this threat is a good idea.
By connecting to your VPN, you essentially become invisible, making it very difficult for a DDoS attacker to successfully attack you. It does this by changing your IP address every time you connect to a VPN server and routing all your traffic through it.
This makes it extremely difficult for an attacker to flood your connection with requests. It also means that it is highly unlikely that they will be able to discover your personal information, such as your email address, real name, or home address, as your VPN masks your true IP address. This minimizes the risk of doxxing, so no one can harass you in your home.
If you’re concerned that this could have a negative impact on your speed, there are many VPNs on the market that offer DDoS mitigation, which should prevent your game from slowing down.
Stop being limited by your ISP
Downloading games and playing them online can consume a lot of bandwidth. And if you do this regularly, especially during peak hours, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may start throttling your connection. This will mean that you will get slow and slow speeds when you play. Which will be very frustrating, especially if you are trying to download a game that is over 100 GB or if you are trying to play competitive games.
It will likely take much longer to download a game and could worsen the quality of your gaming experience because your Internet connection won’t be able to upload and download data fast enough.
Fortunately, using a VPN can protect you from your ISP throttling your speeds. Just as it hides your IP address from potential DDoS attacks, it will also prevent your ISP from seeing your real IP.
And if your ISP can’t see that, it will have no idea what you’re doing online, so you won’t be able to use activity-based throttling. So you can use as much bandwidth as you want without your ISP noticing.
Access to games/releases in other countries
One of the biggest benefits of a VPN is that you can use it to unblock regionally restricted content from other parts of the world. And if you’re an avid gamer, this will give you endless new games to play. Whether you want to play Japanese RPGs or Korean MMOs, a VPN can let you access games from anywhere you want with just a few clicks.
This is because many online games feature sophisticated geo-blocking technology that will prevent servers in specific locations from being able to access the content. But with a VPN, you can connect to a server in a region where gaming is not restricted, which will spoof your real location and allow you to play games that aren’t available where you are.
Likewise, if you want to play with someone in another country who can’t access the same servers as you, a VPN is a quick and easy solution that will allow you to battle with or against your friends in a matter of seconds.
Again, all you need to do is connect to a server in the right location and you can start playing the same game at the same time. It could even allow for a more stable connection, which will prevent lags and allow you to have a fast and smooth gaming experience.
However, it is important to note that many online gaming and streaming platforms employ anti-VPN measures that can detect and block some VPN traffic. This means that if you get caught, you risk violating their terms of service and may face consequences for doing so.
Cons of playing with a VPN
Although there are many important benefits to using a VPN for gaming, there are some drawbacks that you should consider before signing up.
Here, we will explain it in detail to help you make the right decision for you.
You may be banned for violating the terms of service.
As we mentioned above, many gaming companies use VPN tracking software to identify and block VPN traffic. So, depending on the provider you have chosen, you may be blocked from accessing the games you want.
You should keep in mind that many of these gaming companies not only block VPN traffic, but they have it written into the terms of service that you must agree to before you can access the games you want. Therefore, if your traffic is identified as being routed through a VPN server, you could well be violating that platform’s terms of service, which could result in you being banned from the site.
Below is an example of Stream’s subscription agreement: “You agree that you will not use IP proxies or other methods to disguise your place of residence, whether to circumvent geographic restrictions on game content, to place orders or purchases at prices that do not apply to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, Valve may terminate your access to your Account.”
While it is possible to use a VPN that is capable of going undetected by anti-VPN software, you should think carefully before using one to unblock region-restricted games.
Potentially lower connection speeds
While you can use a VPN to reduce lag, you may also find that routing your connection through a VPN server will allow you to get faster speeds than you’re used to. In fact, unless you’re already struggling with lag or your ISP is throttling your speeds, you may notice a negative impact on your connection speeds while you’re on one of your VPN’s servers.
While raw connection speed typically doesn’t impact gaming as much as ping, a slow, sluggish connection will start to detract from your gaming experience. Downloading games will take much longer and could have a knock-on effect on your overall gaming speed. Even when using the fastest VPNs on the market, you’ll likely notice a slight drop in speeds. For more information, take a look at our Speed tests on the most popular VPNs..
In short, unless your ISP is throttling your speeds, using a VPN is more likely to hurt your speeds than help them. However, if you use a good VPN, such as Surfshark, NordVPN, or ExpressVPN, you won’t notice much difference in performance. However, the security benefits, as well as the ability to unlock region-restricted content, could well be a decent trade-off against the slight drop in speeds.
Our gaming VPN recommendations
If you’ve decided that using a VPN while gaming is right for you, the next step is to find the right VPN to use. Luckily, we’ve tested the best VPNs for gaming to help you choose the perfect provider for you. From fast speeds to accessing geo-blocked games from abroad and IP spoofing, I put all the most popular VPNs on the market to the test and rounded up our three favorites:
Gaming VPN FAQ
Does using a VPN stop lag?
A VPN can reduce lag by establishing a more stable connection and directing your traffic through dedicated servers that will allow for a smoother and faster experience. Of course, there’s also the risk that it could slow down your connection. However, if you use a VPN with powerful dedicated servers, you can still get consistently fast speeds.
Does using a VPN stop ping?
A good VPN can reduce ping if you connect to a secure server. This will allow for a more stable connection that will prevent ping spikes and give you a faster, more consistent experience. Just make sure you choose a VPN that is known for offering fast speeds, such as NordVPN or Surfshark, as a less reputable provider may result in slower speeds than you are used to.
What is the safest VPN for gaming?
We tested a wide range of VPNs and found that ExpressVPN It was the best and safest option to play. It comes with a host of impressive security features, including strong malware protection, as well as DNS leak protection, a tracker blocker, and an ad blocker.
