How do I test my VPN speed?

When you see that your pages still won't load, you know that a connection has been lost. There is an opinion that VPN significantly reduces the initial speed of the Internet, and you must have often encountered slow downloads and lagging streams. You can check your real internet speed by using the VPN speed test.

Will the Internet speed be reduced when using a VPN? How can I know the exact speed?

Does your internet really get slower when using a VPN?

VPN works so that your personal data is transmitted from your device to a server through an encrypted tunnel. When using a high-speed VPN, the difference should be negligible.

We have found several reasons that can slow down your connection speed:

The servers included in the infrastructure of this VPN provider are outdated and do not meet the latest security and stable connection requirements.

Some security protocols can actually work faster than others in different VPNs. Free VPNs often use other, older, and more primitive protocols.

The number of servers matters. Overloading the server with the number of users can lead to a sharp decrease in the speed of your connection. This is one of the most common issues that VPN providers face: They cram as many users onto a single shared server as possible so they can save money.

VPN speed testing is an important feature that allows you to find out how quickly the data will get from you to the destination.

Ways to check the speed of your VPN

There are many services on the net that offer to check the real speed of your VPN. Simple and clear interface Speedtest.net will help you at first.

Speedtest starts testing your speed right through your browser's web page. Check if VPN is enabled on your device and click the "Go" button. In a matter of minutes, the test will give you a report on the real speed.

In order for the test results to be reliable, make sure that all other pages and background applications that use traffic are closed. Do not use Speedtest while watching online movies, listening to music and podcasts.

Reading a report

Three basic metrics are used to evaluate your Internet speed, and therefore the speed of the Internet with VPN. Those three things are the download and upload speed in units of Megabits-per-second (Mbps), and the ping rating. They mean the following:

Download speed. This indicates the rate at which data is received from the Internet to your computer. In online activities, this means that you will spend less time downloading files, streaming audio and video, and instantly loading all the elements of a web page. The ideal download speed is considered to be at least 2 Mbps and can reach up to 1,000.

Upload speed. This setting indicates the speed at which data is sent from your computer to the Internet. Slow speeds can cause problems with video communication platforms or streaming and broadcasting from you. Generally, with consumer internet providers your upload speed will be slower than your download speed. Upload speed should be at least 1-10 Mbps, and can reach a rate equal-to or greater than your download speed.

Ping rating. This parameter means the average speed value for the entire device. Ping units are milliseconds, the smaller the ping, the faster the data exchange. If, for example, you are shown a result of 75 milliseconds, then your data packet reached its destination in 75ms.

If you think the slowdown is related to the VPN, just turn it off and on again. Due to the encryption mechanism in the VPN technology itself, a slight decrease in speed is unavoidable, but not such as to significantly impact the speed. In some cases, a VPN can actually improve speed, as the encryption circumvents the throttling some internet companies do on 'types of traffic' like video, etc.

How to make your VPN work faster

When testing a premium VPN, you can see a sharp increase in ping speed or, on the contrary, a decrease in download speed. This does not mean at all that such encryption is inefficient and unrecoverable, here are the following ways to fix the situation:

Disable and enable the VPN. A premium VPN provider usually has several servers, if one of them is overloaded, you will be directed to another freer one.

Switching between security protocols. Some security protocols may slightly slow down download and upload speeds, try switching between protocols. Premium VPNs offer switching between today's best IKEv2 and Lynx protocols with just one click.

Use a dedicated server. Using a server that is fully dedicated to your connection will always yield the fastest results.

Change the location of the VPN server. Switch to a server in another country if the problem is geographical.