VPN being a savior in the digital world helps you mask your identity, protect your data and shields you from unwanted hacks and provides privacy to its utmost. But one thing is most affected when it comes to getting anonymity from VPNs; Speed loss.
VPN re-routes your IP address from different servers making you access content smoothly. But given, all that unblocking of restricted content and bypassing firewalls affects the speed of the internet creating a big hassle for users. However that can be improved. The best way is to rely on a fastest VPN service that is certified by giant VPN review sites.
Here are 8 steps you need to check to boost your VPN speed.
- Check Internet Speed:
There have been times when we skip the tiniest details trying to find the more significant issues which could cause slow internet speeds. This is the case for VPN speeds. Before checking anything, first and foremost inquire your internet connection without VPN, so you’ll know if VPN is the cause or just the internet connection. Which is why it’s first on our list.
- Change Server Location
At times you can encounter traffic on your VPN which hinders the speed. The further away the VPN server is, the slower the internet will be since physically the VPN server will be far from your actual geolocation. To overcome that you need to choose a VPN server nearest to your location making your internet speed faster.
- Modify VPN Protocol Settings:
First, let’s know why VPN may slow internet speed. VPN software has a particular port number which uses specific protocols such as (UDP TCP) and networks prevent the speed of certain protocols. It’s advised to check the protocol being used and switch between them, for example, SSTP L2TP, OpenVPN etc. Make sure you switch to the fastest protocol to get the highest possible speed.
- Adjust Your Encryption Level
What does encryption do? Every piece of data which leave or enters your device is encrypted and decrypted. Imagine thousands of data packets entering and leaving your computer making your system lag slowdown in the process and hinder the internet speed. For that its recommended to change the encryption level. Switch from IKEv2/IPsec to L2TP/IPsec and see if the issues remain.
- Firewalls and Security Concerns
Whenever something is being scanned or checked, internet speed is hindered. I’m sure you’ve seen lags when a new Update is in progress while browsing the web. Likewise, antivirus and Firewalls slows down the connection when it scans packets of information leading to lags and High Ping in the speed. Try temporarily disabling this tool in future to see if the VPN speed is boosted.
Note: If still you are getting low speed then follow the tips given below to enhance your VPN speed.
- Switch to Wired Connection
At times the traffic or the amount of people using the shared channel reduces the internet speed as the speed is re-routed towards multiple users. Instead try to use a wired connection on your network, which will increase your internet speed.
- Restart your router:
I’m sure very few users know router may influence the speed of your VPN. And all you need to do is just turn off the power behind the box and turn it on. Why can it be a cause? Usually the router or modem may hinder the speed because of memory leaks it causes, which needs a boot up to fix it. In most cases VPN isn’t suitable if its setup on your router. It’s suggested to use VPN on your device to avoid lags.
- Restart Your Devices
Lastly, computer being a machine may need an old-fashioned restart to optimize its speed which could influence the VPN swiftness. Leading to a lag-free content browsed on the web.
These steps will help make your VPN connection to the internet that much faster. Good luck!