The story of Fortnite is one for the ages. The original game was a team-focused, base-building, zombie horde-killing survival affair that failed to catch mainstream attention. But with the immense popularity of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the decision to switch strategy and utilize the game’s existing assets to create their own spin on the new and intriguing battle royale genre must’ve been an easy one for the developers to make. No one could have predicted the huge success that Fortnite has become, but the combination of fun, cartoony graphics and simple yet compelling gameplay is likely the deciding factor that made it such a phenomenon.
Nowadays when someone says Fortnite they actually mean Fortnite Battle Royale, the free-to-play spin-off that’s the reigning fad on the internet. The game is played by millions of gamers, joined by non-stop streamers on Twitch including stars and celebrities such as Drake, Travis Scott and Kim DotCom to name just a few. And yet the game isn’t flawless; in fact, the experience can be enhanced with thoughtful use of a VPN.
If someone knows the ins and outs of a VPN they can use it to elevate online gaming. When you are connected to a server located in another country the data must reach a farther destination, which in turn slows the internet down a little bit. If your connection speed is already slow this could be severely detrimental, while for people who own fast broadband will likely find the network tax is barely noticeable. However, if your ISP is throttling your bandwidth, then deploying a VPN will circumvent this restriction and free up any lost speed. In this scenario you win back more than what is sacrificed.
Another useful implementation of a VPN helps reduce latency in the game, which is something that every Fortnite player can appreciate. The trick requires some experimentation, but if you manage to find a VPN server that shares the same location with the game server and also set a high-speed encryption protocol, then the chances are high that you’ll experience a decrease in those frustrating sudden lag spikes.
Lastly, Fortnite fans have demonstrated on numerous occasions that a VPN is a handy tool to have in order to play in schools or libraries. After teachers realized that their students are playing the game on mobile using the school’s public Wi-Fi, many schools have activated a block. What they’ve forgotten is that virtual private network apps are also available for phones as well, so kids can quickly return to the battle royale.
Fortnite has its fair share of issues and the developers often fail to resolve them in a timely fashion, which isn’t surprising considering the size of the player base that they have to deal with. One particularly relevant example that many Fortnite fans have run into is the infamous VPN error message, which stated: “You were removed from the match due to your IP, VPN, machine, or cheating”. If you are unlucky enough to be caught in the company’s crossfire they will smite you with an IP ban , meaning that you will unable to connect even after reinstalling the game or creating a new account.
While this might seems fair enough, many innocent players have suffered this fate even though they had never used a VPN nor had they cheated. Apparently Fortnite casts the same judgement on you if your connection speed is unreliable or the lag is constantly high, effectively putting people with janky internet into the same category as hackers – even though the message hasn’t been altered to provide an accurate explanation and causing confusion among gamers.
The situation seems like a minor misunderstanding perhaps, but people being blocked from playing thanks to temporarily having high lag might end being unable to enjoy their favorite game for weeks, months or even forever, depending on the scale of the ban. Ironically the solution to this block can be solved by the very same service that Fortnite accuses innocent gamers with using; activating a VPN switches your blacklisted IP a clean one, therefore eliminating the barriers that are stopping you from playing the game. It’s against the rules, admittedly, but if you were unfairly banned already anyway then what’s the difference?
VPN providers are well aware of the fact that gamers might turn to their service in such a dire situation, and so they ensured that setting up an encrypted connection is a walk in the park and doesn’t require any technical know-how. However, it’s important to note that you will need a VPN and not a proxy. The two are might seem similar since both of them change your IP address but the truth is that VPNs have a far wider set of features, including the ability to encrypt your data transmission and negate any bandwidth throttling from ISPs.
Establishing a VPN on your computer, smartphone or router is rather easy since most companies offer a handy app that does the heavy lifting for you. When running the app for the first time you’ll be greeted with a screen that presents the list of available servers; make sure to pick the destination carefully because the system might autoconnect to the closest country – which in the case of playing Fortnite might not be beneficial to you. The other important setting you might wish to pay attention to is the encryption protocol. The higher the ciphering level is the slower the connection speed will be. The app usually indicates which option is deemed the fastest but if not then try opting for the PPTP protocol.
Choosing the best VPN to enhance your play session in Fortnite is no easy task since every provider will tell you that they are the best. Still, don’t just look at the price tag, instead you’ll want to keep an eye out for some important features. First and foremost, it’s wise to seek out a service that has an established global presence with multiple servers in every major country. Having a large assortment of shared IPs to borrow from is equally important because Fortnite might end up blacklisting addresses that belong to VPN companies.
When it comes to the connection though, the speed is heavily affected by the servers of the VPN and therefore make sure that the bandwidth they provide is both lightning-quick and unlimited. The strength of the encryption isn’t too relevant when it comes to Fortnite but it’s a definitely a plus if the service claims to have protocols best suited for streaming or gaming. On a final note, it’s always a good idea to favor VPN providers who offer a zero-log policy.
If all this has managed to fluster you, don’t worry. There are some great VPN providers whose feature sets are already complementary for your Fortnite sessions.
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