How to Improve the Speed of a VPN

Encryption, protocols and routers

One of the reasons for VPNs usually decreasing the speed of an internet connection is because of the encryption that is being applied so that the user’s information is always protected. The most common level is usually a fixed 256-bit encryption, but some providers allow for a lighter encryption such as 128-bit, which puts lets pressure on the connection and therefore increases the speed. Those that don’t allow the altering of encryption levels directly often permit their users to choose between different VPN protocols.

These dictate the balance between encryption and speed, letting users favor one in lieu of the other. The default choice – and the perfect balance – is OpenVPN, but there are alternatives that can offer a solution for slower connections. PPTP is the fastest here, though it is not recommended since it doesn’t encrypt information, therefore leaving it vulnerable to an attack. However, when connected to a safe network and encryption is not required at all, then it can be a good option to boost speeds drastically. In contrast, L2TP is one of the slowest protocols as encryption is heavier and so speed is sacrificed.

Meanwhile, setting up a VPN on DD-WRT or Tomato routers can be tricky, especially for those who are not into much technology, but it’s also a good way to ensure better speeds. The VPN signal source will come directly from the internet router and it’s possible to configure it so that it will always connect to the fastest DNS servers. This eliminates the limit of simultaneous connections using the same account and because no additional configuration is needed on other devices there’s one less program running on the system. In fact, having multiple apps running can drain speed, too, especially if they each use the internet, so it’s advisable to close as many as possible.

World servers and other measures

Likewise, geographical distance to servers also plays an important role, as does the overall state of the internet in the selected country. For instance, it will be much harder for an Australian VPN user to get a decent connection to Germany than a user in a nearby European country, even if the former has the best internet speeds and VPN settings of the two. This explains why it is better to always connect to the closest servers as long as the purpose of the VPN is not to access a blocked website in their local country.

The same applies to regions where the state internet is not up to scratch. Despite geographical proximity, some countries of Europe, Africa and North and South America can have great disparities, so even if an ISP offers good speeds and the protocols and encryption levels have all been configured correctly, it’s still possible to have slower speeds than hoped. In this case, is always best to connect to countries where the internet infrastructure is good enoughfor a VPN whenever possible.