Players of online games are always looking for two things: they need a fast internet connection to download new games and patches more quickly, and they need low latency. This is essentially the reaction speed of their internet connection, and governs how quickly the moves players make with their character are reflected in the game world. Lower latency means less of a gap between pulling a trigger and making the shot, and can make the difference between a headshot and a total miss.
And while using a VPN while gaming isn’t essential, if you’re looking for a way to improve your latency and ping scores then it can help. You’ll need to choose the right one, however: the nature of a VPN is that it routes your internet traffic away from your ISP’s servers and through its own. If those servers are slower than the ones you’d usually be using, then you’ll get no speed increase. If the game you want to play offers a network ping check, it can be worth using it with the VPN switched on and off to see what difference it makes.
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VPN advantages
It’s not just latency advantages that a VPN can bring to gaming. A VPN’s ability to mask your geographical location means you can access gaming content that’s been geolocked, or is only available in certain countries. It also allows you to potentially join gaming servers outside your area, which may be quieter – and therefore running more quickly – thanks to the time difference. Some servers are quieter at night, when players are asleep, while others are running at their best during the day while players are out at work or school, and joining one of these can shave valuable milliseconds off your ping result.
Likewise, if your ISP is one of those that throttles gaming traffic – and it does happen, as companies try to avoid large amounts of game data from slowing down the experience for their other customers – then disguising the fact you’re playing a fast-paced FPS using a VPN’s encryption can help. If you’re not sure whether your internet provider is deliberately slowing down your connection when you play online, try playing with the VPN switched off, then on, and seeing if there’s a difference.
The increased privacy that a VPN can bring can have other benefits too, though it won’t necessarily make your connections any faster. Occasionally, online game players can take things a bit too far, and launch harassment campaigns against their rivals. Protecting your location with a VPN means you’re less likely to suffer from this, as you can’t be identified and attacks can’t be directed against your IP address. Instead, any attempt at a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack will hit the VPN’s IP address instead, something that can be changed easily and which is more likely to have robust defences against bots.
Check the small print
It’s worth checking a game’s terms and conditions before you dive in while connected to a VPN, as some game developers consider their use to be against the rules, and can land you with a suspension or even an outright ban if you’re caught. This stems from abusive players, or cheaters, using VPNs to circumvent bans against their IP addresses, so find out beforehand whether you’re going to get in trouble.
This aside, a VPN can be a very useful thing for a gamer. You’ll need to do your research first, and sign up for one that offers gamer-centric features and can improve your latency, but once you’ve found one that will reduce your ping and protect your privacy, you’ll never go back.
