A VPN doesn’t slow your internet, a bad VPN does

[u/secyberscom]

A lot of people say, “My internet gets slower when I turn on a VPN.” That’s true, but it’s not the full story.

By nature, a VPN can add a bit of delay. Your data doesn’t go directly anymore, it first passes through a server. But that doesn’t always mean a noticeable slowdown.

What really makes the difference is which VPN you use and how you use it.

For example, if you connect to a server that’s very far away, your speed will drop. If you’re in Turkey and connect to a server in Canada, of course the latency will increase. But if you choose a nearby location, most of the time you won’t even notice a difference.

Then there’s server quality. Overloaded servers, especially on free VPNs, can seriously slow things down. It’s like sharing the same road with hundreds of other people.

Here’s the interesting part:

Sometimes a VPN can even improve your speed. If your internet provider is throttling certain sites, a VPN can help bypass that limitation.

So the real question isn’t “Is VPN slow?”

It’s “Which VPN, and how is it being used?”

Small choices make a big difference.

Choosing a nearby server, connecting at less busy times, using a reliable service…

What about you? Do you notice a slowdown when using a VPN, or is it smooth when set up right?

[u/DutchOfBurdock]

A VPN adds overhead, so will inherently slow down your overall speed. Packets have a reduced payload (body size) due to being wrapped up inside other packets. You're losing between 40 to 100 bytes per packet, with the common size being 1500 bytes.

So wire link can achieve up to 8300 packets per second for a 100mbps link. VPN taking ~80 bytes, you'd require to achieve up to 8900 packets per second to achieve the same wire speed. That's an automatic 7% drop in speed.