Have you ever wondered if your VPN truly gives you the speeds it promises? In the world of VPNs, speed is essential whether you’re a gamer, a binge-watcher, or an occasional web surfer. But how do you ensure that your VPN speed test is perfect?
Below is a detailed guide that can help you in a VPN speed test for 2024 to get the best outcomes. Let’s jump in!
How to Test Your Internet Speed Properly?
To check internet speed for a VPN speed test, it is first necessary to explain what references should be used. Here’s a quick guide to test VPN connection speed:
- Disconnect from your VPN: We recommend conducting a speed test of the internet connection without a VPN. This is the starting point against which you can make judgments.
- Use a reliable speed test tool: Websites such as Speedtest.net or Fast are good.
- Run the test multiple times: Internet speed can sometimes differ; therefore, it’s better to check it twice or thrice to avoid errors.
- Note down the results: Measure your download speed, upload speed and ping.
Once you have these figures, you will be ready for VPN network speed test, as we will see below.
4 Steps to Test the VPN Speed
As with virtually all VPN apps, assessing the performance of this VPN is simple. Here’s how to test VPN speed:
- Reconnect to your VPN: This must be done by ensuring that you are logged into your PlayStation 3 by a server location that you often do.
- Run the speed test again: Please use the same tool that you used for the initial test of internet speed.
- Compare the results: Compare the normal internet connection speed to the one you get when you conduct a speed test using the VPN.
- Analyze the data: Focus mainly on the download speed, upload speed, latency, or ping.
This internet speed test through VPN will help determine if your VPN is slowing down your connection.
Test Your Speed with the ExpressVPN Speed Test
If you are an ExpressVPN subscriber, they have a dedicated speed check tool you can use right from the application. Here’s how to use it:
- To access the ExpressVPN Premium speed test, launch the ExpressVPN app and navigate to the speed test functionality.
- Choose the locations of the server that you wish to select.
- Carry out the test and go through the outcome features related to the download speed, the upload speed, and the latency.
- Select the fastest server in the selection depending on the results to achieve the best VPN performance.
ExpressVPN’s tool is designed to test VPN speed, giving accurate results tailored to your specific connection. Here are some of the results of the speed tests I conducted:
| Server Location | Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Ping (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 92.34 | 46.78 | 21 |
| Los Angeles | 87.19 | 44.23 | 34 |
| Chicago | 91.56 | 48.34 | 27 |
How to Test Your VPN Connection Stability?
Apart from speed, your VPN connection must be very stable to have a fantastic time online. Here’s how to ensure your VPN connection is stable:
- Check for packet loss: Try tools like PingPlotter to determine if a connection is dropping packets and causing connection hitches.
- Monitor connection drops: Make sure your VPN connection doesn’t disconnect often. If it is, you want to change your server, or if you are using a VPN service, you might want to contact your service provider.
- Use a VPN with reliable uptime: Choose a VPN with which you are likely to spend a lot of time connected, that has a quality that includes high uptime and low downtime.
After the VPN speed test, if you have fast servers, you can unblock various streaming platforms like Peacock TV, Lifetime, Crackle, Hulu, and more.
What Affects the VPN Speed?
Several factors can impact your VPN speed test results:
- Server Distance: The more distant the server is, the slower the connection experiences will be.
- Server Load: Too many users on a server will cut your speed.
- Encryption Levels: This is because, generally, tougher encryption is slower.
- Internet Service Provider (ISP): Speed: Your VPN connection will also be as fast as your ISP speed allows since most VPN providers limit the bandwidth you can use in a given time.
- Network Congestion: During peak times, the speeds are lower.
To improve the VPN speed, you must follow the tips in this guide so that you can enjoy the latest The Mallorca Files Season 3 on Prime Video:
Can I Get a Free VPN That Is Fast?
Free VPNs are quite popular but have minimal features as compared to paid ones. Especially by their speed. Here’s what you need to know:
Free VPNs give fewer servers, and most of the time, they don’t work. However, almost all free VPN have data constraints that reduce speed most of the time, and to control their usage, free VPNs may decide to limit speed. You can check it yourself by doing speed test for VPN.
Many VPNs out there are free. Moreover, they are not likely to provide the user with a fast connection for streaming or gaming. At the same time, using a paid VPN has a lot of advantages. With it’s quick speed servers, you can watch Agents of Mystery Season 1 on Netflix and can enjoy the mystery series.
My Advice for Optimizing VPN Speed
To get the best out of your VPN connection, get on the server nearest to your place; also, wired connections are always faster as compared to Wi-Fi connections. Also update your VPN client frequently and also consider some protocols such as WireGuard that is reputed to offering higher speeds during connection while offering protection.
FAQs
The speed of a VPN depends on the VPN service provider. The speeds should not drop significantly, but they will be reduced to a certain extent due to encryption. However, a quality VPN will throttle this.
A good Mbps on a VPN depends mainly on a user’s internet activities. Thus, to stream at high definition or HD, you require a minimum of 5 Mbps; for Ultra HQ or 4K, you need 25 Mbps and above.
To test your VPN’s speed, you must ensure you are disconnected from the VPN. Then, go to a speed test site to determine the internet connection speed. Reconnect on the VPN and conduct the test again.
ExpressVPN and Surfshark have specific reputations for being quick when accessing servers in the same country or region.
Your VPN can be slow due to server load, high level of encryption, or simply because the server is geographically far from you. Changing to a different server or tweaking some of the settings can do a lot for the speed.
The robustness of a VPN is usually measured based on the encryption option, the number of users on the server, and the connection reliability. A really good VPN would deliver good security.
VPN speed is normally faster when one is connected to a server in a country near his/her location or where the VPN has many server locations.
Routinely, a VPN can improve internet speed due to ISP throttling, but this enhancement is not always guaranteed. It depends on the VPN service provider and the internet service provider that you use.
ExpressVPN, and Surfshark are the fastest VPNs for PC, offering great speed, and reliability.
There are many softwares available to test the speed of a VPN. Luckily, the best ones are Fast and Ookla.
Conclusion
It is essential that you have to regularly make use of a VPN speed test for you to be able to know how fast or slow your VPN service is. Knowing the type of testing and the ability for results means that you can make the most of your VPN for streaming league or for whatever online activity.
But do remember that some loss of speed is always going to happen, however, a good VPN should offer you a fast and secure connection. To avail of the most optimal performance, choose a top-tier VPN service with speed and performance as the top priorities. Also, keep checking the speed test VPN for the best results.