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Does A VPN hurt your Internet speed?
INSERT GRAPHIC HEREShort Answer: YES
You can run some speed tests find out for yourself. I like to run 2-3 speed
tests with the VPN in place and take an average. Then turn the VPN off and run another 2-3
tests and take another average. Then compare the two averages.
- When you use a VPN, you are not communicating directly with the destination computer. Instead, you are adding at least one additional 'hop' to your network traffic. The data must go out to the VPN server FIRST and then proceed to the destination. (This is how a VPN hides your IP address.) The extra hop slows you down as your data is traveling an extra distance.
- The speed of the VPN server and the load on the VPN server will be a factor. You may be able to mitigate this somewhat by choosing a faster VPN server.
- Your computer must use the processor in your computer to encrypt the data before sending and decrypt data when receiving. This is additional work and takes time. It will take a little longer if you have an older/slower computer.
I haven't tested every VPN service as there are so many, but all of them
will tend to reduce your Internet speed anywhere between 10-50%
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