In a world of increasing cyber threats, one cannot understate the importance of VPN services. VPNs are not only crucial for protecting yourself online but also for others whom you interact with; thus protecting your online activity from other third party websites.
When it comes to gaming, you might be wondering why you need the best VPN for gaming at all. Like everything else, certain games are not always available in every country across the globe due to geo-restrictions. Moreover, both ISP throttling and DDoS attacks can seriously affect your gaming experience. In fact, DDoS attacks are so widespread nowadays that numerous players have tried using multiple preventative guidelines, which includes always running a VPN while playing.
As experts in the field of VPNs, we realize not every provider offers the same standards of performance, while looking for the best VPN for gaming we have analyzed hundreds of VPNs.
Speed is crucial when playing online games, but so is security. Most gamers think that using a VPN, which requires encrypting your internet traffic and routing it through a server located miles away, can affect the game’s performance and lead to higher ping time and slower internet connection. However, this is not true for the best VPN for gaming.
You see, there are different types of VPN with different levels of protection, different features, different server locations, and different connection speeds. Choosing the best VPN for gaming requires looking at these VPN options and testing the features required to run the game.
What Is a VPN?
Before we go any further, let us first define what a VPN is, what it does, and how it benefits gamers. A virtual private network or VPN ensures that your internet traffic and online data remain private. When you connect to the internet via your VPN, your traffic is encrypted, then passes through a secure tunnel towards a secure VPN server.
From there, you are then sent to your destination website, which only sees your traffic coming from the VPN server and not your original location. If you choose a server located in a different country, it will seem as if you are using the internet from the country where the server is located. Aside from securing your internet session, using a VPN also hides your IP address, provides access to blocked content, and allows users to bypass restrictions and censorship.
Using a VPN has a lot of benefits, even for gamers. But not all VPNs are made for gaming. You need to choose the best VPN for gaming that would provide you with the best experience and not affect the game performance. This article will show you what factors to look into and what you need to watch out for when choosing the best VPN for gaming.
Why Use a VPN for Gaming?
Although some gamers are concerned about the speed and latency changes, choosing the correct VPN should resolve this issue. There are many VPNs today that offer great connection speeds aside from the other benefits.
Of course, one of the main reasons why you would want to use a VPN is for security purposes. ISPs are always monitoring your online activities, particularly online gaming and other activities that consume too much data. If your ISP detects heavy data usage, it can throttle your bandwidth and affect your gaming experience.
With the recent online privacy legislation, ISPs can also be prompted by authorities to keep a log of your internet activities and hand it over to government agencies. This means that these government agencies now have access to your browsing history, search history, and other online activities. With a VPN, you can rest assured that anything you do online are kept away from the prying eyes of your ISP and other third parties.
Another reason why you might want to use the best VPN for gaming is to get unrestricted access to games. Using a VPN enables gamers to unblock games that are geo-restricted and access servers that are locked to specific regions. With a VPN, you can basically play anything you want from any part of the world. Is Fortnite banned in your school network? Are mobile games blocked at work? VPN lets you access these restricted content easily and conveniently.
A VPN can also help protect you against DDoS attacks, which is a common form of attack against online opponents. DDoS attacks are widely used in competitive gaming and the only way to protect yourself is by using a VPN.
What Factors Should You Consider When Choosing the Best VPN for Gaming?
Not all VPNs are created equal. Some VPNs focus more on speed, while others put emphasis on security. When choosing a VPN, it is important to choose a VPN that can perfectly balance all these factors, so that you can enjoy the best gaming experience. Here are some of the factors you need to consider when picking the best VPN for gaming:
- Speed. When you play an online game, there should be reliable and fast communication between your device and the game server to ensure that the game runs smoothly. It can be extremely annoying if there is any form of interruption or the internet connection is very slow, especially for very competitive games. To enjoy the game the most, you need to minimize latency and ping rate as much as possible. And you can only do this if you have a fast internet connection. To check your internet speed, you can do a speed test with and without a VPN. Choose a VPN that does not slow down the connection when the service is turned on. You can also opt for VPNs that focus on speed, such as FastestVPN.
- Security. Another factor you should look at when choosing a VPN for gaming is the privacy and security provided by the service. How strong is the encryption protocol being used and what other security features does the VPN service offer? For stronger protection, choose VPNs that use 256-AES encryption, especially if you need to watch out for DDoS attacks from your competitors. There are also VPN services that offer flexible security solutions to help you balance speed and privacy. For instance, you can choose to use a lower level of encryption to maximize your speed for gaming. And if you need to access banking services, you can max out the protection level to keep your data secured.
- Anti-Leak Protection. Some VPNs unknowingly leak your DNS requests or traffic, which might compromise your identity and defeat the purpose of using a VPN. If you want to make sure, you can check for IP and DNS leaks using online tools. You might also want to consider choosing VPNs with built-in anti-leak protection to be sure.
- Multi-Platform Support. Some gamers play online games on their computers, while others prefer to play using mobile devices. Some games are also designed for specific platforms and you might need to switch devices, depending on the game you want to play. A VPN that can be used on multiple platforms has a huge advantage over those that focus on a particular platform. This means that you can switch to any device while playing games, and still be protected by your VPN. It is best if you can find a VPN that offers multi-platform support and allows simultaneous use on multiple devices.
- Ease of Use. Before installing the VPN client, make sure to run a PC cleaning software or an Android cleaner first. Once installed, you have to look at the accessibility, design, and usability of the interface. Is the VPN app easy to configure? Are the important features sufficiently highlighted? How many clicks did you have to make to connect to the server? Is the installation process easy to complete? Is the UI neat and clean? How did the overall performance of the app go? These are some of the questions you need to consider when gauging the interface of the VPN app.
Summary
When it comes to choosing the best VPN for gaming, you need to find the sweet spot between these factors before deciding which VPN service to subscribe to. There are a lot of free VPNs you can download online, but would you really trust them with your data? If you want quality service, you should be prepared to pay for it. You can also take advantage of free trials to gauge which VPN service fits your needs the most.
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