Are you using a VPN and noticing much slower speeds than usual? Read below to understand how VPNs can impact your broadband experience.
VPN networks (see our definition in our Glossary) can serve many purposes for home or work purposes, but they can also greatly reduce your Wi-Fi and Broadband experience.
When you connect to a website, your device creates a connection directly between you and the server where the website lives. This is the most common scenario for all websites and apps.
A VPN adds a “middleman” between your device and the site or app you want to use. Instead of a direct connection, your device first reaches the VPN server. Once reached, the VPN then forwards your connection to the site or app you want to reach. This adds additional ping time to your connection, which can cause buffering and an overall poor Wi-Fi and Broadband experience.
There are several reasons why:
- A VPN is an additional, intermediary step that is normally not needed for your device to reach a website or an app
- Imagine you are in the UK, and you want to visit a site located in Germany, with your VPN active and based in the USA. The request will first go from the UK to the USA, then from the USA back to Germany. Broadband is fast, but the ping time will be impacted as it will need time to cross thousands of miles of cables, and doing so can drastically increase your latency
- Whilst you know exactly the download and upload speeds of your Rebel broadband, using a VPN makes you rely on unknown performances, as you do not know exactly how fast the VPN server is. And more than often, these VPN servers are far from fast!
The solution? Make sure you only use your VPN punctually, and not for all your broadband usage. Always turn it off when you are accessing normal sites / browsing.
If you need a VPN for work, ask your IT department if you can have a VPN setup that does not capture all your internet traffic, but only a handful of sites and application you use with work (e.g. emails)
Don't hesitate to get in touch with our Support team if you need any assistance, we are here to help.