VPN recommendation for gaming

[cicisey]

I appreciate if you could recommend VPN services for gaming. The service should be quality and free of of lag. I have used PureVPN so far but recently I have experienced way too much lag.

 

[CaptNumbNutz]

Why the hell do you need a VPN for multiplayer gaming? Activating a regional game version when you are out of region I could see, but multiplayer? That's just asking for trouble. VPN's aren't optimized for that shit and all you are doing is adding yet another link in your chain to connect to the server.

 

[Ocellaris]

For the best gaming experience don't use a VPN. It is pretty rare when a VPN would be a benefit to gaming.

 

[Nettwerk]

A VPN would be pretty smart for game streamers but your going to have a bad time in multiplayer games.

 

[cicisey]

I have tried VPN in gaming, and some services were just fine.
I need VPN because I somehow need to re-route my connection from my university to the game servers. Without VPN, I experience something like a package loss, so to say. So I need to fix this.

 

[Converge]

Can't use my VPN for gaming. Gives me major ping spikes. I used PIA.

 

[FnordMan]

I have tried VPN in gaming, and some services were just fine.
I need VPN because I somehow need to re-route my connection from my university to the game servers. Without VPN, I experience something like a package loss, so to say. So I need to fix this.

A VPN won't magically fix packet loss. It can only make things worse given at best you're introducing more hops and more lag and at worst you're tunneling UDP traffic from the game over TCP. (major lag there)

 

[cicisey]

A VPN won't magically fix packet loss. It can only make things worse given at best you're introducing more hops and more lag and at worst you're tunneling UDP traffic from the game over TCP. (major lag there)

How could you guys explain that I am not getting kicked out of the game with an error like "connection lost" when I use VPN, but I get kicked out with such an error when I don't use VPN?

 

[VulcaN]

Clearly the guy is able to tunnel out and experience better routing than connecting without the VPN. It's well known that universites shape / manipulate traffic.

I have used VPNs in the past and maintained 80-120ms pings. MMO's would be fine, FPS less so.

 

[NoOther]

A VPN won't magically fix packet loss. It can only make things worse given at best you're introducing more hops and more lag and at worst you're tunneling UDP traffic from the game over TCP. (major lag there)

That isn't exactly true. First, a VPN does not necessarily generate more hops, also a VPN is not necessarily using TCP. You can use both UDP and TCP VPNs. There is a huge misconception about VPNs providing major lag, its all in the implementation and use of the VPN. Often we are used to seeing VPNs setup post architecture design for a network, however VPNs can actually have decent speed when designed with the network as a whole.

How could you guys explain that I am not getting kicked out of the game with an error like "connection lost" when I use VPN, but I get kicked out with such an error when I don't use VPN?

What might explain your issues is that your network provider has chosen to limit access to certain services, such as games. When you use a VPN it is harder for that network to see what service you are actually using, and therefore, for you, it is better. However, this could also be seen as circumventing the network's policies. A lot of places do not like excessive VPN use as there are possible ramifications to the company for allowing illegal activities on their network, and VPNs are one such way that people oftentimes will get away with that. Excessive VPN use is a pretty sure way to get your network usage audited and analyzed. That being said, many universities are fairly lax about VPN policies.

Also note that the University could also be limiting bandwidth by path. If a lot of users are playing the same games or using the same pathway that you are trying to use, it could be causing a bottleneck and some of your packets might be getting denied or alt routed causing your issues. When you use the VPN, you are altering this route, thus avoiding at least some of the bottleneck.

There could be a number of other reasons too, but these are some of the most likely suspects these days.

 

[NoOther]

Btw, as for alternatives to PureVPN for gaming purposes, you could try ExpressVPN or VyprVPN. If you want more security you could try IPVanish or AirVPN. Just note that if you really want speed and service, you will have to pay for all of these.

 

[grunwald]

I appreciate if you could recommend VPN services for gaming. The service should be quality and free of of lag. I have used PureVPN so far but recently I have experienced way too much lag.

I have used FlyVPN with very good results. ExpressVPN is good also.

I actually get basically no ping increase when I connect to a VPN in the same city as the game server, and this with sub 30 ping times as well.

 

[Yippee38]

I can think of a reason to use VPN for multiplayer gaming: To be able to multi-box on games that try to prevent multi-boxing.

 

[Cmustang87]

You need to be careful when using VPN services for gaming, especially with MMOs as you could end up locking your account out due to logging into various regions and IPs with the same account. I had an issue with Wildstar where it wouldn't even accept my 2 factor auth when using PIA.

 

[thedocta45]

Did you already call your schools networking department and ask for them to fix it?

That's what we did when we couldn't play CS without horrible packet loss, and lag.

Worst case they say no best case they fix it.

 

[alifaizan]

VPNs rarely Optimize your speeds for gaming you need to choose a region that is located close to you or you will just get lags. If you are playing on Steam then I would suggest that you get IPVanish because I have talked to their support and they have informed me that they own a few servers of steam. This means that they can optimize your speeds but its not guaranteed.

 

[MAGAT]

i don't think there is 1 best vpn service when it comes to speed and latency.

it really depends on what city you are in what network the vpn provider has in that area. the provider's network performance can have large variations in performance from city to city.

basically, you are just going to have to test them yourself. most vpns offer a trial.

 

[RanceJustice]

I am most familiar with VPNs that focus on privacy/securiy, but luckily there are several of them that also offer high speed connectivity and many servers that will likely give you a low latency connection. I would look into...


Proxy.sh
AirVPN
BlackVPN
NordVPN (which is HQ'ed in Panama, NOT a Nordic state, despite the name)
FrootVPN
CryptoStorm.is (one of the best, as far as TOS/Privacy/Security policy wise, but may not have nearby servers especially if you're in the US)

Use OpenVPN technology to connect, which is Free and Open Source, has low overhead and is easy to configure - all of the above providers support it. There are thousands of VPN providers out there and many reviews are biased or don't take into account certain principles. For instance, all of the above I list use open source technologies (OpenVPN), are legally headquartered outside of the US and the Five Eyes, have transparency policies and claim no logging. I would start with Proxy.sh and AirVPN as these both have some good hardware behind them and a ton of servers with tier-1 bandwidth behind them, as well as being relatively easy to set up (Proxy.sh even has an open source custom, zero-configuration OpenVPN client called Safejumper).

Have any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[dgz]

A VPN won't magically fix packet loss. It can only make things worse given at best you're introducing more hops and more lag and at worst you're tunneling UDP traffic from the game over TCP. (major lag there)

Do most games use UDP, though. I know shooters do, but Blizzard has always been TCP and it shows

 

[Charlie Hustle]

Or you can always live off campus, and put your bills in your name (especially cable/high speed internet). Thank me later,

 

[MrGuvernment]

A VPN won't magically fix packet loss. It can only make things worse given at best you're introducing more hops and more lag and at worst you're tunneling UDP traffic from the game over TCP. (major lag there)

VPN's can run over TCP or UDP, it all depends on how it is configured server side, most I have dealt with are defaulted to UDP.

As noted, it doesn't necessarily add more hops it depends on who you get as a provider and where they are located.