VPN technology is becoming a defining feature of a world governed by big data. This is one of the reasons the market is projected to be worth almost $34 billion by 2026. There are many reasons that data-driven consumers and businesses are interested in using VPNs. Many people wonder whether they should use VPNs to improve the speed of their Internet connections, which is a growing concern as big data becomes more of a priority.
Can VPNs Improve Internet Data Transmission Speeds?
Big data is shaping the future of the Internet in fascinating ways. The Internet is one of the main reasons that the world is expected to produce over 94 zettabytes of data by the end of this year.
- Advertisement -
The evolution of data has changed our relationship with the Internet. Big data has led to more sophisticated technology, which makes for a much better user experience.
Unfortunately, the growing importance of Internet data has also come at a cost. Internet-based businesses are under greater pressure to create more robust websites. As a result, these sites end up requiring much larger amounts of data. This might not be an issue for all consumers, but those with poor Internet connections might not be able to load websites with such large amounts of data.
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) offers a lot of benefits because there are many things you can do with it. It can help you achieve online security, improve privacy and access geo-restricted online content from anywhere. Apart from that, VPNs can also help you increase your internet connection speed, but it depends upon a lot of factors.
There’s a general conception that VPNs encrypt traffic to offer a safe and private connection, and it leads to a tradeoff between performance and security. So you might experience slow speeds.
However, that is not the entire truth. VPN’s do affect your connection speeds because of data encryption, but they can help you get the maximum internet speed in other ways. However, keep in mind that a VPN does not magically improve your internet speed as it also depends upon your connection.
- Advertisement -
Does a VPN make your internet connection faster?
There is a common phenomenon called ISP throttling that affects your connection speeds. In other words, you would be able to load online data much more quickly. ISP throttling is when your Internet Service Provider (ISP) slows down your internet speed. Can a VPN bypass ISP throttling? First, let’s look at why ISPs throttle speeds.
One reason why you might be getting slow internet speed is that your ISP might be throttling your bandwidth. It is done for a lot of reasons. If you are playing online games on your PC, streaming videos, or even downloading large torrent files, you will notice your speed getting slower over time. This lag can become a lot worse as platforms become more data intensive and your connection speed doesn’t improve. Well, you can blame your ISP for that.
ISPs slow down your data transmission speeds because they want to avoid network congestion, or some even do it because of deals with websites. For example, if your ISP has a deal with any site like Netflix, you will have good speed while using that site, but if you try to stream on any other platform, you will suffer from buffering and lag.
What’s more frustrating is that when you contact your ISP, they will blame bad internet speed on factors such as technical issues, maintenance, or peak hours. Despite this, ISP throttling is legal considering the concept of Net Neutrality.
If you are using a VPN, it will mask your online activities so your ISP cannot see what you are doing online, meaning consistent speeds. With a VPN, you enjoy streaming, playing online games, and downloading large files without any issues.
- Advertisement -
How can you increase internet speeds with a VPN?
If you are using a VPN and still face constant buffering, slow download speeds and other slow speed issues, here are a few strategies to help you increase internet speeds.
1. Switch VPN Server Location
If you have connected to a VPN server but are getting slow speeds, it’s time to change the server location. As a rule of thumb, always connect to a server that is close to your geo-location. The farther the VPN server is located, the slower the speeds.
When you connect to a VPN server that is located far away from your location, your internet traffic will take more time to reach its destination. For example, if you are located in the UK, you don’t want to connect to a server in Australia because it will affect your connection speeds.
When you connect to a VPN, your data travels through that server before reaching its final destination. A large distance means the traffic will have to cover a longer distance which ultimately results in latency.
2. Change VPN Protocols
Another strategy to boost your internet speeds with a VPN is to change the protocol you are using. Most protocols offer higher encryption, which affects your speed. So, if you want maximum speeds, you can connect to a less secure protocol like PPTP, which will improve your internet speeds.
- Advertisement -
Currently, the fastest VPN protocol available is WireGuard. You can also choose from IKEv2, L2TP/ IPSec, and OpenVPN. Both OpenVPN and WireGuard offer fast speeds.
3. Check your Network Connection
If the above strategies have not helped improve your internet speed, you should check your Wi-Fi connection. Check your Wi-Fi connection speed and bandwidth. Bandwidth is a crucial factor that affects your internet speed. Make sure you have high bandwidth. If your bandwidth is 10 MBPS, it means that you can only receive 10 Mb per second.
You can perform a speed test to check your internet speed. You can also check the internet speed on your ISP contract form. ISP’s generally limit your bandwidth towards the end of the month if you are reaching your monthly limit. In such a case, you can contact your ISP and confirm your bandwidth and monthly data limit.
VPNs Can Be Useful for Improving Online Data Transmission Speeds
Data transmission is becoming a concern for many people with poor Internet connections. This problem is going to worsen as sites become more data intensive. Fortunately, VPNs and other tools can do a lot to help.
In short, a VPN does have a positive impact on your connection speeds. A VPN can help you address internet speed issues such as bandwidth throttling, masking your online activities, and changing server locations. If the strategies mentioned above do not improve your internet speed, you can check your internet connection and reboot your device.