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VPN express and gaming online Ping

hello , i was wondering uf any of you use vpn apps for hoyr internet edpecially gaming, on fifa i im always under 33 ping with 1 gig xfinity internet, i have rax200 router i bought from best buy before ps5 came put,.

iv been searching around on youtube etc but i couldnt find any firm info on this, i wanted to try express vpn or see if i can hit under 20 ping on gaming, any replies would be appreciated

( sorry admins if its off topic- delete if you must shiy sorry for online miss spelling)
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Adding a VPN service to your connection will always add additional latency, meaning higher ping times. The extent of the added latency will be a combination of factors - such as the relative physical distance between you and the VPN server, and the relative physical distance between the VPN server and the server hosting your game. Or how overloaded a VPN server is (since it's connection is shared with other subscribers). This is because your computer (or game console) will first connect to the VPN server which will then relay your connection to the game server.

Of course, if the VPN service you're looking into offers a trial then no better "real world" test than to sign up and try it yourself!
 
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RespawnX

Member
VPN won‘t reduce your distance to servers. It even adds some ping as your connection is redirected through servers which may differ from your end destination. So the Information has additional travel time.
 

Excess

Member
All variable.

I would never play on a VPN for a competitive game, but that could also be placebo, as I have two very local servers with my VPN. Anecdotally, though, I once forgot to turn mine off, and I never noticed it because I was still getting the same ping as I normally do on COD. But again, I would never knowingly do that.
 

A.Romero

Member
That ping is not bad at all. You don't need a VPN for gaming unless you are trying to circumvent something.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
Can't see why you would want to use a VPN for online gaming unless you are trying to change your region. It will def add lag/ping
 
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RaZoR No1

Member
no there is afaik no way a VPN can reduce your ping.

Best way to make sure to get the best ping as possible is go wired instead of wireless.
QOS can maybe help you to avoid any disturbances from other internet activites/devices while gaming.

Everything else is up to the ISP / how far you are from the servers and the Internet Type you are using
 
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01011001

Banned
In 99.9% of situations a VPN would only add to, not reduce ping.

what do you mean in 99.9% of situations? in precisely 100% of situations it will add lag. there is no situation that would result in it staying the same or getting better.

you add a whole new connection point to the mix, meaning it will take longer for the data to reach the end goal in every situation, even if the VPN would be located exactly in between you and the server you are connected with.
 
Why would you care about reducing from 33ms to 20ms? You're in the top tier of performance already mate. Ignore what you're worrying about and disable the VPN for gaming.

Here are some other easier tips that might help with such an edge gain -
  • use a wired controller instead of wireless
  • don't use WiFi, use wired
  • make sure your TV's game mode is on
  • work on your reaction time
  • check the game you're playing for a performance mode in settings
  • check with your ISP about a gaming mode for your Internet connection/plan
  • update your router settings for QoS (Quality of Service) or DMZ for your PS5
  • check what DNS your console or router is set to, try something more local or game specific server related e.g. Google DNS instead of your ISP then compare your results
  • work on improving your reaction time, it's likely a larger factor than 13ms difference of your OP
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
what do you mean in 99.9% of situations? in precisely 100% of situations it will add lag. there is no situation that would result in it staying the same or getting better.

you add a whole new connection point to the mix, meaning it will take longer for the data to reach the end goal in every situation, even if the VPN would be located exactly in between you and the server you are connected with.

It's theoretically possible to have an improvement.

ISPs sometimes just have shit routing to specific regions for instance, whereas a VPN on a different backbone wouldn't.

It would be rare, but it's possible.
 

BlackTron

Member
My gaming rig is plugged directly into my router with no VPN of any kind. Back in the day I even turned off the firewall for that machine (when I would host Halo games lol). Gaming doesn't benefit in ANY way from adding networking layers to the equation. I do anything I prefer to be on a VPN on a separate laptop, like torrents.
 

Pinski

Neo Member
no there is afaik no way a VPN can reduce your ping.

Best way to make sure to get the best ping as possible is go wired instead of wireless.
QOS can maybe help you to avoid any disturbances from other internet activites/devices while gaming.

Everything else is up to the ISP / how far you are from the servers and the Internet Type you are using
That's not entirely true at all.

VPNs aren't going to lower your latency for short-distances(basically anything within country), but if you are connecting to servers that are outside of your country or region(if Europe), your ISP is unlikely to have very good connectivity to Hosting locations(Azure, GCP, AWS, OVH, etc.) for latency. For example, from Seattle to Tokyo, they might route you down to San Francisco then to Tokyo, instead of directly to Tokyo. However, there might be a VPN endpoint that's in Seattle that sits on a different ISP that has direct connectivity to the game server in Tokyo.

Now, if you're going from Seattle to San Francisco? Yeah, that VPN is a waste of time, as the connectivity in country is probably just fine.
 

RaZoR No1

Member
That's not entirely true at all.

VPNs aren't going to lower your latency for short-distances(basically anything within country), but if you are connecting to servers that are outside of your country or region(if Europe), your ISP is unlikely to have very good connectivity to Hosting locations(Azure, GCP, AWS, OVH, etc.) for latency. For example, from Seattle to Tokyo, they might route you down to San Francisco then to Tokyo, instead of directly to Tokyo. However, there might be a VPN endpoint that's in Seattle that sits on a different ISP that has direct connectivity to the game server in Tokyo.

Now, if you're going from Seattle to San Francisco? Yeah, that VPN is a waste of time, as the connectivity in country is probably just fine.
Even this makes IMO no sense.
Normal Internet connection takes the shortest possible way to connect to the server.
VPN takes always a detour + processing and bandwith limits from the VPN server.
Only option is maybe to change servers (as you mentioned) if in your region there is a potato server, which is a very rare case
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Even this makes IMO no sense.
Normal Internet connection takes the shortest possible way to connect to the server.
VPN takes always a detour + processing and bandwith limits from the VPN server.
Only option is maybe to change servers (as you mentioned) if in your region there is a potato server, which is a very rare case

Except that's not always true, because specific VPN's such as WTFast are specifically made for gaming thats sole intention is to lower the number of hops required. A real world example of this is i used to play FFXIV which had its European servers in Canada for some insane reason at launch. One of the trials Titan Hard was literally impossible for me because by the time the attack had displayed on my screen he had already landed and I would be rubber banded off the stage for an instant loss. Trialed WTFast and cleared him first time, attacks finally showed before they happened, the only way it COULD do this is lowering hops and therefore latency. They own a private network that only takes "gaming traffic" and honestly it worked for me in my time of need, these days games have servers within my region so it's a none issue, but for things hosted halfway across the world it honestly works.

For what the OP is looking for however I don't think it would work in this circumstance.
 
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RaZoR No1

Member
Except that's not always true, because specific VPN's such as WTFast are specifically made for gaming thats sole intention is to lower the number of hops required. A real world example of this is i used to play FFXIV which had its European servers in Canada for some insane reason at launch. One of the trials Titan Hard was literally impossible for me because by the time the attack had displayed on my screen he had already landed and I would be rubber banded off the stage for an instant loss. Trialed WTFast and cleared him first time, attacks finally showed before they happened, the only way it COULD do this is lowering hops and therefore latency. They own a private network that only takes "gaming traffic" and honestly it worked for me in my time of need, these days games have servers within my region so it's a none issue, but for things hosted halfway across the world it honestly works.

For what the OP is looking for however I don't think it would work in this circumstance.
Looks like today I learned something new again :D
Again with a very special use case, but if there should be any scenario in the future which resambles yours, now I know waht to do👍
 
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