There are many different use cases for VPNs. Virtual private networks are mostly used to maintain privacy and security during online activities. However, due to various features, VPNs are also used in other applications, such as gaming. In this case, gamers may notice that if they are gaming using a VPN, there appear to be some sporadic changes in various game-affecting factors, such as ping, packet loss, and latency. But what are those things, and how exactly does a VPN affect them?
What Is Ping and Latency?
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Ping is basically a type of signal sent to check how well the connection between a device and a server is established. When a ping gets sent, it first goes from your device to, for example, a game server, and then it gets sent back to your device. This timeframe between a ping being sent and received back is measured in milliseconds. To illustrate, let’s say you shout to someone across the room and measure how long it takes for them to respond – your shout is the ping signal, and the person hearing the shout is a game server.
When picking a server for your online game, you can often see the ping measurement next to all the data, such as player count, server name, etc. It shows how quickly your commands will be registered after you do them. For example, if ping is 20ms, it means that it will take 20ms for your jump, walk, use, or any other command, for that matter, to happen.
In gaming, especially competitive shooters, ping is crucial as it can make or break your advantage. Someone with a lower ping will be able to take action more quickly than someone with a higher ping. Imagine having your shot registered only after 200 ms while your opponent’s shot is registered in just 20 ms. Even if you press the button at the same time, your opponent will be the one who deals damage.
Latency is a total measurement of the time it takes for data to travel from your computer (or any other device) to the game’s server. Funnily enough, ping just happens to be one of the measurements for latency. However, whereas ping is only concerned with the signal itself, latency includes all types of delays in the measurement, such as routing, processing, and so on. High latency means sluggish movements and delayed actions, just as with high ping.
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How a VPN Affects Ping and Latency?
When you use a VPN, your traffic gets encrypted first, then sent to a VPN server, and only then to the game server. This obviously means that your data takes a longer time to travel, and that causes an increase in ping and latency. Considering that ping is a measurement of how quickly data goes from point A to point B and back, adding extra stops means a longer timespan. Any extra distance and extra processing time translates directly into increased latency and ping.
Besides that, the encryption process itself is a cause for slowdown, too. As it is probably the main feature of any VPN service, this step is completely unavoidable. Thankfully, advanced encryption protocols such as WireGuard make the encryption process faster, meaning that ping increases solely due to encryption can sometimes be barely (if at all) noticeable. Mysterium VPN for gaming uses WireGuard protocol exclusively, which can make your gaming sessions safer and with little to no decrease in game quality.
There is a brighter side to using a VPN for gaming, though. When it comes to internet service providers (ISPs) and VPNs, a VPN can, in fact, improve your ping and latency, and thus make your gaming experience smoother. Firstly, it is possible that your ISP is using inefficient routing when connecting you to a game server. This means that it takes longer for data to travel between your device and the server, increasing the ping and latency. A VPN can reroute this traffic through a more efficient and optimized network, bypassing the issue caused by the ISP. The same rule can be applied in those cases where a lot of users are online. At these peak times, your ISP might route your connection through a congested line, slowing everything down. A VPN can find a route that is less congested, making things smoother.
Finally, some ISPs employ a tactic called throttling. Basically, if your ISP detects that you are using the internet for gaming, it might decide to slow down your internet connection, ruining your gaming experience. A VPN, however, encrypts your traffic and makes your activities invisible. This means your ISP can’t see that you are currently gaming and can not throttle your traffic.
What Is Packet Loss?
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Packet loss is somewhat self-explanatory: when data travels through the network, it does so in specific chunks called packets. If a packet loss occurs, it means that a certain chunk was lost on its way to the destination. This is usually caused by traffic congestion, hardware failure, or signal interference.
To illustrate, let’s say you are waiting for five packages to be delivered to your home, but one package falls out of the truck while on its way. That fallen package is a packet, and the road the truck took is the network.
How does it work in gaming? Have you ever seen other players seemingly teleport all over the place or make weird movements that should not be there? That is caused by packet loss. When a player moves, packets transmit data of point A, point B, point C, and point D. If packets containing data of B and C points are missing, the player, in your view, teleports from A straight to D as if it were magic.
Understandably, packet loss can ruin your gaming experience, regardless of whether it is a competitive match or not. Even with low ping and latency, packet loss can still occur and cause trouble.
VPNs and Packet Loss
In a similar vein to ping and latency, VPN use can both reduce packet loss or increase it. Firstly, a VPN can stabilize your connection, especially if your ISP has issues like signal degradation or packet filtering, thus reducing packet loss and improving your performance. Besides, certain VPNs have very advanced infrastructure that has servers optimized for gaming, which means more direct routing between your device and the game server, further reducing packet loss.
Finally, if your goal is to connect to gaming servers far away from home, a VPN can provide a more direct route, as opposed to your ISP, which could potentially jump through multiple hops before reaching the destination. And with a more direct route, the packet loss is further reduced.
On the other hand, there are some cases where a VPN could increase packet loss and make your gaming experience worse. One such case would be the VPN server load. Though most VPNs will pick a server that’s less congested and thus faster, it could happen that you get connected to an overloaded server. This means poor connectivity and, thus, increased packet loss.
Another case would be physical distance. Yes, in some cases, connecting to a faraway VPN server to reach a certain gaming server across the world could be helpful; in other cases, it can cause issues. As a rule of thumb, the further away the server is, the poorer the connection will be. And the poorer the connection, the more packet loss incidents happen.
VPN for Gaming: Yes or No?
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As you can tell by now, a VPN for gaming has its pros and cons. Whether you should use one depends solely on your needs. If your ISP tends to throttle your traffic when it sees you are gaming, you experience poor connectivity when connected to a game server, you experience jitter and packet loss – go for a VPN right away as it may improve your performance. Also, a VPN can spoof your location, giving you access to region-locked games or servers in different parts of the world.
On the other hand, distant connections, poor VPN server quality, and congestion can make your gaming experience terrible. Bear in mind, though, that issues related to server quality are usually found within free VPN providers that can not keep a strong infrastructure running well.
Finally, there is a question of privacy and security. The world is interconnected and threats are everywhere. A VPN helps you stay secure by encrypting your data. A gaming VPN can also help you defend against DDoS attacks. All of this for a small price of a potential ping increase. Security, though, is a decision to be made purely by you. In most cases, this extra layer of protection is not necessary for gaming scenarios, but one might argue that it doesn’t hurt to stay safe.
All in all, a VPN does have an effect on packet loss, ping, and latency. In some cases, it improves the performance while in others it tends to make the situation worse. There’s only one way to find out how it would go for you – by trying a gaming VPN yourself!
