How much speed will I lose when using a VPN?

Many factors can affect the VPN's speed. They include its network size, server load, and distance from the server to your location. Services with more extensive networks can handle big traffic because the servers don’t get overloaded easily. A good example is NordVPN which is so fast that you won’t notice any loss in your speed.

Why should I choose a fast VPN?

A fast VPN will enable you to do more tasks securely and anonymously. For example, you can stream content in high definition without any buffering or lags. Also, if it supports P2P sharing, you can torrent smoothly, even with large files. Moreover, a fast VPN will enable you to play heavy online games such as Fortnite.

What is the fastest free VPN in 2023?

Unfortunately, no utterly free VPN can offer fast speeds. Many free VPNs cannot afford the infrastructure required to run and operate a VPN network. As a result, they’ll have fewer slow servers due to overcrowding. If you are on a budget, we recommend the free version of premium VPNs like Windscribe and TunnelBear. Although you may not get all the features like paid subscribers, you are guaranteed full security and privacy. Sadly, they both limit monthly data usage to only 10GB and 500Mbs, respectively.

Will I get in trouble with authorities for using a VPN?

It will depend on the regulations of where you live. Most countries around the world allow VPN usage. This means you won’t get in trouble as long as you don’t do illegal activities. However, other countries such as North Korea, Russia, and China have banned the use of VPNs. Luckily, some VPNs such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN have devised a way to bypass the geo-restrictions known as obfuscation. It will disguise your VPN activities and make you feel like you are in regular traffic.

Are VPNs complicated to use?

The technology behind the VPN is very complicated to comprehend. However, many VPN providers offer intuitive interfaces for you to use, even if you are a beginner. You can use the quick connect feature if you don't know how to connect to a server manually. It will connect you to the fastest server available, suitable for activities like torrenting or playing online games. However, you will have to select your choice server location if you want to bypass geo-restrictions.

What do I do if my speed starts to slow down when using a VPN?

Anything can happen, even with the best service. If your connections suddenly become slow, switch to another server in a different location. We recommend connecting to the nearby server for increased speeds because your traffic will have a shorter distance to travel. Alternatively, you can try to change the connection protocol.

Will my ISP know that I am using a VPN?

It will depend on the VPN service you are using. Many premium VPNs have strong encryption that hides your traffic to keep your online activities completely anonymous. For instance, if the provider uses AES 256-bit encryption, your ISP or government agencies can’t see what you are doing. On the other hand, your IP address and traffic can be exposed if you use free VPNs. This means your ISP can easily track your activities and even throttle your speeds.

Will a VPN always affect my speeds?

Usually, all VPNs will affect your speeds in one way or the other. This is because it must encrypt your data and pass-through servers, which takes time. A fast VPN will have advanced servers, and the change in speed will be barely unnoticeable. Many VPNs will slow down your connections because of inferior server networks that cannot handle the traffic. In most cases, they have a few mediocre servers that get overcrowded quickly, resulting in reduced speeds. The VPNs we have highlighted above have plenty of servers and thousands of IP addresses to give you more options. Thus, there will be less congestion, and your encrypted traffic will route through their servers with minimal loss in speed.

Top 10 fastest VPNs in 2023 (based on extensive tests conducted regularly)

Sneak peek at the fastest VPNs

Although, VPNs are expected to deliver slow speeds due to the underlying encryption technology. However, such speed lags can be a turn-off for customers, hindering their activities. Thankfully, some resilient VPN providers exist today, offering these fantastic privacy tools without compromising speed. Many of the fastest VPNs of today save you from ISP throttling, hence improving your overall connectivity. This article lists those fast VPN services that can effectively serve you well during resource-intensive activities like streaming, torrenting, or gaming.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are in high demand as people scramble to maintain their online security and privacy. One of the primary considerations when choosing a VPN is speed.

Many VPN providers claim to offer the fastest speeds, but it is not always the case. A fast VPN will enable you to stream, torrent, and play online games safely and anonymously.

The side effect of using a VPN is a decrease in your speed. This is a sacrifice you have to bear with as it has to encrypt your traffic and pass it through remote servers. However, if you get a reliable service, the drop in speed will be minimal.

This guide presents an in-depth review of the best fastest VPN services alongside tips to improve your overall speeds. NordVPN stands out from the rest as it only caused a slight drop in our speeds even when connected to international servers.

Disclaimer: These speeds may vary greatly depending on where you are connecting from, your network, and the devices you are using. We did most of our tests in our London Office. Our correspondents in other regions such as Canada, the US, Australia, France, Pakistan, India, and Brazil also contributed to the tests.

Fastest VPN providers – Quick list

Are you short on time? Here is a quick summary of the three most speedy VPNs on the market.

NordVPN – Our number one recommended fast VPN service. It boasts a massive server network and offers fast speeds alongside robust security. We noticed only a 4% drop in our connection speed.
Private Internet Access (PIA) – A reliable VPN provider, It has an extensive number of servers all around the words and boasts impressive speed. We experienced only a 6% drop in the connection speed.
Surfshark – High-Tech fast VPN with a focus on privacy and security. We experienced a 6% decrease in speed compared to our normal connection rate.

Best fast VPNs in the market

Below we have compiled the top 10 fastest VPNs available today. They emerged as the winners after a rigorous testing process involving over 30 premium VPN providers. We used speed tests and other non-quantifiable parameters to come up with the list.

1. NordVPN

The fastest VPN we have in our list. It boasts top-notch security and extremely-fast servers.

Visit NordVPN

Offers more than 5,000 VPN servers in over 57 countries

Servers are P2P friendly

Strong data AES-256 encryption

Owns SmartPlay feature

Fasten connection by quick connect feature

Functional CyberSec ad-blocker

Useful kill switch

Prohibits DNS leaks

No data storing

Double VPN (multiHop) feature

Connects up to six simultaneous devices

Refund policy of 30 days

Pros

Fast-speed servers
Does not keep logs
Strong security

Cons

Desktop app isn’t catchy

Our number one recommended fast VPN service. It boasts a massive server network and offers fast speeds alongside robust security. We noticed only a 4% drop in our connection speed.

During our test, we tried both close and faraway servers to see how they perform. The average download speed was 59.76Mbps with a distant server and 58.24 Mbps with a closer server. This is just a 1% drop in our average speed without a VPN.

Connection	Ping	Average download speeds	Average upload speeds	Distance	Average speed reduction
Starting speed – United Kingdom	13ms	59.76 Mbps	15.43 Mbps	–	–
Manual Connect UK servers	11ms	58.31 Mbps	15.27 Mbps	121km	3%
Quick connect UK servers	10ms	57.17 Mbps	14.01 Mbps		5%
Quick Connect US servers	28ms	48.68 Mbps	13.47 Mbps	6,800km	19%
Manual Connect US servers	31ms	46.94 Mbps	11.51 Mbps	6,894km	22%
Quick Connect France servers	22ms	44.87 Mbps	9.01 Mbps	1,092km	25%
Quick Connect Brazil servers	101ms	25.15 Mbps	7.67 Mbps	8,150km	57%
Quick Connect Australia servers	121ms	22.67 Mbps	6.90 Mbps	15,200km	68%

We experienced the slowest speeds when connected to a server in New Zealand, nearly 18,000 kilometers away. The average download speeds were 43.25 Mbps, which is way much higher than what other VPN service provides out there. You will be impressed to know that speeds are consistent in other countries too. For example, we used US servers and got average download speeds of 55.18 Mbps, a 5% drop in our starting speeds.

The provider can maintain superfast speeds because of its expansive server network. It has over 5,518 servers distributed in more than 59 countries. The SmartPlay feature combines VPN and DNS technology to mask your location and smash through even the hardest geo-blocks.

Fortunately, some of its servers are located in deeply restricted countries like UAE and Turkey. There are even servers close to China in places like Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The obfuscation feature will hide your activities so that you can use the VPN unrestricted.

NordVPN can unblock almost all popular streaming sites such as Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and more. With the massive server network, you will be able to access these sites no matter where you are located. The fast speeds will enable you to stream your favorite content in high definition without interruptions.

The CyberSec feature will block all the annoying ads even on YouTube. It will also keep you safe from malicious trackers and malware.