7 best gaming VPNs to avoid lags and improve ping

Tiziana Piatos Last updated: March 16, 2023 Read time: 16 minutes Disclosure

A gaming VPN can keep DDOS attacks at bay, help avoid throttling, avoid unwanted lag, and improve your ping. This post features the seven best ones for you to pick from. It also boasts a lot of other valuable information regarding improving ping and avoiding lags in games.

Sneak peek at gaming VPNs

People often argue that using VPNs slows down the overall connection speeds; hence, you can’t use this great utility while gaming. However, that’s not correct. Using a VPN actually enhances your gaming experience by removing bandwidth limitations, preventing online tracking and DDoS attacks, and allowing unrestricted access to your favorite games anywhere. All it takes to leverage these benefits is to choose the right VPN service provider that supports gaming. Find some of the best ones in this guide.

If you are a gamer who loves online multiplayer gaming matches, you can better understand the importance of low ping already.

In fact, lowering a gaming ping gives you a competitive advantage over your competitor. The less ping you get, the better your mouse or keyboard feedback response is seen on your monitor.

Low ping, moreover, eliminates latency, resulting in a much smoother and more enjoyable gameplay experience.

A top ping reducer can be useful for you even though you are not a player, as it allows, among other things, to improve download speeds.

Various variables can reduce pings in games, such as server physical distance, internet quality, etc. Most of these variables can not be quickly modified, so many gamers turn to VPNs to fix their elevated ping issues.

Quick navigation: Best VPNs for gaming

Having the right VPN is a no-brainer if you want to fix gaming lags. Below are the best VPN for gaming based on our extensive research and tests:

  • NordVPN – Best gaming VPN ever; it’s one of the fastest, most reliable VPN services we’ve evaluated till today. Whether you want speed or safety, this VPN gets all that covered in style.
  • Private Internet Access – Another quality VP games due to the use of “Squid” proxies that use more undersized encryption than other VPN servers.
  • SurfShark – If you are on a budget, it is perfect for gaming you can get. This VPN is a high-speed and user-friendly application, considering the price.
  • ExpressVPN – A popular choice among gamers. The provider is famous for its excellent features and continuous improvements.
  • CyberGhost – The perfect VPN for smartphone and console games. It’s easy to set up and has slick applications for Android and iOS.
  • VyprVPN – The best VPN on foreign game servers for playing any game. It’s a lightweight and easy to use stable VPN.
  • Ivacy – A reliable VPN that provides safe connectivity and fast servers.

Can VPNs boost ping?

Why is my internet speed fluctuating
(Unsplash)

The answer is yes, if you go with the right VPN that’s fast and secure.

But if you end up signing up with the wrong provider, you won’t see an improvement in your ping. Instead, it can even lead to an increase in your actual ping.

That’s because of the inevitable delays, as when on a VPN, your data first gets transferred to a server. The VPN server then gets the response and, in the final stage, transmits it back to you.

While most of the security blogs out there today keep saying a VPN improves your gaming ping, it, on the other side, is not true. To indulge their enthusiasm, most gamers would not specifically need a VPN. But it is fair that many would still prefer having a VPN installed on their devices for other benefits such as privacy and security while gaming.

But, as noted earlier, if you go with a VPN service that’s been tested to be a fast provider, then the situation can be different. This because a games-friendly VPN will allow the information to flow at fast speeds to the game’s servers and transmit it back to you quickly.

Gamers hate lags — especially when a lag blindsides someone right in the middle of their gaming activity. Unfortunately, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) can strangle your internet connection for certain activities – that includes prolonged gaming sessions, too. That is where a VPN comes into play for boosting your ping.

Like anything else, not all VPNs are built well – hence you cannot just trust every provider out there. Also, it goes without question that some are easier to get started with than others for specific purposes, such as gaming here.

In an attempt to make your/our readers’ lives easier, we went on testing multiple VPNs with different games and finalized a list of the best VPN services for gamers. We followed strict criteria while finalizing our top-ranked gaming VPN,t.

How to pick the right gaming VPN

Before we get to the list of our top VPNs for gaming in detail, let’s talk about some essential factors we looked at while finalizing our list. That way, you will have criteria to keep in mind even if you do not want to go with any of our recommendations. Below you go with it: