VPNs will NOT make your connection to ESO game server faster.

Zelos

I feel the need to create this as people have a common misconception about what a VPN actually does. People will download Free VPNs to use and connect to so they "Speed" up there connection. Well a VPN does not do that and Im going to explain why.
So contrary to popular belief a VPN will NOT SPEED UP A CONNECTION. Your PING or the amount of time a packet takes to get to the destination and come back in milliseconds. So lets break down what a VPN does.


Heres what happens without a VPN :

"Home Network" -> (Sends a Packet out) -> "Packet arrives at destination" | -Lets say it took 100ms to complete this action-

Now with a VPN heres what it will look like :

"Home Network" -> (Sends a Packet out) -> "Stops at VPN server for encryption" -> (Packet sent out again this time encrypted) -> "Arrives at destination encrypted" | -This action took 120ms to complete as it had to make a extra stop at the VPN server for encryption BEFORE heading to its final destination-

A VPN is meant to connect you to a server and encrypt all data coming from your computer and even at the destination, the type of encryption and or way the vpn is handled will make it take sometimes longer. Its like heading over to a friends house some day it takes you lets say 5 minutes to get there. Now you go again the next day but stop by a store to pick something up, by making a extra stop you will not get there faster in fact the opposite will happen it will take you probably 10 minutes. its the same with a VPN, your packet will make a EXTRA stop so it will take longer in milliseconds to get to the final destination and not faster.

Encryption can come from SHA-128 Bit to SHA-256 bit, it can use different handshake methods and all this adds up and even takes longer to reach its destination. beyond just there some VPNs offer even more protection in the form of

Double VPN - This will go through one server somewhere encrypt your data THEN go to a second VPN server encrypt the encryption and then go to the final destination. This will most likely double your ping.

Dedicated IPs - These are servers with the same IP address, it will always use the same IP address as the server and is useful for hosting game server from your computer because a traditional VPN will change IPs and screw with connecting players. This type fixes that, might be a little less safe though if you are looking for maximum protection.

Onion OVER VPN - This method is very complex and uses TOR network or (The Onion Router) This network named TOR was built for being anonymous online COMPLETELY. So it pass through your VPN server at the start, bounce between dozens of TOR servers and then arrive at its destination. The destination will have no idea where the connection originated from as it bounced so many times. It will travel the world and increase PING 10 fold likely, this is for being COMPLETELY anonymous.

I see people download free VPNs and there data is being stolen and stored on logged server which is then sold to the highest bidder. "Free VPNs" are not free you pay with your data. Ask yourself this, if its a free VPN how do they keep their servers open? Where do they get the money if its free and clients dont pay? They sell your data to keep it open. They are also incredible slow servers with a very basic encryption type, its like using a broken condom without knowing its broken. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT USE FREE VPNS IF YOU VALUE ONLINE PRIVACY! My VPN is $12 a month to connect to a military grade encryption service that keeps no logs and has those specialty servers, and my ping goes up in games once I start using it but i do so to remain anonymous online so its worth a little slower ping rate.

At the end VPNs say they are for faster connection because they advertise your packets being sent through there servers faster then other services, but ALL VPNs increase your ping but by how much and at what security cost... well thats what you pay for. Hopefully people will stop using VPNs to make a connection faster, they are for security and privacy online at the cost of overall internet speed and money. Also whatever you do, DO NOT CONNECT TO ANY FREE VPN YOU ARE BEING SPIED ON! If you want some security you will have to pay for it with speed and money.

TheDarkoil

Good post, I've see a lot of misinformation recently on here about internet connections. People should also be aware that bandwidth and speed are different as well, high bandwidth doesn't automatically give you a low latency.

Vapirko

This isn’t necessarily true. If you’re playing from the server country then no, for sure a VPN of any kind will only make it worse or do nothing at best. But for those of us playing from far, far away a routing service like Mudfish is a huge help in stabilizing ping and even lowering it 20-30ms. I agree that a normal VPN doesn’t help though, even a good one. Mudfish is a specific use service.

FlyingSwan

Great post, lots of misconceptions around VPNs. They can make a connection faster in terms of throughput, because they can circumvent throttling measures, but they will always increase latency, and high latency is the death knell of online gaming.

Privacy wise, I'd never trust a free VPN, simply because the processes that must be in place to assure privacy cost money to own and run. As the man said, there's no such thing as a free lunch...

MJallday

just a slight addendum to this, it is a misconception there is such thing as "true online anonymity". bad news, there isnt.

(vpn) traffic can be encyrpted which makes decyprtion and tracing difficult, but it is not beyond the realms that traffic cant be de-crypted . not even using vpn's or tor - type services.

in fact, in the case of tor , it was broken several years ago and indeed theres several articles on the web explaining how it was done.

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

in short, all the military grade encyrption services in the world wont protect you im afraid. it will certainly make it difficult, just not impossible.

my point is that i wouldnt want people to believe that they have true anonymity on the web. they dont. But this is a whole other (non ESO) debate

Turelus

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

MJallday

Turelus wrote: »

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

i think the point is that vpns can re-route traffic, which may have the effect of speeding things up in some circumstances, but given that we're talking about milliseconds, then theres the overhead of encryption/decryption that the OP talks about above - then the benefit is outweighed.

its a great OP by the way

Skander

You use the VPN to download the broken patches, then you turn it off to play

Carl_Bar

Zelos wrote: »

I feel the need to create this as people have a common misconception about what a VPN actually does. People will download Free VPNs to use and connect to so they "Speed" up there connection. Well a VPN does not do that and Im going to explain why.
So contrary to popular belief a VPN will NOT SPEED UP A CONNECTION. Your PING or the amount of time a packet takes to get to the destination and come back in milliseconds. So lets break down what a VPN does.


Heres what happens without a VPN :

"Home Network" -> (Sends a Packet out) -> "Packet arrives at destination" | -Lets say it took 100ms to complete this action-

Now with a VPN heres what it will look like :

"Home Network" -> (Sends a Packet out) -> "Stops at VPN server for encryption" -> (Packet sent out again this time encrypted) -> "Arrives at destination encrypted" | -This action took 120ms to complete as it had to make a extra stop at the VPN server for encryption BEFORE heading to its final destination-

A VPN is meant to connect you to a server and encrypt all data coming from your computer and even at the destination, the type of encryption and or way the vpn is handled will make it take sometimes longer. Its like heading over to a friends house some day it takes you lets say 5 minutes to get there. Now you go again the next day but stop by a store to pick something up, by making a extra stop you will not get there faster in fact the opposite will happen it will take you probably 10 minutes. its the same with a VPN, your packet will make a EXTRA stop so it will take longer in milliseconds to get to the final destination and not faster.

Encryption can come from SHA-128 Bit to SHA-256 bit, it can use different handshake methods and all this adds up and even takes longer to reach its destination. beyond just there some VPNs offer even more protection in the form of

Double VPN - This will go through one server somewhere encrypt your data THEN go to a second VPN server encrypt the encryption and then go to the final destination. This will most likely double your ping.

Dedicated IPs - These are servers with the same IP address, it will always use the same IP address as the server and is useful for hosting game server from your computer because a traditional VPN will change IPs and screw with connecting players. This type fixes that, might be a little less safe though if you are looking for maximum protection.

Onion OVER VPN - This method is very complex and uses TOR network or (The Onion Router) This network named TOR was built for being anonymous online COMPLETELY. So it pass through your VPN server at the start, bounce between dozens of TOR servers and then arrive at its destination. The destination will have no idea where the connection originated from as it bounced so many times. It will travel the world and increase PING 10 fold likely, this is for being COMPLETELY anonymous.

I see people download free VPNs and there data is being stolen and stored on logged server which is then sold to the highest bidder. "Free VPNs" are not free you pay with your data. Ask yourself this, if its a free VPN how do they keep their servers open? Where do they get the money if its free and clients dont pay? They sell your data to keep it open. They are also incredible slow servers with a very basic encryption type, its like using a broken condom without knowing its broken. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT USE FREE VPNS IF YOU VALUE ONLINE PRIVACY! My VPN is $12 a month to connect to a military grade encryption service that keeps no logs and has those specialty servers, and my ping goes up in games once I start using it but i do so to remain anonymous online so its worth a little slower ping rate.

At the end VPNs say they are for faster connection because they advertise your packets being sent through there servers faster then other services, but ALL VPNs increase your ping but by how much and at what security cost... well thats what you pay for. Hopefully people will stop using VPNs to make a connection faster, they are for security and privacy online at the cost of overall internet speed and money. Also whatever you do, DO NOT CONNECT TO ANY FREE VPN YOU ARE BEING SPIED ON! If you want some security you will have to pay for it with speed and money.

Yep VPN reducing latency and the game server being the cause of high latency, (the latter can be but it's rare), are two myths that need to go die in a fire post haste.

The reality is how your connection is routed is far more important, and that really belongs fault wise to the various intermediaries which neither your ISP, nor the VPN's, nor the Game server owners have any control over.

Azariiel_Lunataris

Agreed!

FlyingSwan

MJallday wrote: »

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

Indeed. I've made my career as a security consultant and now own one of the EU's fastest growing cyber-security consultancies, and there is nothing that is truly 'hack proof'; if someone has enough resource, they can get the information they want. In this scenario the UK gov could see that you had connected to a VPN, they could then subpoena the VPN provider for logs of your activities over the VPN. Therefore, the most important tenet of a VPN provider is they operate from a country that does not mandate the keeping of such logs. In that scenario, the paper trail will end. However, people inadvertently keep all sorts of 'logs' on their own machines and even home networks, and this aggregated data increases the risk of an 'inference attack' from interested parties.

Being truly private (or as near to it as possible) is very time-consuming, and VPNs are more aimed at assuring the level of general privacy a free citizen should expect, which is at odds with what a lot of governments desire. Essentially, if you have any form of online ID, then you have already sacrificed a certain amount of privacy, and the individual has to make the trade-off between that loss and the benefit of having an online existence.

Turelus

MJallday wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

i think the point is that vpns can re-route traffic, which may have the effect of speeding things up in some circumstances, but given that we're talking about milliseconds, then theres the overhead of encryption/decryption that the OP talks about above - then the benefit is outweighed.

its a great OP by the way

I think I get you, so changing the routed path of the data? Skipping some centres in favour of others. Networking and connections are not my strong point.

Seri

Carl_Bar wrote: »

The reality is how your connection is routed is far more important, and that really belongs fault wise to the various intermediaries which neither your ISP, nor the VPN's, nor the Game server owners have any control over.

Direct control, no, but in the case of ESO, the server owners choose to utilise the globally distributed protection, which by proxy is causing bad routing for some countries. From this viewpoint, the server owners have made a choice which resulted in the bad routes.

Turelus wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

i think the point is that vpns can re-route traffic, which may have the effect of speeding things up in some circumstances, but given that we're talking about milliseconds, then theres the overhead of encryption/decryption that the OP talks about above - then the benefit is outweighed.

its a great OP by the way

I think I get you, so changing the routed path of the data? Skipping some centres in favour of others. Networking and connections are not my strong point.

Yes. The Akamai protection means majority of Australia travels up to an Asian Akamai node (ie, the nearest), before heading to the USA. With the gaming VPNs, traffic heads direct to the USA, leaves the VPN, then finds the nearest Akamai node (also in the USA). That detour up to Asia is horrible for latency.

MJallday

Turelus wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

i think the point is that vpns can re-route traffic, which may have the effect of speeding things up in some circumstances, but given that we're talking about milliseconds, then theres the overhead of encryption/decryption that the OP talks about above - then the benefit is outweighed.

its a great OP by the way

I think I get you, so changing the routed path of the data? Skipping some centres in favour of others. Networking and connections are not my strong point.

yes, but bear in mind that because you are changing the routing, AND have the overhead of a VPN, and doing routing via an ISP, then you are only likely to notice a difference if you have a REALLY big problem before (or indeed your ISP had a routing issue) - but the likelyhood is youll see no difference, or worse performance.

Danikat

MJallday wrote: »

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

In this case it really depends on who you want your data protected from, and why.

You're right that ISPs have to keep a log and have to turn it over to a European government if they ask for it as part of an investigation into a terrorist threat (I believe there's a similar situation in the USA too). But that's not the same as it being unprotected because they will only hand it over to a government and only as part of an unofficial investigation.

So if you're using a VPN because you're planning a terrorist attack and want to google "how to make a bomb" without the police knowing then you're right that it won't help you. (And I think most people would agree that's a good thing.)

If you're using it because you want to play Korean Farm Sim Online and it's only supposed to be available in South Korea and you're in the UK then a VPN could help by making their server think you're in South Korea. In this case if the developers contacted your ISP and said they want to know if any of their customers are playing Korean Farming Sim Online it's likely the ISP will say they cannot share that information because of customer confidentiality (if only because it's not worth their time to go through the data and find out).

FlyingSwan

Danikat wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

In this case it really depends on who you want your data protected from, and why.

You're right that ISPs have to keep a log and have to turn it over to a European government if they ask for it as part of an investigation into a terrorist threat (I believe there's a similar situation in the USA too). But that's not the same as it being unprotected because they will only hand it over to a government and only as part of an unofficial investigation.

That's not how that law (DRIPA) works at all. The UK Gov can, and do, share that information with other UK Government bodies, and this includes law enforcement, for what we might see as legitimate reasons (terrorist threat, paedophile investigations etc), but also for less savoury reasons. It can, for example, be shared with local councils, HMRC, all sorts of connected Gov bodies. There is no such thing as 'the EU government', there is the European Parliament and the Council of Europe and various courts that are the enforcement arm of the 'EU'. Notionally a body in an EU member state might ask for that data but we do not have to give it to them and the EU Parliament/CoE do not investigate terrorist threats; terrorist threats are investigated by state law enforcement with collaboration with other law enforcement orgs in various countries around the world, but the EUP and CoE are policy setters not investigatory bodies.

The concerns about this legislation (DRIPA) arose because of a lack of normal security controls upon the sharing of the collected information, and in fact the law itself has now been ruled illegal for a variety of reasons and must be remediated.

Examples of state power creep in the UK exist in abundance. Local councils setup surveillance under anti-terror legislation to spy on people not recycling, the police ask people to stop filming in public under anti-terror laws which do not technically exist in such a form, stop and search is illegally carried out by police under 'anti-terror laws', but what you are saying in your post is simply not correct mainly because there is no 'European Government', the closest thing would be the EU itself, which is actually a federation of like-minded state governments and because, contrary to popular belief, information cannot be legally forced to cross state boundaries in the EU, without a court ruling, but orgs may well use Safe Harbour principles to ensure compliance across jurisdictions etc.

Lysette

Turelus wrote: »

This is a great post, I've never understood the idea that VPN's make people have better connections.

I always assumed most used them to get around any restrictions their country or provider might have in online gaming.

Well, in Australia and NZ this is not necessarily true - whilst VPN adds additional steps, the VPN provider might still have another routing than the normal ISP. In Australia the route to ESO using Telstra as ISP is routing to Akamai Hong Kong first and eventually from there to the Netherlands before finally routing to the US - so the normal VPN-less way is insanely long and leads to high ping rates. Whereas some VPN are using the sea cable routing via Auckland-Hawaii and have lower ping.

So basically Australia to PC EU - has lower ping then Australia to PC NA - without a VPN, due to this insane routing via Akamai Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Danikat

FlyingSwan wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

In this case it really depends on who you want your data protected from, and why.

You're right that ISPs have to keep a log and have to turn it over to a European government if they ask for it as part of an investigation into a terrorist threat (I believe there's a similar situation in the USA too). But that's not the same as it being unprotected because they will only hand it over to a government and only as part of an unofficial investigation.

That's not how that law (DRIPA) works at all. The UK Gov can, and do, share that information with other UK Government bodies, and this includes law enforcement, for what we might see as legitimate reasons (terrorist threat, paedophile investigations etc), but also for less savoury reasons. It can, for example, be shared with local councils, HMRC, all sorts of connected Gov bodies. There is no such thing as 'the EU government', there is the European Parliament and the Council of Europe and various courts that are the enforcement arm of the 'EU'. Notionally a body in an EU member state might ask for that data but we do not have to give it to them and the EU Parliament/CoE do not investigate terrorist threats; terrorist threats are investigated by state law enforcement with collaboration with other law enforcement orgs in various countries around the world, but the EUP and CoE are policy setters not investigatory bodies.

The concerns about this legislation (DRIPA) arose because of a lack of normal security controls upon the sharing of the collected information, and in fact the law itself has now been ruled illegal for a variety of reasons and must be remediated.

Examples of state power creep in the UK exist in abundance. Local councils setup surveillance under anti-terror legislation to spy on people not recycling, the police ask people to stop filming in public under anti-terror laws which do not technically exist in such a form, stop and search is illegally carried out by police under 'anti-terror laws', but what you are saying in your post is simply not correct mainly because there is no 'European Government', the closest thing would be the EU itself, which is actually a federation of like-minded state governments and because, contrary to popular belief, information cannot be legally forced to cross state boundaries in the EU, without a court ruling, but orgs may well use Safe Harbour principles to ensure compliance across jurisdictions etc.

I didn't say there was an EU government. I said "ISPs have to keep a log and turn it over to a European government" - meaning the government of one (or more) of the 28 member states. It's like if I said "a game studio" or "a coffee shop" - that doesn't mean I think there's one studio which makes all video games and one company running all coffee shops, it means I'm talking about one of them in a general sense without specifying which one.

And my point still stands - the law requires ISPs to share information with governments, but it does not mean the same information is available for anyone who wants it. So if you're using a VPN to hide your location or identity from a government it won't work, but if you're using it to hide from a private company it might work because they do not have the same level of access.

So (like any tool or service) you need to think about why you want it and make sure it actually does what you require before you start using it.

MJallday

but the points remain,

1) a VPN wont speed up your system and indeed connection to ESO
2) a VPN does not hide your presence on the internet
3) a VPN does not encyrpt your traffic beyond a point which it is unencryptable
4) a VPN does not mask your activity from your ISP , who (if they bothered looking) would know exactly what you were up to, VPN or not. Sorry to break it to you, but they all have this capability now! if they spotted something that was unlawful, they would report it to the relevant authorities.
5) an ISP would willingly hand over any information it had on you and your connection if requested by any law enforcement agency.

the points that FlyingSwan make above are 100% on the nail.

Sharee

Technically if your connection to the server is slower than your connection to the vpn plus the vpn's connection to the server, vpn will be faster. But that' just a theoretical possibility.

FlyingSwan

Danikat wrote: »

FlyingSwan wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

also worth noting that all ISP's certainly in the UK/EU are now required by law (since 2016) to keep logs which can be used for anti-terrorism/crime etc. these just extend to the endpoint connections rarther than content, but if required, im sure it could be obtained.

In this case it really depends on who you want your data protected from, and why.

You're right that ISPs have to keep a log and have to turn it over to a European government if they ask for it as part of an investigation into a terrorist threat (I believe there's a similar situation in the USA too). But that's not the same as it being unprotected because they will only hand it over to a government and only as part of an unofficial investigation.

That's not how that law (DRIPA) works at all. The UK Gov can, and do, share that information with other UK Government bodies, and this includes law enforcement, for what we might see as legitimate reasons (terrorist threat, paedophile investigations etc), but also for less savoury reasons. It can, for example, be shared with local councils, HMRC, all sorts of connected Gov bodies. There is no such thing as 'the EU government', there is the European Parliament and the Council of Europe and various courts that are the enforcement arm of the 'EU'. Notionally a body in an EU member state might ask for that data but we do not have to give it to them and the EU Parliament/CoE do not investigate terrorist threats; terrorist threats are investigated by state law enforcement with collaboration with other law enforcement orgs in various countries around the world, but the EUP and CoE are policy setters not investigatory bodies.

The concerns about this legislation (DRIPA) arose because of a lack of normal security controls upon the sharing of the collected information, and in fact the law itself has now been ruled illegal for a variety of reasons and must be remediated.

Examples of state power creep in the UK exist in abundance. Local councils setup surveillance under anti-terror legislation to spy on people not recycling, the police ask people to stop filming in public under anti-terror laws which do not technically exist in such a form, stop and search is illegally carried out by police under 'anti-terror laws', but what you are saying in your post is simply not correct mainly because there is no 'European Government', the closest thing would be the EU itself, which is actually a federation of like-minded state governments and because, contrary to popular belief, information cannot be legally forced to cross state boundaries in the EU, without a court ruling, but orgs may well use Safe Harbour principles to ensure compliance across jurisdictions etc.

I didn't say there was an EU government. I said "ISPs have to keep a log and turn it over to a European government" - meaning the government of one (or more) of the 28 member states. It's like if I said "a game studio" or "a coffee shop" - that doesn't mean I think there's one studio which makes all video games and one company running all coffee shops, it means I'm talking about one of them in a general sense without specifying which one.

And my point still stands - the law requires ISPs to share information with governments, but it does not mean the same information is available for anyone who wants it. So if you're using a VPN to hide your location or identity from a government it won't work, but if you're using it to hide from a private company it might work because they do not have the same level of access.

Yes, I misinterpreted your wording to imply that data must be handed across state boundaries within the EU itself, my apologies there. There are similar laws in many EU member states but they do not cross jurisdictions. i.e. yes, DRIPA is right now mandating that my ISP collects this connection info, but DRIPA is not mandating that UK Gov must pass that to Fr Gov if requested, normal cross jurisdiction protocol still applies.

Now, you have to remember that CJEU ruled this local collection to be disproportionate and illegal and demanded all EU member states amend their laws on data collection and retention, however, not all member states have in fact complied the UK being one that's ignoring this new direction, probably because they are leaving anyway so don't really care what CJEU have said as enforcement will not be possible.

https://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/Data Retention_2017.pdf

Zelos

Yes it is completely true that security online is a illusion, but if you want to do your best to stay as safe as possible online a VPN is the way to go, just don't expect it to speed your connection. I use my own server with my own encryption service, I have spent a long time in encryption so I made not own VPN with physical access to the actually server my connection passes through. Some VPN providers dont keep logs they operate in areas out if jurisdiction, so it would be harder for them to cooperate with the law. Yes security online is a illusion

SirDopey

Your assumption is based on optimal native routing though so your aggressive oppression of VPN's is factually misplaced. Your assessment is only valid when comparing an optimal route to single destination. That's not how ESO on NA server works though. All traffic is diverted to Akamai's network before reaching the game server and as has been shown on multiple other threads the Akamai network is far from perfect. Now the node that your connection enter's the Akamai network greatly affects latency. For instance, entering it at Hong Kong from Australia is far, far slower than entering it from the West Coast of America. If your native routing only takes you to Hong Kong then you're screwed. But with a VPN you can bypass your native routing and enter the Akamai network at a different, faster & less congested node.

Emma_Overload

Depends on the VPN. My old VPN, TorGuard didn't help at all, only added 20 ms to the ping. My new VPN, VyprVPN, is really excellent and definitely improves the reliability of my connection to ESO and adds no significant latency.

smacx250

I don't mean to debate the merits or de-merits of a VPN, but the OP is incorrect about what happens with a VPN. It is not:

"Home Network" -> (Sends a Packet out) -> "Stops at VPN server for encryption" -> (Packet sent out again this time encrypted) -> "Arrives at destination encrypted"

It is:

"Computer (packet is sent out encrypted)" -> (Sends encrypted packet across Internet) -> "Stops at VPN Server for decryption" -> (Packet sent out again this time decrypted) -> "Arrives at destination decrypted"

The whole point is that the traffic to/from your computer is completely encrypted until it arrives at the VPN server, which then encrypts/decrypts the traffic to the open internet, thereby making all unencrypted Internet traffic appear to be to/from the VPN server, and not your computer. While "anyone" can tell that you have a connection to the VPN server, they cannot tell the ultimate internet endpoints you have connected to, nor the data that you are receiving/sending (assuming there are many concurrent users of the VPN server).

DanteYoda

Maybe not but it really cuts out the meta data crap website seem to spam on customers these days.. and it all depends on how bad the original connection is..

Sylvermynx

DanteYoda wrote: »

Maybe not but it really cuts out the meta data crap website seem to spam on customers these days.. and it all depends on how bad the original connection is..

That's probably true for things like you deal with. But trust me when I say that a VPN will not help my sat connection in any way.

Well, other than a maybe-layer of privacy.

NewBlacksmurf

OMG thanks is for doing this....it almost needs to be recreated in the support section of the ZOS help site

I have to use a VPN for work at home and I can play games on it or go direct but I’d read people’s stuff here and things to myself ..zwhaaaaeerreddd you get that idea

Thogard

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Dedicated VPNs can reduce ping and reduce latency by using a faster route with faster / better / dedicated nodes

But it should be a gaming VPN using nodes / routes that have a history of prioritizing gaming packets over streaming or other packets.

If your route to the server already bypasses all congested nodes then you won’t get any extra benefit out of a VPN. But it is ridiculous to say that you’re adding steps... you aren’t. You’re just changing the route.

My route to ZOS is 12 hops with no VPN and 10 hops when I use my VPN. My average ping drops by 9ms as well, but lag “spikes” are far less frequent because I bypass congested nodes.

RinaldoGandolphi

As someone who operates multi VPN servers for my company so upper management can access company resources off site, I can tell you one thing:

A VPN will RARELY ever reduce your latency atleast speaking from inside the USA to connecting to a server inside the USA.

A VPN regardless of what your using (OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, etc) adds a measure of overhead to your connection due to encrypting and decrypting.

for example I am using the latest OpenVPN Server and Client Software with the Latest version of OpenSSL libraries as well as CPU instruction sets from Intel like RAND and AES and a VPN connection, even over a business class fiber, will still add 5-7 ms of latency to the connection, however here in the states for remote access your taking about a 17ms latency anyways and a few ms for accessing a shared server or using a remote desktop, etc is simply not even noticeable and doesn't even matter.

The only way a VPN will help you in the states is if you somehow get an alternate route to server which isn't really common. Your traffic goes from your connection to the VPN server, the VPN server then has to decrypt and makes the connection between it and ESO and passes traffic back and forth encrypting and decryping constantly.

VPN are more useful for people outside the US trying to access services inside the US or vice versa as they can often get a better route that way, Mudfish is a prime example of this kind of service and what its designed for.

It also depends on your ISP. In the states, more and more ISP's are throttling or traffic shaping VPN traffic putting it lower down the tier of priorty due to it being used for means other then business (such as getting around Comcast Sandvine a few years back) So a vPN may not always help.

there are cases where a VPN could have less hops then your direct connection here in the US, but its rare, and it may also get you around ISP traffic shaping and throttling but don't count on it. ISP caught on to VPN's back in 2008 or so, atleast most of the big ones anyways (AT&T Comcast, etc) they see too much VPN traffic coming from your connection they will throttle you back usually.

MrGarlic

Well, actually, a VPN can help reduce latency by allowing you to direct your traffic closer to an end point rather than utilising an inefficient route that goes the wrong direction as dictated by poorly implemented DNS routing in a distant region.

Such as we in Aust/NZ/SEA are currently forced upon us via Akamai's Hong Kong Prolexic DDoS scrubber.

A gaming VPN does reduce my pings and improves stability to ESO. Without it, I could not play the game.

I agree with your security concerns surrounding VPNs though, especially the free VPNs and TOR. Those are a great way to lose your personal identity, banking details and credit card numbers.

I will only use a reputable, private, paid for VPN service.