Would a VPN fix my lag?

sherahd · August 2018

I was wondering if a VPN might fix my lag problem? I have been having problems since June 13th with no fix from tickets or other people in The Forum. It seems somewhere between me and the servers is causing it. I was wondering if picking a certain server through a VPN might go around wherever the problem is. I am not having a problem with my ISP otherwise. Everything else streams loads and otherwise fine. My ISP seems to not see anything on their side causing the problem. I even upped my plan to a faster upload/download speed. Please let me know if anyone has tried this and if it worked out for you. Thanks!

Cave_Canem · August 2018

No.

Routers on the internet will try to choose the most efficient route to where you want to go, if they didnt do this automatically it would all fall apart.

You Now: PC - Your ISP - Fastest route - ESO Server ISP - ESO Server

You with VPN: PC - [lag while all data encrypted] - Your ISP - Fastest Route to VPN service - [lag while data decrypted] - Fastest route to ESO ISP - ESO Server ISP - ESO Server

A VPN will add latency

If your modem has logging, turn it all on. If you firewall has logging, turn it all on. Start noting the times when you find lag, look for a pattern. Check your logs. Update your anti-virus, anti-malware and firewall. Run full scans at least once a week for while.

Also be aware, speed test web sites show you whats left after all other sources have taken their turn at your bandwidth, at best they are a general indicator, never a diagnostic tool; they can only show you if your connection speed is good, never if it is bad as they can't tell you where the loss is which could be anywhere including on the server that is doing the speed test.

Sleep · August 2018

maybe, if you live in china

mook-eb16_ESO · August 2018

lag is a feature in this game. pvp is notoriously bad, except at low population, due zergs and ball groups. it's nothing to do with your gpu because the lag will effect you 1 v1 when zergs are fighting else where on the map. its entirely a server problem.

xRIVALENx · August 2018

What does your network setup look like? Ran into an issue recently with huge latency (increasing since Summerset) which was solved by disabling bridge mode on my ISP router/modem and enabling DHCP. Afterwards I set my existing mesh topology into access point mode instead of router mode. Shrinking the network down to a single subnet greatly increased performance for ESO.

qbit · August 2018

The vpn will probably increase lag. Unless you have some really screwed up routes (which are outside of your control) between you and ZOS. If ZOS hosts servers on typical cloud providers like amazon or Microsoft azure, you’re very very unlikely to reduce hops with a vpn. And even if you do, the latency may increase due to a number of factors from vpn client software to vpn server. And even then, your bandwidth will surely decrease. You’re adding vpn overhead to every packet regardless.

You should use a vpn if you live in a country that bans the game. But then you’d probably be thrown in prison for the crime of playing the game. It’s not worth it.

Good question but not worth it. You might be better off using a game streaming service. Like the kind that run the game on cloud hardware that have a closer connection to the severs. I don’t know how these services deliver acceptable input lag, but they’re apparently popular.

DaveMoeDee · August 2018

qbit wrote: »

...
You should use a vpn if you live in a country that bans the game. But then you’d probably be thrown in prison for the crime of playing the game. It’s not worth it.
...

Yes it is.