In the world of gaming performance, security, and accessibility are really important. They are key factors that define whether your experience is good or bad. It does not matter what kind of gaming you do, a virtual private network also known as VPN can and will enhance your gaming sessions. VPN encrypts your internet connection and reroutes it through different secure servers. While it is mostly used for privacy protection, it has a lot more to offer. Let’s go through five of the most significant reasons why you should use VPN for gaming.
1. Bypassing geographical restrictions
Geographical restrictions can limit your experience. For example, some online games might publish updates in America earlier than in Europe, or some online casinos cannot be accessed from certain locations. This can be frustrating to players, but these restrictions are easy to bypass by using a VPN. A VPN can be used to change your location, which allows you to bypass these restrictions. Just change to a country that is allowed to play or has the update already.
For example, some gamers want to access casinos in countries where they are not accessible. These kinds of gamers can access sites like Instant Casino via VPN. They just need to connect to a server that is located in a country where the casino can be accessed.
2. Protect yourself from DDoS attacks
DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service are attacks that have been causing a major problem, especially in competitive gaming. DDoS is an attack that floods a player’s network with different kinds of traffic, which causes lagging, disconnecting, or in the worst-case scenario complete shutdown of their internet connection. These attacks are mostly used in online tournaments and ranked matches. The point is to sabotage the opponent’s internet connection so they can’t play anymore.
When VPN is in use, DDoS attacks are useless. A VPN protects you from these attacks by hiding your real IP address and encrypting your connection. Practically, when a hacker tries to DDoS you, he attacks the VPN’s server and not your internet.
3. Reduce ping and improve connection stability
Every gamer knows that high ping and the lag that comes with it is the worst. It can and usually will cause frustration. While normally everyone thinks that a VPN will only make the internet connection slower, in some cases, it is not true. Sometimes using a VPN can improve the connection speed.
Here is an example: Let’s say that the game server is in Europe, and you live in the United States. You can use VPN to connect to Europe, where the game server is closer. This will give a more direct route for your data, which reduces your ping.
4. Secure public Wi-Fi gaming
Many gamers enjoy playing on the go and using public Wi-Fi networks can be tempting to them. However, public Wi-Fi networks are not safe anymore, there can be different cybercriminals that are trying to eavesdrop the connection to get passwords or other sensitive information.
The encryption that VPN gives to your connection is a game-changer in these kinds of situations, since it ensures that any sensitive information will remain safe even when using public Wi-Fi networks. This means that with a VPN players can play wherever whenever confidently, knowing that they are safe.
5. Avoid ISP throttling and maintain high speeds
ISPs are companies that provide internet access to companies and homes. Most of them track gaming activity and slow down connections on purpose to ease network traffic. This causes lag, which makes the gaming experience unenjoyable. Usually, they slow down connections at peak hours, when there is the most amount of traffic. If you have noticed that this happens, your ISP could be slowing down your connection without telling you.
Again, using a VPN is the solution. Since the connection is encrypted, your ISP can’t identify your gaming activity. This means that your ISP most likely won’t down your internet connection when gaming. This also works when you are streaming, downloading updates, or just using a lot of data.
Conclusion
So, now we know that using a VPN for gaming is no longer only about just enhancing cybersecurity; it can also be used for other reasons. With it, you can pass geo-restrictions, prevent DDoS attacks, reduce ping, play on public Wi-Fi securely, and avoid ISP throttling. All of these will improve your gaming experience. It does not matter if you are a casual player or a competitive gamer, nowadays everyone should use a VPN.