In online games, milliseconds matter. Online games can be extraordinarily intense and require that you utilize all the capabilities of your system. Whether you’re on PC or console often doesn’t matter as much as having a steady, reliable, and fast internet connection. But not all ISPs can support that. If you’re having issues with your internet service provider and it’s causing you to lose your online games, you might want to consider the advantages of a VPN. Many professional gamers always use a VPN to connect, not only because of speed but also because of security.
Is it time to go with PS5 VPN technology or a VPN for your PC? Here’s what you need to know about why a VPN can be useful when playing online games.
A VPN Can Route You to Better Servers
Many games connect you to servers based on geographic proximity. But if you’re in an area that doesn’t have good servers, that can be frustrating. You may experience lag so significant that you can’t play a multiplayer game effectively. If you’ve noticed significant lag or latency, you might want a VPN. A VPN can change your apparent geographic location so you can connect to any server you want. Test out different servers to make sure you have the connectivity you need.
It’s unfortunate that not all servers are made equal, and you might find that you’re always being routed to busier servers. If a game is most popular in a certain region or a country, the servers may constantly be backed up, and you might not even be able to connect. But if you can connect to areas that have lower traffic, you aren’t just helping yourself; you’re also helping to balance the server load for the game developers.
A VPN Helps You Avoid Geo-Blocking
Sometimes a game is only available in one country. But what happens if you bought a game in America and just want to play it when you’re visiting Germany? This is another area in which a VPN is the best solution. A VPN will be able to tell the server that you’re still connecting from America (or any other country), so you can avoid geo-blocking and play the game that you’ve paid for. Today, it’s not always a question of legalities; sometimes games just aren’t available in certain regions because there’s no localization for it or because it hasn’t been released there yet.
And there are times when geo-blocking isn’t even intentional. It’s possible that you’re in a country that just isn’t supported. If you’re traveling through an area that isn’t big in the gaming community, it’s possible that you’re not blocked, so much as not allowed. A VPN will help in all these situations, by making it appear as though you’re i a well-supported area, and letting you choose how you’re represented online.
A VPN Makes Sure Your Data is Protected
VPNs take a look at the data that you’re sending and receiving to make sure everything is properly encrypted. You may not just be gaming on your console or PC: you may also need to enter financial information to purchase games, loot boxes, and DLC. With a VPN, your personal information will be protected; even if someone views your personal information, they won’t be able to tell what it is because they don’t have an encryption key.
Gamers actually post a lot of information online. While the information you post on Twitch or YouTube is always going to be visible, you at least want to make sure your accounts are protected.
A VPN Can Protect Your Privacy
It’s amazing, but there are people out there who get significant “road rage” about games.
You might find yourself losing to a poor sport and think that it’s not going to get past some internet trash talk. But people can and have been killed because of the internet trend “swatting.” If people can find out where they live, they can send police right to your door. And those police officers can potentially kill you if they are given the wrong information.
It’s happened multiple times; usually, the police are told that it’s a hostage situation or something similarly high stakes. But it all begins with someone finding out your address online. If you’re able to protect yourself through a VPN, however, you can better protect things like your IP. People won’t be able to find you as readily, and that means that you’re going to be much safer.
It doesn’t take a lot to anger someone online and you can’t always know when you have. A VPN provides an additional layer of safety, especially for those who play a lot of games, or for those who are relatively high-profile.
A VPN Protects You From Hackers
In addition to malicious swatters, there are also hackers online. When playing online games and interacting with the online community, there will always be those who send malicious files or try to compromise your systems. A VPN will protect you from this. VPNs can be used to protect you from hackers by scanning your traffic and identifying malicious programs. It can then tell you the program is malicious so you can avoid interacting with the sites or the individuals in the future.
While you should also have a firewall solution and an antivirus, a VPN can provide the first line of defense because it will scan all your connections and traffic before it even gets to you. And that means that you are far less likely to download a worm, trojan, or other malicious programs. Once you’ve experienced an attack, it can be extremely difficult to clean up your system and use it again. Not only could you have your personal or financial information compromised, but it’s very likely that you could lose your games and their progress.
A VPN Can Protect You on Public WiFi
If you’re a gamer who frequently travels, it’s likely that you often need to utilize public WiFI. You might need to take your gaming laptop to a cafe, or you might need to log your console into hotel WiFi from time to time. This is convenient but dangerous.
The world has changed to the point where WiFi is becoming a somewhat public utility and everyone expects to have access to WiFi wherever they go. But the downside to this is that you’re only as protected as the public WiFi system is. If the company that is providing the WiFi isn’t secure (and you can’t always know this), your data isn’t secure.
VPNs protect you by providing another layer of encryption. Even if your WiFi isn’t encrypted, your data is. The WiFi system won’t be able to see the data you’re transmitting because you’re encrypting it first, so if the WiFi itself is trying to steal your information, it won’t be able to. And you’ll still remain in complete control, even if the WiFi isn’t encrypting the data at all.
This gives you the convenience of using public WiFi without being worried about it while also being able to still protect yourself from potential malicious activity.
A VPN Can Help You Play Banned Games
There are two things that can happen. One, you can get banned from a game unfairly. Many games today use automated systems to ban you. You could just be performing very well and get banned for being a hacker. Even if you don’t care about your game account, you might still want to play the game that you purchased. But you could be banned by IP, location, or mac address. A VPN will help you obscure these details so you can play the game that you purchased and enjoyed, without remaining banned through no fault of your own.
The second thing that can happen is games can actually be banned in your city or country. Often this happens because of political reasons or just red tape. It’s possible there’s nothing wrong with the game, but it hasn’t gone through the appropriate rating system, or it couldn’t go through the hoops to get sold in that country. In this situation, you can also change your location and play the game even if it is banned. While you want to be cautious about doing this (especially if it’s banned for legal reasons in your country), it’s more than possible to start playing a game like this with a VPN.
A VPN Gives You Access to New Releases
Most releases are going to launch at midnight in whatever region you are. But that’s hardly fair if you’re in a region where it unlocks much later. As an example, the east coast of the United States will always be able to purchase new release games before the west coast of the United States, which many people deem to be unfair because the new release system should be at the same time for everyone.
With a VPN, it can be. Because you can set your time zone to anywhere, you can get access to new releases the second anyone else in the globe does. For the most part, this can be seen as ethical because you aren’t breaking street dates throughout the world, you’re just getting it at the fastest possible time. And that means that you can enjoy a game you already pre-ordered and paid for when it comes out rather than having to wait hours and hours for the time zone to tick by.
As you can see, there’s a lot a VPN can do for you when you play online games. Whether you’re using your VPN on your console, PC, or even a tablet or mobile device, a VPN will be able to protect your internet connection, make it faster, and ensure that your data and privacy are protected. Even better, a VPN Is easy to install and easy to use — you just need to make sure to get a good VPN so it doesn’t slow down your connection or introduce latency.
