Do i need vpn for pc games download

Our best Netflix VPN guide will tell you the best options for checking out the streaming services content in other countries too or even signing up for services you can't get over here. As someone based in the UK, I heartily recommend checking out Hulu. It offers one of the most secure services, it doesn't track your activity like some providers, and it's a large, stable company with enough servers to give you one of the best connections out there, wherever you are in the world.

To add to that Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! What are the benefits of a VPN? Shabana Arif. See comments. Gaming deals, prizes and latest news. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands. Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. It's close between Surfshark and NordVPN, but the toothy one just about wins out thanks to its unlimited devices, lower price, and lower ping.

NordVPN, however, is the high-performance option if download and upload speeds are the be-all and end-all for your PC experience. It delivers one of the highest relative download speeds in my testing compared to an untouched connection and the absolute highest upload speed. That seems to be where many VPN services fall, in just how much they tank your upload connection. My upload speed is already 10x slower than my downloads, so I can ill afford to lose any more.

It's also your best option if you find torrenting your go-to method of accessing content online. Surfshark seems to block everything in my experience, making Nord the next best thing. The service also delivers an impressive ping performance, too, getting close to my unfettered ping score and consistently beating my game ping scores too.

It's reportedly the fastest around and does seem to help it run consistently well. IPVanish is one of the most affordable VPN services we've tested, but that doesn't mean you're missing out. It might not have the full feature set of Surfshark or NordVPN, but you do get GB of SugarSync encrypted storage and backup for free with a new subscription, which could give you a little extra peace of mind over your more sensitive documents.

It performs well too. The impact on my upload and download speed is impressively minimal, and it also manages, for the most part, to drop down the in-game ping when gaming online. There was a little spike in CS: GO, but nothing worrying, and still with fewer packet drops than with my standard connection.

If you're after a quality VPN service to run on your gaming machine, and potentially on nine other devices simultaneously, but don't want to spend big, then IPVanish is a great alternative to the top two on our list. Should I use a VPN for gaming?

If you're undecided on Virtual Private Networks, check out our guide on the subject. The second most expensive service on our list is also the broadest reach across the globe. With servers in a staggering 94 countries, if you're looking to play with friends abroad, or find yourself traveling a lot, then ExpressVPN could be your best bet for a solid, secure, and relatively speedy connection.

ExpressVPN isn't bad in my testing for in-game ping performance, regularly giving me a lower millisecond count than my standard connection in Battlefield V.

Still, it sometimes struggled in CS: GO. Of the top four, it also has the fewest number of simultaneous devices allowed, though, at five devices, you can still share the load across PC, laptop, phone, and significant other.

But ExpressVPN is still a quality, reliable service that may not have the top-level performance I've measured from some others but is still a decent option for PC gamers. The historical consensus has been that you shouldn't use a VPN while gaming online because it might impact your connection and slow you down.

Yes, you might be able to bypass the bane of geo-blocking, but many people complain about horrifying lag and subsequent in-game failures. That is still the case if you're using a bandwidth-limited free service, such as Hola or the basic TunnelBear package, but if you pick wisely, you could find the best VPN for gaming that can actually improve your online performance. It may sound like we're pulling your chain. But it's true, a good VPN service can not only keep you safe and secure behind the scenes, but it can actually improve your ping results in-game.

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