4 Ways to Optimize Your VPN Connection

Sometimes just having a VPN installed on your device isn’t enough. You need to customize and optimize it to take full utility of the VPN characteristics. This can mean choosing the ideal server to get better speed. Or tinkering with the settings to bring out the best anonymity levels for your web browsing. Or simply using a nearby VPN server to unblock some geo-restricted content on a streaming app.

Whatever may be your chief requirement from a VPN, it’s always a good idea to optimize it. Especially if you are on a paid plan.

Here are a few proven ways to optimize your VPN connection regardless of what VPN you use. Although, we recommend trying these out with TuxlerVPN to get the best effect.

How to Optimize Your VPN Connection?

There are several ways to optimize your VPN connection. Depending upon what you are trying to achieve – unblock geo-restricted content or hide your IP location – you may use any or all of these methods. For full optimization and a better VPN experience, consider implementing all of these.

1. Choose a VPN server that’s in proximity

If you simply want to hide your IP address using a VPN and still want to be able to use your internet connection at full strength, consider switching to the closest VPN server. For example, if you are in Los Angeles, you should choose a server that’s located in the same city, a nearby city, or at best, a nearby state to get the best speed.

The reasoning here is that the VPN tunnel in this case will be shorter. It takes less time for your traffic to get encrypted and route via the VPN server and then access the server of your destination (like a website). This is regardless of what server the destination is using. Your effort should be to reduce the ping time between you, the middleman VPN server, and the destination.

The best way to ensure this is to choose a VPN server that’s close by. Even if you want to push your activities farther away, consider proximity to enjoy better internet speed.

2. Opt for a faster VPN protocol

A VPN protocol is a system that your VPN uses to encrypt your connection and pass it through a tunnel. Several types exist, which vary according to their encryption standard and speed.

If choosing the best VPN protocol for your needs seems challenging, consider opting for OpenVPN, WireGuard, or any protocol that is recommended by the VPN provider.

3. Make your VPN single-purpose

It is generally recommended that you use a VPN for all your online activities. This means using it to surf the web, stream movies and shows, and even update your operating system. However, the more applications that route their traffic via your selected VPN server, the higher the bandwidth requirement.

If you’re on a limited bandwidth VPN (such as a free one), your connections may suffer. This will eventually lead to slower speeds across applications.

A good way to avoid this is to make your VPN single-purpose. Like using it only while surfing the web or streaming a show. This is why we recommend the TuxlerVPN browser extension to our users who get the power of a VPN directly in their browser. It is designed so that all your browsing activities are routed via a residential IP.

Alternatively, you can purchase TuxlerVPN Premium to get unlimited bandwidth. 

4. Optimize VPN settings

Take a look at the settings of your VPN. While we can’t recommend exact steps, understanding what you can turn on and off will help you customize your VPN.

For example, if you are only looking to change your IP location, you may consider switching off encryption. As you might know, encryption slows down your connection speed.

However, we don’t recommend switching off encryption as it’s a critical part of why VPNs are recommended in the first place. You don’t want prying eyes to interrupt your traffic and see what you are consuming. This is just one of the many things that you may be able to do with your VPN settings.

For more such helpful tips and tricks on VPNs, follow our blog.

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