VPN (Virtual Private Network)

What It Means

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an encrypted tunnel between your device and a remote VPN server, which then routes your internet traffic to its destination. The ISP sees only encrypted bytes traveling between your device and the VPN server, not the websites you visit, the services you use, or the contents of your communications. VPNs serve three primary use cases: privacy protection from ISPs and network operators (especially on public Wi-Fi), geographic content access (viewing region-restricted streaming libraries), and security for enterprise remote access (corporate VPN connections). Commercial consumer VPN providers include NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Mullvad, Proton VPN, and Private Internet Access, pricing typically ranges from $3 to $12 per month on multi-year contracts. VPNs impose two performance costs: encryption overhead reduces throughput by 5 to 15% on modern hardware using WireGuard or IKEv2 protocols (or 20 to 40% on older OpenVPN), and routing through the VPN server adds 10 to 50 ms of latency depending on VPN server location. For speed testing on the Broadband Grade speed test tool, always disable your VPN: the test will otherwise measure your speed to the VPN server, not your true ISP-delivered speed. VPNs can partially bypass activity-based ISP throttling because the ISP cannot identify which service you are using, but they cannot bypass deprioritization or monthly data cap throttling. VPN providers vary in their logging practices, no-logs providers (Mullvad, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN audited, NordVPN audited) offer stronger privacy than free or unaudited services, which may monetize user data.

Frequently Asked Questions