As an avid gamer, you’ve taken care of the display, sound system, graphics card and you have a powerful computer. Your internet connection is on point, and without a doubt, you are very selective when it comes to who your opponent is when playing games online. While all these are great measures to protect yourself from online attacks, you should arm yourself with the right VPN service. In this article, we dive into the ins and outs of why you need a VPN for your gaming experience.
1. Play New Titles First!
With the advent of the internet of things and digital distribution of products, the world should be a single global market for game downloads by now. But let’s face it, game release times are still staggered throughout the day. As a matter of fact, there are instances when there are a couple of days (probably weeks) between a game being launched in one country and becoming accessible in another, and this can be a frustrating experience for gamers.
But we are human. We evolve, we adapt, and we conquer. And so we’ve discovered the Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN installed on your PC, console or router makes it possible to connect to a game server on the far end of the planet using a VPN server in the same region. A paid VPN could be the difference between playing the new game today and having to wait for a day or even weeks.
2. Cut Ping Times and Latency
Any gamer will tell you that high latency and ping aren’t exactly their cup of tea. However, playing on a server miles away from home predisposes you to both.
You may ask “Why on earth would I need to play on a server miles away from my region?” If the online game you wish to play no longer has the same audience it once enjoyed, it goes without saying that tracking down great servers can be a tricky affair, especially one with the exact kind and conditions of players you want to game with. This way, you’ll be restricted to servers located far away from your region, and that’s where the ping and latency troubles lie.
A good VPN will get you a fast connection to a VPN server in the exact same country where your desired game server is located.
3. Game on the go
Essentially, this is the exact opposite of the situation described in number two above. Here, your favorite game’s server is right at home, but you are far away from home. Maybe you are off to China to represent your company at that very important business meeting. Or perhaps you are out on vacation with your PC as your only companion. How do you access the server of your favorite game?
Your all-time solution lies with a VPN. A VPN gives you a wide range of servers where you can simply connect to a VPN server located in your home country. This means a VPN is the ultimate answer to your need for your home servers even across the world. Just plug in your laptop and watch those roaming data charges.
4. End ISP Throttling
Speed throttling is gamer’s worst bane. Internet Service Providers are notorious for artificially slowing down user connections as soon as they detect high traffic passing through their servers. This is common when you stream HD movies, play online games or even download files using BitTorrent. You’ll find occasions when speeds start off just fine but slowly shrivel as the time goes by. This leaves you with no option than to just sit and watch the screen as it takes longer to load your requests.
A VPN ensures your data is encrypted, providing a reliable line of defense. Your ISP will not have it easy sorting the gaming traffic from the standard packets, and this automatically bypasses ISP throttles.
5. Keep Your Identity a Secret
It is not our intention to belittle any specific corner of the web, but it is within the public domain that the gaming community has its share of malicious folks with tools and skills to make your life very difficult, especially when you mess around with their ego. Any time you beat such an opponent in an online game, they may resort to revenge by looking up your IP address, and before you know it, you may fall a victim of a serious attack.
A VPN masks your online identity thus protecting you from those grumpy internet trolls in case you find yourself in such a situation.