Gaming is tons of fun, and VPNs are awesome tools. So you have to wonder – do the two work well together?
The short answer is yes, definitely. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a list of gaming VPNs that will work in Canada very well.
The long answer is still yes, you should use a VPN when gaming. And we’ll give you five great reasons to do it.
5 Good Reasons to Start Using a VPN When Gaming
According to our research and experience, these are the main reasons you should use a VPN when you game online:
1. Bypass Unfair IP Bans
Picture this – you’re playing a round of your favorite game, are on a killstreak, have a good score, and all of a sudden you’re booted off the server.
The reason?
An IP ban from the admin for allegedly using “hacks.” In reality, we all know they just banned you because they were fed up with how good you were.
In pretty much any situation, that’d mean you’d have to start looking for a different server. Or wait for your IP ban to expire.
But nobody really wants that – especially when they were having so much fun.
Well, this isn’t any normal situation. You have a VPN, and it can hide your IP address. So, you can bypass any IP ban in seconds.
Sure, the admin can ban your IP again, but you’ll just be back in a few seconds with a brand new one!
2. Stop Bandwidth Throttling
Not familiar with the term? It basically means “slowdown,” and it’s what your ISP does when you’re using too much data, which is really easy to do when you game online a few hours every day.
ISPs throttle bandwidths to prevent network congestions, but they also do it to not-so-subtly pressure their customers into buying pricier data plans. Or to postpone having to buy more expensive servers.
Whatever the case, you’re left with slower connections, and that’s the last thing you want when gaming online.
Here’s the good news; a VPN can prevent bandwidth throttling by encrypting all your traffic. That way, if your ISP tries to monitor it to see what you’re up to, they’ll only see gibberish. So they won’t get to throttle your speeds for specific services (like Steam, for example).
3. Get Rid of High Latency and Ping
Few things are as annoying in life as dying to a raid boss due to rubber banding and huge delays. Unfortunately, that’s what you need to put up with if you game on a server that’s too far away – like in Europe or the Southern US.
Well, a VPN can actually help reduce latency and ping times. You just need to use a server in the same area as the gaming server. So a Brazilian VPN server, if the gaming server is in Brazil. Here’s why that works:
- Without a VPN server, your traffic takes an indirect route to the gaming server. If it’s in Brazil, your data packets might bounce through different locations like Canada → the US → Mexico → Colombia → Brazilian gaming server. All those bounces take time, making your connection laggier.
- With a Brazilian VPN server, your packets take the direct route: Canada → Brazilian VPN server → Brazilian gaming server. So less time, meaning less ping and lag.
4. Unblock Region-Locked Servers
Want to game with your online friends in the US?
Well, too bad. The servers they play on are usually region-locked, so only people in the US can join.
Instead of asking them to switch to a new server you can play on, why not use a VPN to bypass those region locks? You just need an American server, and you’re good to go. Since your connections to the gaming server will go through it, the server will think you have a US IP address.
So no more region locks standing in the way of your fun.
5. Avoid DDoS/DoS Attacks
These are cyber attacks that flood your network with unwanted requests and traffic until it goes offline.
Normally, you don’t need to worry about this. Most DDoS-ers target gaming servers or websites.
However, if you’re extremely unlucky, you might come across an extremely toxic gamer who will DDoS you simply for disrespecting him/her.
And pretty much anyone can buy DDoS attacks online for as little as $5 or $10 per hour. So it’s not experienced hackers with a lot of money who run them, but your average script kiddies with access to their parents’ credit cards.
Even if they use a DoS attack (DDoS’ little, weaker brother), your fun will be ruined. Sure, a DoS attack only takes you offline for a few seconds or minutes, but that’s way too much when you’re trying to improve your online rankings.
Don’t worry, though – with a VPN, you’ll be safe. It hides your IP address, meaning hackers can’t use it to find your network. So, they can’t DDoS/DoS it anymore. Plus, most VPNs offer DDoS protection on their servers.
How to Pick the Right Gaming VPN
There are literally hundreds of VPNs on the market, so how do you even pick the best one for you?
Well, you could spend hours doing tons of research, reading reviews, and comparing services.
Or you could just check this guide to the best gaming VPNs that will work in Canada from ProPrivacy. The comparisons are easy to scan, and all the services listed there were personally tested out by us. Our verdict? You’re going to have a great time gaming online with them.
Do You Use VPNs When Gaming?
If yes, tell us what improvements you’ve noticed – either here in the comments or on social media. Also, feel free to mention what other reasons there are to use a VPN when gaming. If they’re good enough, we might even add them in the article.