Nowadays, gaming has become even more accessible when it fits into our palms. Gamers know very well that every victory hinges on the slightest advantage, and competition knows no borders. Thus, more and more turn to a powerful ally – a VPN (Virtual Private Network) – to reap the benefits of the edge-cutting technology.
However, while some VPN brands are revolutionizing mobile gaming, some cheap imitations are cluttering the industry space with unfilled promises. How to choose the right VPN for you? Do I really need a VPN for games? This article discusses what makes a good gaming VPN and 5 ways the software levels up your gaming sessions.
Table Of Contents
What is a VPN?
A VPN is a technology that serves as a bridge between your device, in this case Android, and your ISP (Internet Service Provider). In short, it routes your web traffic through a tunnel cloaked in AES-256 encryption. All respectable VPN services, even militaries and banks, employ the latter to protect their data from snoopers. The encryption takes place in real time.
Apart from securing your privacy, a VPN typically houses thousands of servers in dozens of countries to allow users to overcome geo-blocks. It grants you a foreign IP matching the selected location. Thanks to that, a reliable VPN for Android will let you access streaming apps and exclusive websites and share files via P2P. That’s just a few advantages, truth be told. Above all, it helps enhance all things gaming.
How to choose the right gaming VPN for Android?
The real challenge that you must face is selecting an exemplary service. The VPN space is filled with hundreds of options, most of which bring more harm than good. Here is what you should pay attention to when choosing the right mobile gaming VPN:
- Server fleet. The more VPN software has servers, the better. You’re less likely to land on a hogged server or get an already blacklisted IP. In fact, you can check out whether the provider offers physical or virtual servers, do they own them, whether their servers are RAM-only, and more.
- Country coverage. If you want to successfully bypass geo-blocks for gaming, streaming, or whatever other purpose, you need a VPN with solid global distribution. That leaves you with more options, especially if you want to unlock in-game items available regionally.
- Security measures. Online gamers are susceptible to threats like DDoS and DoS attacks. For this reason, seek out a provider that houses several robust protective measures, like DDoS protection or obfuscation. Besides, it’s imperative that a VPN service should have a kill switch and leak protection to prevent your actual location and other data from spilling.
- Modern tunneling protocols. Surely, you want lower latency and overall great performance while gaming with a VPN in the background. For this reason, ensure that your pick employs the WireGuard protocol or modern alternatives built around it, like NordVPN’s NordLynx or ExpressVPN’s Lightway.
- User reviews. There is nothing like a collective voice of users who share their first-hand experience to help others make informed decisions. Check out what other people say about VPNs on Reddit, Lemmy, or Trustpilot, so you know whether the VPN is reputable and reliable.
Grants access geo-restricted games
Due to licensing agreements, streaming platforms frequently impose geographical content restrictions on movies and TV shows. Multiplayer games often operate in a similar manner when it comes to geo-blocks. They segregate players into servers based on their regions. For instance, if your desired server is in Europe but you find yourself abroad in the US, connecting may be challenging.
Luckily, a worthy VPN can unblock otherwise unavailable games in your area by fashioning you an IP address in a desired location. Just a few clicks, and you appear where you wish to be. So, you can connect to your European server even from the US without having to worry about missing out on sessions with your friends.
May potentially lower your ping
We must say right off the bat that it’s not a guarantee. Some VPN providers manage to lower your ping, but most good services don’t increase it either. See, in some cases, your ISP might have fewer direct routes due to various reasons, causing higher latency (or ping).
VPNs can sometimes counter higher ping by providing more efficient and optimized travel routes for your gaming data. Web traffic often follows the shortest and fastest path from your device to the game server. Thus, when you use a VPN, you shorten the path for your data since the ISP doesn’t meddle either. Consequently, this increases transfer speeds and decreases ping.
Helps lift bandwidth throttling
ISPs often navigate traffic on their servers based on their own policies. Thus, they tend to give higher priority to activities like web browsing or streaming, which require consistent data flow but not necessarily low latency. In contrast, gaming requires low latency and responsive connections. So, if your ISP deprioritizes gaming traffic, it can result in higher ping times and slower performance. That’s called bandwidth throttling.
A VPN counters bandwidth throttling by pulling wool over your ISP’s eyes. Basically, when your internet traffic is routed through a VPN-encrypted tunnel, no one can see what you’re up to. Yes, not even your ISP. And since they no longer have a hold over your data, they can no longer hog your bandwidth for traffic prioritization.
Protects from DDoS attacks & other threats
Unfortunately, mobile gamers aren’t exempt from DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and DoS (Denial of Service) attacks. Since your IP address is visible via the network once you connect to a gaming server, hackers can get a hold of it and use it as a target of DDoS & DoS attacks. Sometimes, it can be even grudging rival players that do this. Another means of exploiting your data is through chat and VoIP Services, which hackers love to do.
Data encryption is the key to safer gaming. Luckily, a robust gaming VPN effectively hides your activities and information behind encryption and forged IP addresses. They cannot harm you if they don’t know your real IP. Besides, most reputable gaming VPNs have built-in DDoS protection. Also, a kill switch and leak protection that nefarious third parties wouldn’t get a hold of your actual data even if your VPN connection stops abruptly.
Allows access to exclusive in-game rewards and items
You can unblock more than just video games or streaming websites. One of the sweetest gaming advantages is accessing regionally locked in-game items or rewards. Likewise, you can play some games or DLCs earlier by connecting to a VPN server in a country where the game is coming out before the rest of the world.
Besides, having access to numerous countries at the tip of your fingers allows you to join friends in lobbies of other regions, no matter where you are. If you have Australian friends and wish to join them from Japan, you only need to start a VPN app and connect to any of the servers in Australia. Et voila, you can raid with friends and not worry about limitations.
Final thoughts
There are several indisputable advantages for avid gamers to incorporate a VPN into their online shenanigans. Like a ninja, the software operates in the background. Still, its contribution is colossal: you can access regionally locked video games, DLCs, in-game items, and rewards. On top of that, the service optimizes your sessions by potentially reducing ping and halting bandwidth throttling—all that while shielding you from cyber threats like DDoS attacks.
In truth, you can read all the benefits only with a capable service that fulfills their promises. As for how to choose a reliable gaming VPN for Android, look at the criteria that make or break the service. Those include global distribution, secure and modern tunneling protocols, security features, and hefty extras. Of course, don’t forget about the reputation built by user reviews, not providers.