Like most people who use Netflix, you’re probably thinking of using a VPN to bypass the site’s geo-blocks and enjoy more content. However, you might have heard that VPNs slow down your speeds, so you might be on the fence about this.
But is that true? And if it is, just how bad are the slowdowns?
We’ll tell you everything you need to know in this article.
So Will a VPN Slow Down Your Netflix Speeds?
We know you were expecting to hear a “no,” but that’s not how VPNs work, unfortunately. They depend on your online speeds, so they will slow them down.
The good news is that the slowdowns are often not noticeable. We ran three speed tests with three different setups to give you an idea of what slowdowns you can expect:
- First setup – 400 Mbps ISP speeds; we averaged 100-150 Mbps speeds while running a VPN connection.
- Second setup – 100 Mbps ISP speeds; we had 80-90 Mbps speeds while using Netflix with a VPN.
- Third setup – 60 Mbps ISP speeds; we got around 45-55 Mbps speeds while connected to a VPN.
All in all, we were able to get very smooth and enjoyable streaming.
IMPORTANT: Our tests won’t fully reflect what speeds you might see. They’re just there to give you an idea of what kind of slowdowns you might experience. They’re not 100% indicative of your potential VPN speeds because they completely depend on what ISP speeds you have. If they’re already slow (like 10-20 Mbps), your VPN speeds will be slow too.
What VPN Speeds Do You Need to Enjoy Netflix?
The good news is that Netflix doesn’t require very high speeds for most HD and SD streaming. According to this FAQ article on their site, you’ll only need:
- 3 Mbps speeds for SD quality.
- 5 Mbps speeds for HD quality.
If you want to enjoy Ultra HD streaming, though, you’ll need a minimum of 25 Mbps speeds. Ideally, they should probably be somewhere over 35-40 Mbps.
How to Find Fast & Reliable Netflix VPNs
Not all VPNs are able to offer high speeds, large networks (to avoid overcrowding), unlimited bandwidth, and speed optimization features (like split tunneling).
Luckily, you can find VPNs with really good Netflix speeds by using StreamCatcher from ProPrivacy (https://streamcatcher.proprivacy.com). It’s an online tool whose main purpose is to tell you where Netflix titles are available. However, it does more than that. It also recommends the top Netflix VPNs on the market.
And those recommendations are based on ProPrivacy’s data. They’re one of the biggest VPN review sites on the web. They also stress-test tons of VPNs regularly to see which ones can unblock the site 24/7. Oh, and they have a speed testing tool that checks the top providers’ speeds round-the-clock to see which ones are the fastest.
So, it’s safe to say their suggestions are 100% legit. We recently tested all the VPNs they recommend through StreamCatcher, and we were able to unblock Netflix and watch content in Ultra HD quality without any problems.
How to Improve Your VPN Speeds When Watching Netflix
If your speeds aren’t fast enough to enjoy ultra HD streaming, or if you just want to be sure you’ll get the best speeds possible, there are some things you can do to improve them.
Before we talk about that, though, please keep this in mind – if your ISP speeds are already under 25 Mbps, none of the speed optimization tips we’ll be mentioning here will help. The only solution in that case is to get a faster subscription.
With that out of the way, here’s how to optimize your VPN speeds for Netflix:
1. Use Lightweight Protocols Instead of OpenVPN
With most VPNs, OpenVPN is the default choice. While it’s an excellent protocol, it’s often pretty slow. It only uses one CPU, and has a huge code base (anywhere between 70,000 and 600,000 lines).
Some decent speedy and secure alternatives to OpenVPN are:
- WireGuard
- IKEv2
- L2TP/IPSec
In case OpenVPN is the only available protocol, make it use UDP instead of TCP. That network protocol is much faster.
2. Connect to Nearby Servers
If the server is too far away from you, the VPN speeds will be slower because it takes longer for data packets to travel between it and the app on your device.
So do everything you can to connect to a server that’s close to you. For example, if you’re in France and want to unblock Netflix US, use servers on the East Coast, not the West Coast.
3. Avoid Crowded Servers
Many VPNs will show you the server load status (how many people are using them and how close they are to their load limit). If the server seems too overcrowded, pick a less crowded one (with 10-20% load or less, for examples) to get smoother speeds.
If you use a VPN with thousands of servers, you shouldn’t have any problem finding a server with fewer users.
4. Use Wired Connections
VPN speeds will be much slower over WiFi if your signal is weak. If you use a wired connection, that won’t be a problem.
But if direct connections via ethernet cables aren’t possible, try one of the following:
- Bring the device as close as you can to the router.
- Get a WiFi range extender (TP-Link has some decent ones).
5. Use Split Tunneling
With split tunneling, you can force the VPN to only encrypt and decrypt Netflix traffic (from the app and/or the browser you use Netflix on).
That way, your speeds should be slightly faster since there’s less data to route.
The Bottom Line
Yes, VPNs can slow down your Netflix speeds. Most of the time, it shouldn’t be by a lot – especially if you use the fastest providers on the market. Overall, as long as you get over 25 Mbps speeds, you should have no problem enjoying Netflix in Ultra HD quality.
What VPN speeds do you usually get while unblocking Netflix? And what measures do you take to increase your VPN speeds?
Please let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found this article helpful, we’d really appreciate it if you would be so kind to share it on social media.