Category: Gaming Guides

Search “gaming VPN” and you’ll find a hundred articles promising lower ping, magic speed boosts and an end to lag. Most of that is salesmanship. The reality is that a VPN helps with a few specific gaming problems, does nothing for most and actively hurts in some cases. This guide covers which is which, and which services hold up if you land in the “actually helps” column.

This guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts; see our affiliate disclosure.

When a VPN genuinely helps your gaming

• DDoS protection in competitive play. In peer-to-peer games and community servers, opponents can sometimes see your IP address and a sore loser with a booter service can knock you offline mid-match. A VPN hides your real IP behind the provider’s, which absorbs that attack. If you stream, play ranked fighting games or host lobbies, this is the single best reason to run one.
• Public Wi-Fi security. Hotel, dorm and café networks are the wild west. A VPN encrypts your traffic end to end. We covered the full picture in our public Wi-Fi gaming guide.
• ISP throttling. Some providers deprioritize game or streaming traffic at peak hours. A VPN hides what kind of traffic you’re sending, which can restore normal speeds, but only if throttling was the actual problem. Test first: if your speed is identical at 4 a.m. and 8 p.m., your ISP probably isn’t the issue (our lag and ping guide covers what usually is).
• Region-locked betas and early launches. Games sometimes unlock hours or days earlier in other regions, and some betas are region-limited. A VPN can get you in, but check the game’s terms of service first; some publishers prohibit it and a banned account costs more than the head start was worth. We flag it because it works, not because it’s risk-free.

When a VPN makes gaming worse

Physics doesn’t negotiate: your traffic detours through an extra server, so baseline latency goes up, not down. Usually 3-15ms with a nearby server on a fast protocol, much more on a distant or overloaded one. The “VPNs lower ping” pitch describes one narrow case: when your ISP’s routing to a game server is genuinely bad, a VPN’s route is occasionally shorter. It happens, but it’s the exception. If your connection is healthy and your ISP behaves, playing without a VPN is the faster option and turning one on for solo or casual play buys you nothing.

What actually matters in a gaming VPN (the spec checklist)

• A modern protocol. WireGuard or a WireGuard-based implementation (NordVPN’s NordLynx, for example). The older OpenVPN protocol costs noticeably more speed.
• Servers near you and near your game’s region. The closer the VPN server, the smaller the latency tax. A provider with locations in your city beats one with twice the total servers somewhere else.
• No bandwidth caps. Game downloads are 100GB+ now; a capped VPN is a non-starter.
• Router support or unlimited devices. Consoles can’t run VPN apps natively. You either need router-level setup or a provider that doesn’t count devices.
• A kill switch that doesn’t fight you. If the VPN drops, you want a clean disconnect, not a half-broken connection mid-ranked-match.

The picks, based on the specs

NordVPN. The default for gaming

NordLynx (WireGuard) · large multi-region network · router support · no bandwidth caps

Based on the published specs, NordVPN checks every gaming box: NordLynx is consistently among the fastest protocol implementations in independent speed testing, the server network is large enough that almost everyone has a nearby location, and router setup is well documented for console players. The knocks: it’s mid-priced rather than cheap (renewal prices jump after the intro term. Calendar the renewal date), and the apps push upsells like Nord’s bundled products more than we’d like. Check NordVPN’s current pricing.

Surfshark. The value pick

WireGuard · unlimited devices · budget intro pricing

Surfshark’s standout spec is unlimited simultaneous devices. One subscription covers your PC, phone and the router the console sits behind. Speeds on WireGuard are competitive based on published testing, and intro pricing is regularly the lowest of the big names. Knocks: the server network is smaller than Nord’s in some regions (check that your city or country is covered before subscribing), and like every budget VPN, the renewal price is a multiple of the teaser rate.

Proton VPN. The privacy-first pick (with a real free tier)

WireGuard · audited no-logs policy · genuinely usable free tier

If your reason for a VPN is privacy first and gaming second, Proton’s published audit record is the strongest of the three and it’s the only major provider with a free tier that isn’t a crippled demo. Useful for testing whether a VPN even solves your problem before paying anyone. Knocks: the free tier picks your server for you (no good for gaming), and the paid tier’s network is smaller than Nord’s, which matters for server proximity.

How to test whether a VPN is helping or hurting you

Five minutes, no guesswork: note your ping in your most-played game without the VPN. Connect to the provider’s nearest server, recheck. If ping went up by more than ~10ms, try a different nearby server once, then accept that your normal route is fine and save the VPN for the situations above. If ping went down, congratulations. Your ISP’s routing was the problem all along and now you know.

Frequently asked questions

Will a VPN lower my ping?

Usually no. It adds a hop, which adds latency. The exception is when your ISP routes game traffic badly; a VPN’s route is occasionally better. Test it with the five-minute method above rather than trusting marketing.

Can I use a VPN on a console?

Not natively. PlayStation, Xbox and Switch don’t run VPN apps. You either configure the VPN on your router or share a VPN connection from a PC. Router-level is the cleaner setup; check that your provider documents it for your router model first.

Is using a VPN for gaming against the rules?

For ordinary play, no. VPN use is fine with virtually every major game. Using one to access region-locked content or shop other regions’ stores can violate specific publishers’ terms; that’s a per-game question worth checking before you risk an account you care about.

Related reads

• How to Reduce Lag and Ping When Gaming Online
• Is It Safe to Game on Public Wi-Fi?
• The Best New Games of 2026 (Updated Monthly)

The short version: a VPN is a specific tool for specific problems, not a general gaming upgrade. If you’re in the streamer/competitive/public-Wi-Fi camp, the three above are the ones whose specs hold up. If you’re not. Close this tab and enjoy your unmodified ping. Got a VPN gaming experience that contradicts the specs? Tell us in the comments.

Looking for the best PC controllers in 2026? Whether you want a cheap-but-solid pad for couch sessions, a do-everything wireless workhorse or a premium pro controller, this guide covers the picks that actually earn their price. What each is, who it’s for and the one thing to know before you buy.

Best budget: 8BitDo Ultimate C

PC · Android · wired or 2.4GHz versions · budget tier

8BitDo’s Ultimate C is the rare cheap controller that doesn’t feel cheap. The layout is familiar, the D-pad is genuinely good (8BitDo’s specialty) and the build quality embarrasses some pads twice its price. It’s ideal as a second controller for couch co-op or a first pad for someone who isn’t sure they’ll use it much. The trade-off at this tier: no back buttons, no fancy software and you should double-check which version you’re buying. The wired and 2.4GHz models are sold separately. Check price on Amazon.

Best mid-range: Xbox Wireless Controller

PC · Xbox · Bluetooth + USB-C · mid tier

The boring answer is boring because it works. Every PC game with controller support is built around this pad’s layout, the ergonomics suit almost every hand size and pairing over Bluetooth or USB-C is painless. If you only ever buy one controller for PC gaming, this is the one nobody regrets. Caveats: it still runs on AA batteries out of the box (a rechargeable pack is a worthwhile add-on), and the sticks are conventional potentiometer units rather than drift-resistant Hall-effect ones. Check price on Amazon.

Best value wireless: 8BitDo Ultimate 2.4GHz with charging dock

PC · Switch version available · 2.4GHz + Bluetooth · Hall-effect sticks · mid tier

This is the pick for people who read spec sheets. Hall-effect sticks (magnetic sensors that resist the stick drift that kills ordinary pads), a low-latency 2.4GHz dongle, two back paddles and a charging dock you just drop the controller onto. It’s a feature list that used to cost twice as much. The companion software handles remapping and trigger tuning. Worth knowing: 8BitDo now also sells the newer Ultimate 2 with upgraded TMR sticks, but the original’s price has drifted down since that launch, which is exactly what makes it the value pick. The caveat: the shape is slightly smaller than an Xbox pad, which bigger hands may notice over long sessions. Check price on Amazon.

Best premium: Xbox Elite Series 2

PC · Xbox · Bluetooth + USB-C · swappable parts · premium tier

The Elite Series 2 is the controller you buy when gaming is your main hobby and you know it. Swappable sticks and D-pads, four back paddles, adjustable-tension thumbsticks, hair-trigger locks and a build that feels like lab equipment. For competitive shooters and long RPG sessions alike, it’s a genuine upgrade you can feel. Two caveats: it’s expensive and its long-term reliability record is more mixed than the price suggests. Buy from somewhere with a solid return window. Check price on Amazon.

Best for fighting games: Hori Fighting Commander OCTA

PC · PlayStation versions available · wired · fighting-game pad

Fighting games punish ordinary D-pads, and the Fighting Commander OCTA is built for exactly that: a large, precise D-pad, a six-button face layout that mirrors arcade conventions and a short-throw feel that makes quarter-circles consistent. It’s the pad to grab if Street Fighter or Tekken is your main rotation but a full arcade stick feels like overkill. It’s wired-only and specialized. As a general-purpose controller, the picks above serve better. Check price on Amazon.

Best PlayStation-style: Sony DualSense

PC (Steam) · PS5 · Bluetooth + USB-C · haptics in supported games · mid tier

If you prefer Sony’s symmetric stick layout, the DualSense works beautifully on PC through Steam and a growing list of PC games supports its standout features. The adaptive triggers and detailed haptics that made it famous on PS5. It’s also simply a comfortable, well-built pad. Know the trade-offs: outside Steam, setup can need extra steps and those signature features only work in games that explicitly support them. Check price on Amazon.

How we picked: what actually matters in 2026

• Stick technology. Hall-effect (magnetic) sticks resist drift far better than traditional potentiometer sticks. At the budget and mid tiers, it’s the single best feature to look for.
• Connection. A 2.4GHz dongle is the latency sweet spot for PC; Bluetooth is fine for everything except competitive play; wired never lets you down.
• Compatibility. XInput (the Xbox standard) just works everywhere on PC. PlayStation-style pads are best used through Steam.
• Battery. Built-in rechargeable with a dock beats AAs for daily players; AAs beat everything for grab-it-twice-a-month players.

Frequently asked questions

Do PlayStation controllers work on PC?

Yes. Steam supports the DualSense and DualShock 4 natively, including remapping. Outside Steam you may need extra configuration and game-specific features like adaptive triggers only work where developers added support.

What is a Hall-effect stick and why does it matter?

Hall-effect sticks read position with magnetic sensors instead of physical contacts, so they don’t wear down the way standard sticks do. That makes stick drift. The most common way controllers die. Far less likely.

Is a wireless controller worse for competitive games?

Not meaningfully, if it uses a 2.4GHz dongle. That connection is effectively as responsive as wired. Plain Bluetooth adds a little latency, which only really matters in fast competitive play.

Related reads

• The Best New Games of 2026 (Updated Monthly)
• How to Reduce Lag and Ping When Gaming Online

That’s the field in 2026. One great pad for every budget and play style. Got a controller you swear by that we missed? Tell us in the comments.

Getting a few rounds in at the airport, grinding a mobile game at a café, downloading an update at a hotel. Public Wi-Fi is everywhere and it’s tempting to use. But “open” networks are open for a reason and that convenience comes with genuine trade-offs. Here’s exactly what’s at risk when you game on public Wi-Fi, what’s fine to do and the handful of steps that keep you protected.

This guide contains an affiliate link. If you buy through it, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts; see our affiliate disclosure.

The short answer

Gaming on public Wi-Fi is usually fine for low-stakes play, but it becomes risky the moment you log into an account or enter payment details. The danger isn’t your gameplay. It’s the credentials and card information that travel alongside it. Treat any open network as if a stranger could be watching, because on a poorly secured one, they sometimes can.

Why public Wi-Fi is risky for gamers

The core issue is that many public networks are unencrypted or shared, so data moving between your device and the router can potentially be seen or interfered with by others on the same network. A few specific threats stand out:

• Snooping: on an open network, unencrypted traffic can be intercepted by someone nearby with the right tools.
• Fake hotspots (“evil twins”): attackers set up networks with trustworthy-sounding names like “Airport_Free_WiFi” to lure you into connecting through them, routing everything you do past their device.
• Man-in-the-middle attacks: someone positions themselves between you and the network to capture or alter what you send.
• Session hijacking: if a logged-in session token is intercepted, an attacker can sometimes access your account without ever needing your password.

What’s actually at stake

Your match results aren’t what attackers want. Your accounts are. The risky moments are logging into a game store, buying in-game currency or signing into an account with a saved card attached. A stolen login to a storefront tied to your payment method can get expensive fast, and because so many people reuse passwords, one breach can cascade across your email, storefronts and other services.

Safe vs. risky on public Wi-Fi

A quick reference for what to do, and what to save for a network you trust:

• Generally safe: offline or single-player games · matchmaking in a session you’re already logged into (with 2FA on) · browsing guides and news while logged out · downloading patches.
• Risky. Wait for a trusted network: logging into a storefront or account · entering or saving payment details · buying in-game currency or DLC · changing a password · anything tied to your bank or card.

How to stay safe. A 6-step checklist

1. Don’t log in or pay on open networks

The simplest rule: if you wouldn’t want it intercepted, don’t send it over public Wi-Fi. Save account logins and purchases for a network you trust.

2. Keep two-factor authentication on

Enable 2FA on every gaming account you own. Steam Guard, PlayStation, Xbox, Epic, your email. Even if a password leaks, that second step blocks the large majority of account takeovers.

3. Use your phone’s hotspot when you can

A personal mobile hotspot is far safer than an open public network because the connection is yours and encrypted by the carrier. If you’re doing anything sensitive, tethering to your phone is the easy win.

4. Keep your device and games updated

Security patches exist for a reason. An up-to-date device and game client close the holes that attackers on a shared network rely on, so don’t sit on those update prompts.

5. Forget the network when you’re done

Tell your device to forget public networks so it doesn’t silently reconnect later, or auto-join a spoofed network using the same name somewhere else.

6. Use a VPN to encrypt your connection

This is the one place a VPN is unambiguously the right tool. A VPN encrypts everything traveling between your device and the internet, so even on an untrusted network, anyone intercepting your traffic sees only scrambled data. If you regularly game or browse on public Wi-Fi, a reputable provider like NordVPN lets you use that café or hotel connection without exposing your logins or payment details. This is exactly the scenario VPNs were built for.

Frequently asked questions

Can someone really hack my game account over public Wi-Fi?

It’s uncommon but genuinely possible on an unsecured network. Usually by intercepting a login or session token, not by “hacking” the game itself. Keeping 2FA on and avoiding logins/payments on public Wi-Fi removes nearly all of that risk.

Do I actually need a VPN, or is HTTPS enough?

HTTPS protects individual website connections, which helps a lot, but a VPN encrypts all your traffic and hides which services you’re using, including game clients that may not use HTTPS for everything. On untrusted networks, a VPN is the stronger, simpler safeguard.

Is mobile data safer than public Wi-Fi?

Yes. Your carrier’s mobile data connection is encrypted and not shared the way an open hotspot is, so for anything sensitive, mobile data (or your own hotspot) beats public Wi-Fi.

Related reads

• The Best New Games of 2026 (Updated Monthly)
• Do You Actually Need a VPN for Gaming?
• How to Reduce Lag and Ping When Gaming Online

Public Wi-Fi is fine for casual play, but treat any login or purchase as a risk. Keep 2FA switched on, avoid entering payment information and run a VPN to encrypt your connection when a trusted network isn’t available. Do you game on the go often? Tell us how you keep your accounts safe in the comments.

There’s nothing worse than lining up the perfect shot and watching your character stutter across the screen a half-second later. The good news: most lag isn’t a mystery, and it isn’t permanent. The overwhelming majority of it comes down to a handful of fixable causes on your end of the connection, and you can work through them in about five minutes.

This guide contains an affiliate link. If you buy through it, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our verdicts; see our affiliate disclosure.

This guide walks through what actually lowers your ping, roughly in order of impact, so you fix the things that matter instead of chasing myths.

Lag vs. ping: what you’re actually fighting

“Ping” is the round-trip time for data to travel from your device to the game server and back, measured in milliseconds. Lower is better. “Lag” is the symptom you feel when that number is high or unstable: rubber-banding, delayed hits and rewound movement.

Two things matter beyond the raw number. Jitter is how much your ping fluctuates. A steady 40ms feels far better than a connection bouncing between 30ms and 250ms, even if the average looks fine. Packet loss is data that never arrives at all, which causes the worst teleporting and is often mistaken for “high ping.” And crucially, latency is not the same as bandwidth: a fast 1,000 Mbps plan doesn’t guarantee low ping. Once you’ve got enough speed for the game (most need only a few Mbps), more Mbps does nothing for latency.

The fixes that make the biggest difference

1. Use a wired Ethernet connection

This is the single biggest upgrade for most players. Wi-Fi introduces variable latency and occasional packet loss that a cable simply doesn’t, and it’s the most common hidden cause of “lag” people fight for months. If you can run an Ethernet cable from your router to your console or PC, do that first. If a long cable isn’t practical, powerline adapters (which send data over your home’s electrical wiring) or MoCA adapters (over coax) are usually far steadier than Wi-Fi.

2. Connect to the closest server or region

Ping is partly just physics: the farther your data has to travel, the longer it takes. If your game lets you pick a region or server, choose the one nearest you. Playing on a server two continents away will always feel sluggish no matter how good your hardware is, so double-check you haven’t been auto-matched to a distant region. It happens more than you’d think during off-peak hours.

3. Kill the apps eating your bandwidth

A game patch downloading in the background, a cloud backup syncing, a 4K stream in the next room or Windows Update’s delivery optimization all compete for the same connection. Close what you don’t need, pause downloads and open Task Manager (or your console’s network settings) to spot anything hogging the link. If other people share your network, congestion on their devices hits your ping too.

4. Restart your router and rule out your ISP

Routers that have run for weeks get bogged down, and a simple reboot clears that. If your ping is bad in every game and on every server, the problem is probably upstream with your internet provider. Run a speed-and-latency test, check your ISP’s status page for outages and if high latency persists across days, contact them. Sometimes it’s a line fault or congestion on their end that only they can fix.

5. Turn on QoS to prioritize gaming

Many routers have a Quality of Service (QoS) setting that lets you prioritize one device’s traffic over everything else on the network. Put your gaming device at the top, and it gets first claim on bandwidth when the household is busy. Some gaming-oriented routers have a one-click “gaming mode” that does the same thing.

6. If you must use Wi-Fi, optimize it

Sometimes a cable isn’t an option. If so, use the 5GHz (or 6GHz) band instead of 2.4GHz, move as close to the router as you can and reduce interference from walls, microwaves and other devices. Switching to a less-crowded Wi-Fi channel or adding a mesh node near your setup, can also cut the jitter that wireless introduces.

7. Check for packet loss, not just ping

If your ping looks fine but the game still stutters, the culprit is often packet loss or jitter rather than raw latency. On PC you can run a quick ping or pathping test to your game’s region (or use the game’s built-in network graph) and watch for dropped packets. Consistent loss usually points to a bad cable, a failing router or an ISP issue. Not something more settings will fix.

8. Make sure it’s not the game’s servers

Sometimes it genuinely isn’t your fault. Server-side problems, maintenance windows or DDoS events cause lag that nothing on your end will solve. Check the game’s official status channel before you tear your setup apart. If everyone in the lobby is lagging, it’s them, not you.

Does a VPN reduce lag? The short answer

Usually, no and you should be skeptical of anyone who promises otherwise. A VPN routes your traffic through an extra server on the way to the game, which in most cases adds a little latency rather than removing it. For a normal connection to a nearby server, a VPN will not lower your ping.

There are two specific situations where a VPN genuinely helps:

• Your ISP is throttling your traffic. Some providers deliberately slow certain kinds of traffic. A VPN hides what you’re doing, which can restore normal speeds and occasionally routes you to a game server more directly than your ISP’s default path.
• You’re being targeted with DDoS attacks. In competitive or peer-hosted games where opponents can see your IP address, a VPN masks it, protecting you from being knocked offline.

If either of those is your problem, a reputable provider like NordVPN is worth trying. Just go in understanding it’s a fix for those narrow cases, not a magic ping reducer for everyone.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a good ping for online gaming?

Under 20ms is excellent, under 50ms is good and what most players should aim for and 100ms is where you’ll start to notice delay. Anything consistently above ~150ms feels rough in fast games. Stability matters as much as the number. A steady 60ms beats a spiky 40ms.

Will a faster internet plan lower my ping?

No. Bandwidth (Mbps) and latency (ping) are different things. Once you have enough speed for the game. Usually just a few Mbps. Paying for more does nothing for ping. Distance to the server, routing, congestion and Wi-Fi are what actually move that number.

My ping is fine but the game still lags. Why?

That’s almost always packet loss or jitter rather than latency, or a problem on the game’s servers. Switch to a wired connection, test for packet loss and check the game’s status before changing anything else.

Related reads

• The Best New Games of 2026 (Updated Monthly)
• Do You Actually Need a VPN for Gaming?
• Is It Safe to Game on Public Wi-Fi?

Wire your connection, pick a close server and clear out background traffic and you’ll solve lag in the overwhelming majority of cases. Save the VPN for ISP throttling or DDoS protection. What’s the worst lag spike you’ve ever fought, and which of these fixes finally worked? Tell us in the comments.