Fix a Slow VPN: 5 Easy Ways to Speed Up

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VPNs are brilliant until they’re not.

One minute you’re browsing safely, the next minute Netflix is buffering, pages are taking forever to load, and your downloads have slowed to a crawl. If that sounds familiar, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s the thing most people don’t realise: a slow VPN is almost never a reason to ditch it. It’s usually a settings problem and once you know where to look, fixing it takes about five minutes. No tech skills required.

Let’s walk through exactly how to fix a slow VPN, step by step.

Before You Troubleshoot — Read This First

Before changing anything, set your expectations right. A VPN will always be slightly slower than a direct connection because that’s just physics. Your data is travelling through an encrypted tunnel to a server somewhere in the world, then back again. You’re adding steps to the journey.

A good VPN running correctly should slow your connection by 5–20%. Anything beyond 40% means something’s actually wrong and that’s what we’re here to fix.

1. Switch to a Closer Server

Think of your VPN like a postal service. If you’re in Sydney and your letter needs to go to a server in New York before it reaches Google, that’s a lot of ground to cover. The further the server, the slower the trip.

Most people don’t realise their VPN has automatically connected them to a server on the other side of the world. Check where you’re connected right now. Chances are, switching to something closer will instantly boost your speed by anywhere from 20% to 200%.

The only time you’d want a distant server is when you’re trying to access content from another country like Netflix US from Australia or your home bank account while travelling overseas. Otherwise, always go closest.

We recommend Surfshark VPN – on Surfshark: tap the search bar → type your city → connect.

2. Change Your VPN Protocol

This one sounds technical but it’s genuinely just a setting in your app and it might be the single biggest speed fix available to you.

Your VPN protocol is essentially the method it uses to send your data. Some methods are older and slower. Some are fast and still very secure. You want WireGuard. It’s the newest, the fastest, and it doesn’t compromise on protection.

Here’s how the main protocols compare:

To switch: open your VPN app → Settings → Protocol → select WireGuard.

If your VPN doesn’t offer WireGuard at all, that’s a sign it’s time for an upgrade. Surfshark includes it on every plan — and it’s the protocol I use daily.

3. Check Your Wi-Fi Before Blaming Your VPN

Here’s something people get wrong all the time: they blame the VPN when the real culprit is their Wi-Fi.

Your VPN can only work with what it’s given. If your base internet is running at 20 Mbps, no VPN in the world is going to give you 100 Mbps. It simply doesn’t work that way.

Run through these quick checks first:

• Are you sitting far from your router?
• Is everyone in the house streaming at once?
• Are you on the 2.4 GHz band instead of 5 GHz? (5 GHz is significantly faster for close-range devices)
• Is your router more than a few years old?

The fastest fix for weak Wi-Fi? Move closer to the router, or better yet, plug in an ethernet cable. Wired connections are almost always faster and more stable than wireless — your VPN will thank you for it.

4. Use a VPN That’s Actually Built for Speed

Not all VPNs are created equal and if you’re using a free one, it may be the source of your problems rather than the solution.

Free VPNs are slow for a reason. They cram too many users onto too few servers, cap your bandwidth, and get blocked by most streaming sites. Worse, many of them make money by selling your data — which rather defeats the purpose of having a VPN in the first place.

A premium VPN like Surfshark gives you fast servers, regular updates, and WireGuard support for roughly the price of a coffee per month. If you’re still deciding which VPN to use, our guide to choosing the right VPN walks you through exactly what to look for.

5. Restart Everything (Yes, Everything)

In the IT world, we call this the mother of all troubleshooting and it works more often than people expect.

Software conflicts, memory leaks, and background processes you’ve forgotten about can all quietly drag your VPN speed down. The fix costs you nothing and takes 60 seconds.

Restart your VPN app. Restart your browser. Restart your router. Restart your device.

Do all four. In that order. Then reconnect and test your speed again. You’d be amazed how often this solves what seemed like a complicated problem.

Bonus: Advanced Fixes Worth Trying

Got through the five steps and still want more speed? These extra tweaks are optional but genuinely effective:

Switch your DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) — Cloudflare’s DNS is both faster and more private than most default options. You can set it manually or use the free Cloudflare app.

Turn on Split Tunneling — This lets you decide which apps go through the VPN and which connect directly. Streaming apps, YouTube, and games can often bypass the VPN entirely, which reduces the load and speeds everything else up.

Disable IPv6 — Some VPNs don’t fully support IPv6, which causes slowdowns and occasionally leaks. Disabling it removes the conflict entirely.

Connect during off-peak hours — Even premium servers get congested during peak times. If speed matters, early morning connections are almost always faster.

Your Speed Checklist — Bookmark This

Before you do anything else, work through these in order:

✅ Switch to the closest server ✅ Change protocol to WireGuard ✅ Check your Wi-Fi (move closer or use ethernet) ✅ Restart app, browser, router, and device ✅ Avoid free VPNs ✅ Turn on split tunneling ✅ Try Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) ✅ Update your VPN app

Most people fix their speed problem at step one or two and never need to go further.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be technical to fix a slow VPN. In almost every case it comes down to one of five things — wrong server, wrong protocol, weak Wi-Fi, a bad provider, or a device that just needs a restart.

Work through the steps above and your connection will almost certainly feel different. Faster speeds, fewer drops, smoother streaming — and the privacy protection still running quietly in the background, exactly the way it should be.

Still having issues? Check whether you’re using Surfshark correctly for best speeds — a misconfigured setup is more common than people realise.

Read more to improve your vpn

Using VPN on public Wi-Fi? Speeds may vary — here’s why

Set up Surfshark correctly for best speeds

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