VPN for gaming: ping, Discord, Steam and when a VPN gets in the way

Gamers need a VPN for two reasons: to open what doesn't open and to reach the right servers. At the same time it's important not to ruin the ping. Let's sort it out.

What a VPN opens

Discord, voice chats, regional stores, launchers that don't let you in from Russia, and updates that download at modem speed because of throttling. Through the tunnel all of it works as in Europe.

What about ping

The tunnel adds distance: your traffic goes to Moscow, then to Europe, then to the game server. If the game server is in Europe, the difference is small; sometimes ping is even better because the route is smoother. If the server is in Russia, a VPN makes ping worse. Simple rule: European servers through Surok, Russian ones directly.

How to keep a game out of the tunnel

• On a computer use the browser extension if you need the VPN only for sites, and let the game go direct.
• Discord is a separate case: voice over a VPN works more stably than without, because it's what gets cut most often.
• Steam downloads updates over a VPN without throttling, and a game with Russian servers can be launched after disconnecting.

Which exit to pick

For European servers Poland and Estonia are closer, for western gaming regions the Netherlands and Germany. "Europe · auto" chooses by the response to our exit, not to the game server, so for games it's better to pick a country manually and compare ping in the game itself.

Anti-cheat

Games with anti-cheat are relaxed about VPNs: the tunnel doesn't touch game files. Problems only come from frequently changing the exit country within one session: pick a country and don't switch during a match.

Download speed

Through our exits you get 60–100 Mbit/s, so a 50 GB update arrives in an hour or two, not overnight. If it downloads slower, try another exit.