If you use the Private Internet Access (PIA) app and experience slow speeds while connected, start by changing the connection ports in the application. For instructions, refer to the relevant port configuration guide. You can also review the recommendations for gaming performance.
Your ISP-rated speed reflects performance under ideal conditions within the ISP’s network. A VPN adds overhead due to encryption, which can reduce speed. Higher encryption levels increase this impact.
Speed can decrease further when you:
- Connect to distant gateways with higher latency.
- Use servers with high traffic load.
- Use ports that your ISP restricts.
If you experience slow speeds, try the following:
- Change ports: Some ISPs restrict certain ports, which can affect performance.
- Switch to WireGuard: This protocol offers improved efficiency and better performance than OpenVPN in many cases.
- Enable Small Packets: This setting reduces packet size and can improve stability on unreliable networks.
On Windows, OpenVPN connections that use the TAP adapter may not exceed approximately 150 Mbps due to a known limitation. This issue relates to the OpenVPN protocol on Windows and is not specific to PIA.
If you still experience slow speeds, contact support and provide the following details:
- Where are you seeing the slow speeds exactly (torrents, etc.)?
- What speeds are you actually seeing, via the methods outlined above (with and without the VPN active)?
- What gateway are you using?
- What country/state are you connecting from?
- What operating system are you running on your device(Windows 10, MacOS, etc.)?
- Are you running any firewalls or other security software on your device (i.e., Windows Defender)?
- How are you connecting to the internet on that device (public Wi-Fi, your own router, an ISP's modem, etc.)?
- How are you connecting to VPN (our PIA application, a manual setup, another application, etc.)?
- Are you on a public (i.e., hotel, workplace, university) or private network (home)?
Once we have the above data, we can move forward with understanding what to expect. If necessary we can then adjust some settings to get the best speeds possible or troubleshoot further if necessary.