Guides and tests

Plain answers to questions about VPNs, with steps you can follow yourself and what our measurements show.

• Check your VPN's IP address
  Is your VPN working? See the address and country the internet sees, with the VPN off and on.
• How to check if your VPN is leaking
  What DNS, WebRTC and IPv6 leaks are, how to check each by hand, and how to fix one.
• What is the best VPN?
  There is no single best VPN: what decides it, and how to sort our results for what you need.
• Which VPN is fastest?
  No VPN is fastest for everyone: what decides speed, and how to compare our measured speeds.
• Test your VPN's speed
  How to measure how much your VPN slows you down, fairly, on your own connection.
• Is your VPN server where it says it is?
  Why a VPN server's real location can differ from its label, how to check yours, and what we measured.
• Choosing a VPN for streaming
  What streaming needs from a VPN, which of our measurements speak to it, and what we do not test.
• Gaming over a VPN
  What a VPN does to ping, what games need from a connection, and how to test your own with it off and on.
• Should you use a free VPN?
  What free VPN plans usually limit, how free services pay their bills, and what to check first.