How to speed up your slow internet, and can a VPN help?

There are a number of ways to speed up your internet, but one thing you may not realise is how the best VPN deals can actually help speed up that sluggish internet. A Virtual Private Network, more commonly referred to as a VPN, disguises everything you do online with military-grade encryption — keeping it hidden from advertisers, broadband suppliers, hackers, and even governments.

While most people think of a VPN as a sure-fire way to improve their privacy and security online, running a VPN at all times can be extremely useful to speed-up those slow internet speeds during certain situations. If you’re almost at wits’ end, wondering how to fix your sluggish internet, here’s a rundown on how to speed it up – and the best VPN to use.

How to speed up slow internet

Improving your internet speed can be a long process, especially as there are many things that could be hampering your speeds. One important way is to check where your device is. Wi-Fi signals can struggle to pass through certain things like water, metal, and concrete. As such, changing the position of your Wi-Fi router to avoid household items like a fridge-freezer, fish tank, or placing it away from a brick foreplace can all help.

Another way is to regularly unplug your router for 30 seconds each week. This clears potential memory leaks and forces the router to pick a less congested wireless channel. If you’re on Wi-Fi, it’s also important to make sure you're using more modern routers with dual-band networks.

Many newer routers have access to 5GHz bands, which are much faster and less congested than 2.4GHz, though it has a shorter range. If you have a newer Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 router, make sure you use the 6GHz band for even higher speeds.

If you use an Ethernet cable, ensure it’s in good condition, and you’re using a more modern Ethernet cable like a Cat6 cable.

It’s also important to keep an eye on possible bandwidth hogs on your network, such as applications which might be downloading large files or constantly streaming. In some cases, you might be limited by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) itself. Speeds can differ during peak times of the day, and depending on your internet speed package, you might be limited to how fast you can download or upload.

ISPs can also purposely slow down – or throttle - your internet speeds if you are gaming or streaming large files like 4K streaming using ‘Deep Packet Inspection’.For gamers connecting to servers, some ISPs can route traffic to a very congested path, leading to lag and a bad experience while gaming.

The good news is that VPNs can help in some of these circumstances.

How a VPN can help speed up your internet

In most circumstances, running a VPN will actually hamper your internet speeds, depending on the service and provider that you use. That’s why it’s important to use a VPN that slows down your internet connection as little as possible. This is becase all of the data transmitted between your device and the website or online service that you're using is being re-routed to a VPN server en-route, cloaking it with military-grade encryption and ensuring that nothing can be intercepted. It's a clever way to shield yourself from prying eyes... but it can come with a penalty on speed.

In our ExpressVPN review, we praised this premium VPN service for its minimal impact on broadband bandwidth, even when routing our data to the other side of the planet. So, how does any of this help with internet speeds?

As we mentioned before, some broadband suppliers will "inspect" your online activity and purposely throttle speeds if it's something that takes a large amount of bandwidth — potentially slowing down other customers with the same provider connected to the same exchange. Gamers can also experience lag due to ISPs sending their packets down inefficient servers and paths.

In these two circumstances, a VPN can be extremely helpful. Since your data is hidden from everyone, there's no way for broadband providers to know if you're streaming 8K video, playing games online, or downloading large files.

As well as being a problem at home with some broadband brands, this is a common issue with public Wi-Fi networks, like those available at airports and coffee shops, which place restrictions to avoid too much slowdown.

Our best VPN recommendation is ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN with gongs from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world. Monthly prices start from £1.99 a month, and unlock ExpressVPN across up to 14 devices. Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries.

The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances.

The service works across all your devices – Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Smart TVs, and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.

From the moment you subscribe, ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to watch the entire festival risk-free and recover your investment if you're not satisfied with the service. VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. However, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're using these popular apps for legal use.

Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service.

Benefits of ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries, providing access to global coverage.

It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering. With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunnelling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.

Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company were collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.

ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit to the number of ExpressVPN apps you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on 10x devices at once.

It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.

ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers. It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.