Show HN: The only VPN speed tests you can reproduce and verify

Show HN: The only VPN speed tests you can reproduce and verify(vpnspeedtest.org)

14 points by vpnspeedtest 9 years ago

We test 20+ popular VPN services 24 times per day from 8 locations around the world (that's almost 500 tests per day!) - trying to hit the maximum bandwidth that the VPN server is capable of.

The speedtest location, VPN provider and the VPN server are all chosen randomly for fair results. All speedtests are performed using OpenVPN over UDP (with the providers default settings) from Vultr VPS servers geographically close to the VPN servers.

To find the maximum speed of a each VPN server we need to test from a location geographically near the VPN server. For example if you wanted to find the maximum speed of a VPN server in Amsterdam, then you would need to test from Amsterdam. This limits any network bottlenecks between the test server and the VPN server. The test servers have gigabit network connections with good peering to Internet exchange points - which is faster than any home internet connection.

timbowhite 9 years ago | |

This is very cool. Do you have any plans to add additional providers?

One suggestion: might be nice to have a sortable table of the providers & results so visitors could visually compare them at once.

vpnspeedtest 9 years ago | | |

Yes we'll be adding more VPN providers. If anyone wants to donate a VPN account for their favorite provider we'll add them.

We figured that any provider who can reach 100 Mbps is fast enough so that's why we didn't create a table with the "fastest" VPNs at the top. Everyone's experience will be different depending on the interconnects between you and the VPN server.

charlieegan3 9 years ago |

This is good work - choosing a VPN is hard. I'd be interested to see NordVPN included in the results.

Related: For those looking into VPN options I also found this write-up useful: https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/

etherealmachine 9 years ago |

I can see the usefulness of this project. Thank you for providing this tool. Can you please share some of the things that you've learned regarding these VPN service providers?

etherealmachine 9 years ago | |

Here's something that I've learned: The VPNs that say they are the “Fastest VPN” on their website might be embarrassed by this. ExpressVPN, PureVPN and VyprVPN... I’m thinking of you.

vpnspeedtest 9 years ago | | |

Indeed.

There are a few VPN services claiming to be "The Worlds Fastest VPN" and paying people to repeat their claim. However the results speak for themselves. :)