Best VPN to Reduce Buffering
Subscribing to a VPN is something that most people do to either increase their level of security online or to work around sites that may have geo-restrictions. Most of these obstacles are however put in place by an Internet Service Provider, or what most people call an ISP. ISPs are the organizations that provide access to the Internet to the general public, and as such, they have complete control over aspects such as the speed and quality of your connection, as well as the sites you can or cannot access.
It is for these reasons that ISPs are used by governments to regulate what users get to view online. They do this through data caps, speed throttling or even content blocking. Choosing the right kind of VPN service to deal with your ISPs restrictions is quite important if you want to maintain unregulated Internet access. To do this, you need to know the various forms of regulation, so that you’re well advised before making your decision.Best VPN to Reduce Buffering Summed Up
The VPN you should be looking for must have ultra-fast servers. This will help you watch your favorite videos online uninterruptedly. Here are the top VPN service providers you can use to minimize buffering:
- Best for streaming and privacy
- High speed servers in 160 VPN locations
- Works for Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu
- 24/7/ live chat support
- 3 extra months free on annual plan
- UltraHD streaming
- Free Smart DNS proxy
- Unblocks all major streaming services
- Limited Time 72% Discount
- Unlimited VPN connections
- Over 1000 servers
- Ad-blocking feature available
- User-friendly application
- Exclusive Smart VPN feature
- Standalone Smart DNS subscription available
- Extra security features
- Extensions for Firefox and Chrome
- Split-tunneling available
Forms Of ISP Throttling & Buffering
Content-Based Throttling
Your ISP may choose to ‘manage’ your activities online by identifying exactly which sites you frequently visit, and throttle your access to the form of content that they’ve seen you spend a lot of time on. This might be video content from a site like Netflix, and it may be done to discourage you from streaming as much since this consumes a lot of bandwidth. This will only leave you frustrated and angry since you’ll have to wait so long for your videos to buffer, or the quality will be too low for you to enjoy streaming.
Usage-Based Throttling
Your ISP may also choose to impose limits based on your degree of use. They might do this after they figure out that you’re using much more traffic than other users on their network, and so to ensure that you don’t go overboard, they impose limits in the form of data caps. Once you exceed these data caps, you might find that the speed of your connection might be significantly lowered down. Things might stay like this until your next billing cycle, or until you renew your data subscription.
Using VPN To Bypass ISP Throttling
The main function of a premium VPN service is to secure your activities online. This is done by hiding your data. A VPN is able to keep your online activities covert to the point that even your ISP has no idea what you’re up to. This is possible because once you purchase a subscription, your data passes through your VPN client’s servers before it is handled by your ISP. When this is done, your data gets encrypted, thus ensuring your ISP remains clueless about what sites you access. This means that they can’t really pinpoint what sites you’re visiting, and are therefore unable to identify exactly what form of content they should throttle.
The same principle applies to sites that they may have blocked. These blocks normally work after identifying where a user seems to be accessing the site from. If you’re found to be within the jurisdiction of the ISP (within the country where the block has been imposed), access to the site or channel will be revoked. Using a VPN helps you work around this by routing your connection through remote servers, and making it seem as though you’re accessing the site as an outsider based elsewhere.
The Best VPNs To Reduce Buffering
Now that you know buffering comes about as a result of the measures that your ISP may have applied to throttle your connection, it’s time to look at the best VPNs to reduce or prevent buffering:
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is one all-rounded provider that is fully capable of shielding your online activities from your ISP. Since being established in 2009, the service has continued expanding its capabilities and has managed to have up to 2000 super-fast servers operating within its network.
Its customer care service is also worthy of service, as is its 256 bit AES encryption technology that the service relies upon to secure its subscriber’s traffic. The VPN protocol of choice used by ExpressVPN is OpenVPN, but the service still provides users with other options such as L2TP, PPTP, and SSTP.
The service is based in the British Virgin Islands, so there are no data regulatory policies that could force them to store or monitor their user’s browsing history. It is for this reason that they promise not to log your browsing activities.
The service also has a section of its servers designated for torrenting, and another section meant for users hoping to connect to sites in highly censored countries without their VPN use being detected. To learn more about what there is to gain with this service, have a look at our detailed ExpressVPN review.
2. BulletVPN
Longtime BulletVPN subscribers have now come to appreciate the level of attention that this service gives to their online security. The provider is able to cater to its subscribers through its string of about 150 servers in 55 countries.
BulletVPN also provides security based on 256 bit AES encryption and offers complete customer care support for users who would like to have any form of assistance with their connection.
BulletVPN also offers all the major VPN protocols for its subscribers to choose from and promises zero-logging for anyone who chooses to sign up.
The service also allows subscribers to get online protection using several security protocols and features. The service also supports torrenting within its network and allows for up to 6 simultaneous devices to be connected under one network. For more about what BulletVPN can do for you, have a look at our BulletVPN Review.
3. NordVPN
NordVPN is the kind of provider that completely takes care of your online security, and still goes above and beyond that to offer features and tools that even better your browsing experience. The service also has one of the largest server networks in the industry, with more than 4000 servers within its network. Security is also watertight, with features such as an Internet kill switch to cut off your connection in case the VPN client gets compromised, and a Double VPN service that further encrypts your connection by routing your data through two servers.
NordVPN also allows up to 6 simultaneous connections under one subscriber, offers DNS Leak protection, supports Onion over VPN, and also has a service dubbed Smart Play that allows you to access over 400 geo-restricted streaming services. NordVPN subscribers will also be able to avoid any ads and malware from interrupting their browsing thanks to CyberSec technology. To see what else to expect from NordVPN, take the time to go through our NordVPN Review.
Wind Up on The Best VPN to Reduce Buffering
ExpressVPN, IPVanish, and NordVPN all have super fast servers that are all great for super fast streaming and provide reliable online security. These are all providers that’ll cut into as little of your speed as possible, and make sure that your ISP has no idea what you’re up to online so as to reduce buffering.
I have been very much satisfied with the service and speed of PureVPN connections (max I got 4 MBs) I have used it for streaming US Hulu in UK. Haven’t had any issue yet. It is cheap as compare to other VPNs, specially their 5 years package $1.65/month.
The best one I tested so far is Surfshark. Honestly, they do not have many servers but probably the load isn’t huge too so the ones they have seem faster than any I’ve tried before. They only have an extension and iOS app so far, but no complaining when you can use the same account on unlimited number of devices.