VPN and online Games.

[FireFox]

So, let's go straight to the point.

When we use a VPN we get assigned an IP different from the County where we live but my curiosity is: when we are using a VPN and we play Games online do we connect to the servers with our original IP or with the IP assigned by the VPN?

 

[Kursah]

Depends on how you have the VPN setup. If you have it setup to direct all traffic through the tunnel, then you'll be connecting to the game servers through the VPN's servers and thus their IP address. If you have it setup to merely tunnel port 80/HTTP traffic, then no that won't affect most games (except browser games).

There's different ways to use and deploy a VPN, so it really is dependent on what VPN you're using and how you have it deployed on your network. But most VPN services folks buy for various reasons usually are setup by default to funnel all traffic through when they're active either through the router itself or an app on the PC. In that case, it affects all network traffic heading outbound.

 

[FireFox]

Maybe i should tell before that i am talking about VPN software.

 

[Kursah]

Depending on how the software is setup, odds are your traffic is being tunneled through the VPN.

If you don't want the game traffic to go through it you may need to modify settings or turn off the connection in the software when you choose to game which I'd recommend as you're adding latency to your games by having to go through extra networks and the encryption/decryption process.

I'd suggest you refer to your VPN service provider for correct instructions or solutions.

 

[FireFox]

Depending on how the software is setup, odds are your traffic is being tunneled through the VPN.

If you don't want the game traffic to go through it you may need to modify settings or turn off the connection in the software when you choose to game which I'd recommend as you're adding latency to your games by having to go through extra networks and the encryption/decryption process.

I'd suggest you refer to your VPN service provider for correct instructions or solutions.

There is not much to setup on PIA software, i was asking because when i connect to the internet everything works fine but when i play games online i have noticed that i am connected to a server from the country where i live and that confuse me.

 

[Kursah]

Ya I use PIA too, it works fairly well but can add some hellacious latency for me if I forget and leave it on while trying to game, sometimes it isn't noticeable (strategy games). I haven't used out of country servers in my neck of the woods.

But if you do a "What's my IP" from your workstation, does it show that you're in a different country?

I'm assuming you're choosing to connect to a server in a different country/region correct?

If that's the case and your game is still connecting to a server in your country, it could be for a couple of reasons...one is that for some reason the game's protocols aren't being ported through the VPN tunnel, which could be considered a good thing or a VPN leak depending on how you look at it. Also could be that the game servers for that region are located in your country.

Do you connect to the same server regardless of the VPN being enabled or disabled?

Are you using IPv6 in your region?

 

[FireFox]

it works fairly well but can add some hellacious latency for me if I forget and leave it on while trying to game

It's the same here, if i leave it running while playing online i get high ping 140/150, it's a nightmare.

But if you do a "What's my IP" from your workstation, does it show that you're in a different country?

Yes it shows that i am connected to the country that i select to use, i don't let PIA to select the Country.

I'm assuming you're choosing to connect to a server in a different country/region correct?

Yes.

Do you connect to the same server regardless of the VPN being enabled or disabled?

Are you using IPv6 in your region?

If the VPN is enabled and let's say that i am connected to Hong Kong and i launch the Game it keeps saying Data Center: Searching and maybe it connects to a server not located in Country after 20/30 minutes, i guess it's because Hong Kong is too far from my Country, but if i connect the VPN to a Country not that far from mine it will automatically connects to a server in my country, if the VPN is disabled when i launch the Game it connects to random servers, i am not using IPv6.