Exactly how every number on this site is collected, measured and reported — including what it can't tell you.
Every speed test follows the same automated sequence, so results stay consistent and fair across servers and providers.
We test from a datacentre with a multi-gigabit uplink, so the VPN is the only bottleneck. At home, your broadband caps everything. Drag to see.
Dashed outline: datacentre ceiling measured in London. Solid: the most your line could deliver through it. Wi-Fi and distance reduce it further. The comparison between providers still holds.
Because we test from a datacentre with a multi-gigabit uplink, our figures show each VPN server's full capability — how fast the tunnel itself can go when nothing else is in the way. They are not a promise of what you'll see at home: your real speed is capped by your own broadband (a 100 Mbps line can never exceed 100 Mbps through any VPN), your Wi-Fi, and your distance to the server.
The value of these numbers is comparative. Both providers are tested identically on the same hardware, so a server that's faster here should also be faster for you, relative to the alternatives.
Our speed tests run on a dedicated server with a direct, high-speed internet connection. That keeps the bottleneck in each test on the VPN connection itself, not on our own infrastructure.
Not every test succeeds. Failed tests are recorded and count against that server's pass rate — we don't exclude them to make the numbers look better. Speed averages use successful tests only, so zeros don't skew them.