VPN Speed Test Results: Which Is Fastest in the UK?

Published 6 February 2026 · by VPN Free UK

Speed is one of the most important factors when choosing a VPN. A VPN that slows your connection to a crawl defeats the purpose of having a fast broadband connection in the first place. Whether you are streaming in 4K, gaming online, making video calls, or downloading large files, you need a VPN that keeps up with your internet usage without introducing noticeable lag or buffering.

We tested ten of the most popular VPN services available in the UK to find out which ones deliver the fastest speeds. Our results reveal significant differences between providers, and the fastest option may not be the one you expect.

Our Testing Methodology

To ensure our speed tests are fair and reproducible, we followed a strict methodology. All tests were conducted from a residential broadband connection in London with a baseline speed of 920 Mbps download and 110 Mbps upload on a full fibre connection. We tested each VPN provider on the same day, during off-peak hours between 10am and 2pm, to minimise the impact of network congestion.

For each provider, we ran speed tests using both Ookla Speedtest and Cloudflare's speed test tool, then averaged the results. We tested connections to UK servers, as this is the most common use case for UK-based users, as well as connections to servers in Western Europe and the United States to measure international performance. Each test was run five times per server location, and we report the average across all runs.

We tested using each provider's default protocol setting as well as WireGuard specifically, since protocol choice has a substantial impact on speed performance. All tests were conducted on a Windows 11 desktop connected via ethernet to eliminate Wi-Fi variability.

UK Server Speed Results

When connecting to a UK server, the speed differences between top-tier providers have narrowed considerably in 2026, but meaningful gaps remain. The best-performing providers retained over 90 percent of the baseline connection speed, meaning the VPN overhead was barely noticeable even on a gigabit connection.

NordVPN using its NordLynx protocol delivered the fastest UK speeds in our testing, averaging 875 Mbps download and 104 Mbps upload. This represents a speed retention of approximately 95 percent, which is exceptional. Surfshark followed closely with average download speeds of 840 Mbps using WireGuard, retaining around 91 percent of the baseline. ExpressVPN using its Lightway protocol averaged 810 Mbps download, while Private Internet Access (PIA) using WireGuard delivered a solid 790 Mbps.

At the other end of the scale, some providers showed significantly more speed loss. Providers using only OpenVPN without a faster protocol alternative typically delivered between 300 and 500 Mbps, representing a speed loss of 40 to 60 percent. While these speeds are still adequate for most activities, users on fast fibre connections would notice the difference, particularly during large downloads or high-resolution streaming.

Latency was low across all top providers when connecting to UK servers, typically adding between 2 and 5 milliseconds compared to the baseline. This is negligible for general browsing and streaming, though competitive online gamers may notice the difference.

What Affects VPN Speed

Several factors influence how fast your VPN connection will be. The most significant is the distance between you and the VPN server. Connecting to a server in London when you are based in the UK will always be faster than connecting to a server in New York or Tokyo. Data has to travel physically further, and each network hop introduces a small amount of latency.

Server load is another important factor. Popular servers during peak hours can become congested, reducing speeds for everyone connected to them. The best VPN providers manage this by operating large server networks and automatically distributing users across multiple servers to balance the load. Providers with fewer servers or smaller network capacity tend to suffer more during busy periods.

Your own internet connection speed sets the ceiling. A VPN cannot make your connection faster than your ISP provides. If your broadband delivers 50 Mbps, even the fastest VPN in the world will not exceed that. The VPN's job is to preserve as much of your existing speed as possible while adding encryption and privacy protection.

The device you use also matters. Older phones and laptops may lack the processing power to handle VPN encryption at full speed. Modern devices with hardware-accelerated encryption handle this much better, and the latest smartphones and laptops show almost no performance difference between VPN-on and VPN-off.

Protocol Differences: WireGuard vs OpenVPN

The single biggest factor affecting VPN speed in 2026 is protocol choice. WireGuard has established itself as the clear speed leader, and most top VPN providers now either use WireGuard directly or have built proprietary protocols on top of it, such as NordVPN's NordLynx and ExpressVPN's Lightway.

In our testing, WireGuard consistently delivered speeds 40 to 70 percent faster than OpenVPN on the same server with the same provider. The difference is architectural. WireGuard uses a leaner codebase of approximately 4,000 lines compared to OpenVPN's 600,000-plus lines, which means less processing overhead per packet. It also uses more modern cryptographic primitives that are faster to compute.

OpenVPN remains a solid and battle-tested protocol with excellent security credentials, and it has the advantage of working in more restrictive network environments where WireGuard traffic might be blocked. However, for users who prioritise speed and are not in a restrictive network environment, WireGuard or a WireGuard-based protocol should be your default choice.

IKEv2/IPSec sits between the two in terms of speed and is often the default protocol on mobile devices. It handles network switching well, making it a good choice for users who frequently move between Wi-Fi and mobile data connections.

Speed Tips for UK VPN Users

To get the best possible speed from your VPN, start by selecting a server that is geographically close to you. If you are in the UK and want UK internet access, choose a UK server in your city or region if the option is available. Switch your protocol to WireGuard or your provider's WireGuard-based alternative. This single change often produces the most dramatic speed improvement.

If your provider offers server load information in the app, choose servers with lower utilisation. Try to use an ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi for the most consistent speeds. If you are on Wi-Fi, ensure you are using the 5GHz band rather than 2.4GHz, as the faster wireless band reduces one potential bottleneck in the chain.

Consider enabling split tunnelling if your VPN supports it. This feature allows you to route only specific traffic through the VPN while letting other traffic use your normal connection. For example, you might route your browser through the VPN for privacy while letting your gaming traffic bypass it for lower latency.

For a detailed side-by-side breakdown of each provider's speed, features, and pricing, head to our VPN comparison page where we keep our results updated with the latest testing data.