Hello,
in my VPN client I can select “Best Server”, “Best Server (Country)” or a specific server.
I am in Germany, since 2 or 3 days “Best Server” is in Seattle/USA. (VPN service is in Sweden) I have no problems, but two questions:
A) What define “Best server”?
B) e.g. BBC (geoblocking), some websites show a warning like “Are you really … ?”, websites with a map show the wrong location or other things like this, but apart from this, how important is the location of the VPN endpoint? Make it any difference?
A) Your VPN provider probably has some information on their website about how they determine the “Best Server”. The decision probably includes factors like:
- Latency (Ping): How long it takes data to get from your computer to the server. This is generally proportional to physical distance.
- Jitter: How much the latency varies over time. For example, a connection where the ping is always around 80ms will provide a better user experience than one that fluctuates between 50ms and 100ms.
- Packet Loss: How often data gets lost in transmission and must be resent. In most cases this occurs due to network congestion along the path from your computer to the server.
- Server Load: How many clients the servers are currently serving. If there are a lot of clients using a particular server already this can slow things down for all connections.
B) Apart from getting around geoblocking, the server location also impacts all of the factors listed above. So the same VPN protocol can perform quite differently when connecting to servers in different locations.
OK, so if you want to unblock content from the UK, like BBC iplayer, you need to connect to a server in the UK. The default server the VPN chooses for you will usually just be the one physically closest to you, which will yield the best speed.
By default, to minimize latency, and maximize throughput, you should always select a vpn server as close to you as possible.
For security concerns, if hiding general location is desired, then either select a vpn server further away, or implement a double hop vpn connection, which means connect to one close to you, then the 2nd one (exit hop) further away, in another city or country, as desired. The double hop will have higher latency, but also offers better protection from local isp monitoring where your traffic goes. Better they see you talking to a local server, vs knowing your endpoint destination. This of course is all subjective. Research and decide for yourself.