If you have ever used a VPN to download a movie or any other file from the Internet, then you might have faced a slower download speed. It becomes more obvious while using a free VPN service.
Using a free VPN can feel like a blessing, but when it comes to downloading files or streaming content, the trade-off is usually performance. Free VPNs are slow because they’re overloaded, underfunded, and sometimes unsafe.
If speed and privacy are important to you, it may be worth going with a reliable paid VPN. But if you’re not a regular user, then a free VPN might work for your few tasks.
Why Are Free VPNs So Slow?
VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure, encrypted connection between your device and a remote server that acts as an intermediary, masking your IP address so that you can access the Internet through a different location and identity.
If you want to use a reliable VPN, then you have to go for a paid one. Free VPNs have limited servers, and when a lot of people use them, the bandwidth gets exhausted, making the Internet speed very slow. Here are more reasons.
- Overcrowded Servers
- Bandwidth limits
- Lack of optimization
- Longer routing paths
Improving Internet Speed on Free VPNs
- Choose the nearest server location.
- Avoid peak hours when traffic is high.
- Turn off background apps and automatic updates that might be using bandwidth.
- Switch to a different protocol, if supported by the VPN. Example: WireGuard, IKEv2/IPSec, OpenVPN UDP and TCP.
Simple Hack to Download Faster
If you use any free VPN specifically to download a movie, software, or any other file from the Internet, then you can download faster by turning off the VPN. Now, you’ll say, how is it possible to access the file if the VPN is turned off?
First of all, you browse the Internet with VPN activated, find the file, and start downloading it. Then, open the ‘Downloads’ manager tab of your web browser and cancel the download.
Now, turn off the VPN and retry downloading from the option available on the ‘Downloads’ manager tab. It will now download with your primary Internet connection and give proper downloading speed.
The whole point behind this simple hack is to use a VPN only to access the restricted content. Once the file is available in the ‘Downloads’ manager, you can retry downloading it with your own connection without using VPN.
This way, you can easily download any file with faster speed. This hack only works for downloading from external sites, and you have to rely on paid VPNs for streaming services.

