Choosing a VPN for streaming

A VPN can't make streaming better than your own connection, and it can only add distance and work to the trip. What matters is enough speed, a connection that stays up, and a server in a place the service accepts. This page sets out what each needs, which of our measurements speak to it, and what we do not test: whether a given service or catalogue works through a given provider.

What streaming needs

Enough speed, all the time. The services publish how much they recommend for each quality. Those figures are theirs and they change, so they are shown here with the day we read them, and you should read the service's own page for yours.
A connection that stays up. A stream stalls when the connection drops or stutters. A server that is often down, or that slows to a crawl in the evening, will show it.
A location the service accepts. A catalogue is tied to a country, and each service decides for itself where it thinks an address is, using its own database and its own rules. It may treat some addresses differently from others. Our server location guide shows how to check where the internet thinks your server is, and the VPN IP test shows what address you have right now.

What the services recommend

Disney+, from its own help page as we read it on 21 October 2026: High Definition content, 5.0 Mbps; live content, 8.0 Mbps; 4K UHD content, 25.0 Mbps.
Netflix, from its own help page as we read it on 21 October 2026: HD (720p), 3 Mbps or higher; Full HD (1080p), 5 Mbps or higher; Ultra HD (4K), 15 Mbps or higher.
Prime Video, from its own help page as we read it on 21 October 2026: SD content, 1 Mb/s; HD content, 5 Mb/s. It words these as a minimum download speed, on its help page about live streams.

Those are the services' own figures for a stream to run well, whatever carries it. To see what your own connection keeps with a VPN on, test it the way our VPN speed test guide shows, and compare the result with the service's figure. Don't compare our tables' megabits with it: each of our tests moves a fixed amount of data from the node's own line, so the figures read differently from a stream on your line.

What we measure

Download speed. The middle of the speed tests over the last 7 days, about one a day for each server, with the node's own line beside it. It tells you how servers compare in that table, and that a slow one is slow before the stream starts. It does not tell you your speed.
Uptime. How often the tunnel answered our checks over the last 24 hours, one every 5 minutes. A server that is often down is a poor choice for anything you watch for an hour.
Where it is. Claimed against Measured in the Location column. See the server location guide for what a difference does and doesn't mean.
Where Netflix served the tunnel from. In the Served From (CDN) column, the Netflix line is the city of the Netflix site that answered a request made through the tunnel. It is a hint of where Netflix thinks the tunnel comes out, nothing more. Netflix picks its site by its own rules, so a server listed in Los Angeles can be served from Dallas. That is a reading, not a fault, and it is not counted in the Measured location. It does not say whether any catalogue would work.

What we do not test

We do not test whether a given show, catalogue or service works through a given provider, and nothing here says a provider works with any service. Whether a service accepts an address changes within days, as the services update what they block, so a result that is true today can be false soon. A page that said otherwise would be out of date quickly. The Netflix reading above keeps only the name of the site that answered, and nothing about whether a show would play.

If a particular service matters to you, try it yourself on the server you plan to use, and read the provider's own pages for any trial or refund terms before you pay.

What our data shows

Our nodes measure download speed and uptime for each server, and read where Netflix serves the tunnel from. Each node has its own table, because a figure depends on that node's line and on how far it is from each server. A home line is closer to what you would see than a data center line, because streaming services treat data center addresses differently from home ones. Open one already sorted by download (sorting puts one column in order and nothing else: it is not a ranking):

Asia Residential, home line, 1 Gbps Down / 500 Mbps Up: download, fastest first
Asia Data Center, data center line, 4 Gbps Out / 40 Gbps In: download, fastest first
South Africa Residential, home line, 200 Mbps Down / 100 Mbps Up: download, fastest first

Each number has the checks behind it, one click away in its row, with the node's own line beside it. See also what each column means, how we read the Netflix site, how we test speed and the known limits.