- Oct 3, 2022
- 909
Is it just me, or does ProtonVPN free seems slower now?
- Thread starter Victor M
- Start date
Bot
AI-powered Bot
- Apr 21, 2016
- 5,173
It's not just you. Many users have reported slower speeds with the free version of ProtonVPN recently. This could be due to increased demand or server load.
badboy
Level 2
- Jan 20, 2025
- 80
I would say the ping has increased, but not the speed. On the other hand - it's a free version. 
- Oct 3, 2022
- 909
It seems faster today; back to what it was before. It was slow for 3-4 days.
- Jun 18, 2022
- 558
- Mar 2, 2023
- 1,443
I think for me, it depended on the time of day. It seemed that it would slow down later in the day (US server) or from the length of time used? It annoyed me enough that I changed to F-Secures improved VPN (in my IS subscription). I know, it's a mid tier AV and VPN but it's been working very nicely with the improvements they've made, and at least I can change servers.
My default ISP speeds.
F-Secure Atlanta.
F-Secure Chicago.
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- Aug 12, 2015
- 1,550
Knowing the company, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing that on purpose to make you buy premium plan. It wouldn't be their first time. 
- Mar 2, 2023
- 1,443
And that's what I was thinking when the slow down started happening with me. Or, that they're getting more popular and is becoming a server overload issue?Knowing the company, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing that on purpose to make you buy premium plan. It wouldn't be their first time.
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- Oct 3, 2022
- 909
- May 29, 2023
- 248
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- Mar 2, 2023
- 1,443
In my case, I couldn't, it was dependent on what Proton thought was the best server when I was able to refresh it. I could not manually pick and choose a server to connect to.
How to change server if you’re on the Proton VPN Free plan | Proton VPN
If you’re on our Free plan, we’ll automatically connect you to a server. You can change this server, but there are important limits on this.
protonvpn.com
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Parkinsond
Level 18
- Dec 6, 2023
- 885
Not reachable in my regionIn my case, I couldn't, it was dependent on what Proton thought was the best server when I was able to refresh it. I could not manually pick and choose a server to connect to. A country, yes I could chose that, but only the server that Proton thought was best.
How to change server if you’re on the Proton VPN Free plan | Proton VPN
If you’re on our Free plan, we’ll automatically connect you to a server. You can change this server, but there are important limits on this.
- May 29, 2023
- 248
- Aug 12, 2015
- 1,550
Must be French desperately accessing PornHub.
Wait, you can change the country again? I swear I couldn't the last time I tried it. I could only use "quick connect".In my case, I couldn't, it was dependent on what Proton thought was the best server when I was able to refresh it. I could not manually pick and choose a server to connect to. A country, yes I could chose that, but only the server that Proton thought was best.
How to change server if you’re on the Proton VPN Free plan | Proton VPN
If you’re on our Free plan, we’ll automatically connect you to a server. You can change this server, but there are important limits on this.
What DNS are you using? Try changing it. A lot of times, DNS is the reason why you can't access a website.
Yes.Then it must be different on Windows?
- Mar 2, 2023
- 1,443
Good point, I'll change my post. At times, it would initially pick a country (usually Japan) until I refreshed it to find the US.Must be French desperately accessing PornHub.
Wait, you can change the country again? I swear I couldn't the last time I tried it. I could only use "quick connect".
What DNS are you using? Try changing it. A lot of times, DNS is the reason why you can't access a website.
Yes.
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Probably those people who were banned from Windscribe for using 8 petabytes of data have moved to Proton.
Parkinsond
Level 18
- Dec 6, 2023
- 885
NextDNS; I do not think it is the cause; most VPN services are blocked regionally.
- Aug 12, 2015
- 1,550
Try it, you never know. In my country, web isn't censored. Only illegal betting sites are blocked, and only on DNS level. But I did stumble upon some sites that I couldn't load, and it appeared it was DNS fault. That's when I stopped using the DNS from my ISP servers. They do not support DNSSEC, are slow in resolving queries and totally unreliable (multiple times happened they were down).
Parkinsond
Level 18
- Dec 6, 2023
- 885
- Aug 12, 2015
- 1,550
Try AdGuard Public DNS. Put
https://dns.adguard-dns.com/dns-query into DoH setting in your web browser. Then, go to AdGuard test website to see if it's working. And then open incognito tab and try to visit the website you couldn't access.If website loads, then it's NextDNS issue. If doesn't, the web is censored by using DPI and I'd recommend you to try Cloudflare WARP as it's free, unlimited and encrypted. There are many ways to bypass censorship.
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