Fortnite VPN: How to reduce lag and win more matches

Without a Fortnite VPN, you open yourself up to an unfortunate situation. We’ve all been there. You’re just about to win your match of the best battle royale. It’s just you and one other player. They’re in your sights, and you’re about to make the killing shot, then there’s a bit of lag. All of a sudden, they’re behind you. Before the joy of the impending victory has even left your system, you can almost hear them say “unfortunately, you are already dead” and they’d be right.

So how can a Fortnite VPN help you to avoid that situation? What even is a Fortnite VPN? Well, we’re glad you asked, because we’ve got the answers. First of all, you need to understand how your internet service provider (ISP) might be responsible for your gaming lag. If a certain activity is using a lot of bandwidth, your ISP will reduce the connection speeds of that particular activity – and if you’re gaming, that can mean lag.

With a VPN on, your ISP will know that you’re using a lot of bandwidth, but your activities will be masked and so it won’t know exactly what’s causing it, and so it won’t slow anything down. Of course, for console gaming, you’ll need a good Xbox VPN, a PS5 or PS4 VPN, or a router VPN, but once you’ve decided on a provider, all you need to do is follow the instructions below.

How to use a Fortnite VPN to reduce lag

So you’ve just signed up for a VPN subscription, and now you’re thinking, ‘Now what?’ Well, annoyingly, if you’re playing on a console, you won’t be able to download a VPN app directly, and instead will have to go through one of several other methods. We have guides on how to use a VPN on PS4 or PS5 and how to use a VPN on Xbox, but if you don’t want to read through that, this is probably the easiest method:

• Download and install your VPN on your laptop
• Connect your laptop to your console with an ethernet cable
• On your Control Panel, click ‘Network and Internet’ and then ‘Network and Sharing Centre’
• Choose ‘Change Adapter Settings’ to the left, and right click on your VPN connection before clicking ‘Properties’
• In the sharing tab, make sure the ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection’ box is ticked
• Under ‘Home Networking Connection’ click on your internet
  • If you’re using a PS4: go to ‘Settings’, then ‘Network Settings’, then ‘Set Up Internet Connection’, then ‘Use a LAN cable’, choose the ‘Easy’ connection method, and finally select ‘Do Not Use Proxy Server’ when prompted
  • If you’re using a PS5: go to ‘settings’, then ‘Network’, then ‘Set Up Internet Connection’ at which point, it will automatically scan and find your ethernet connection. Finally, you just need to select ‘Do Not Use Proxy Server’ when prompted
  • If you’re using an Xbox: go to ‘Settings’, then ‘Network’, then ‘Test Network Connection’ and it should then connect through your laptop

For those who play Fortnite on their PC, the process is much simpler. You just have to click your VPN on the taskbar, and then connect it. However, whether you’re playing on PC or console, the next steps of the process will be the same.

For maximum performance, it’s worth checking which Fortnite server you’re using while you play. Once you have the game open, go to ‘Fortnite Settings’ and then at ‘Matchmaking Region’ you’ll see which region you’re connected through while you play. What you should do is choose a server through your VPN which is close in proximity to the Fortnite server you’re using. Since the data has less distance to travel, this can help everything run more smoothly.

Once this is done, you’re all ready to start enjoying enhanced Fortnite matches. The threat of lag will be much smaller and your games will hopefully be fairer and more enjoyable as a result.

Which are the best Fortnite VPNs?

Are you struggling to decide which service to use? Well, we’d recommend the following six services:

• ExpressVPN – the best Fortnite VPN
• NordVPN – the fastest Fortnite VPN
• CyberGhost – the best VPN money-back guarantee
• Ivacy VPN – the best cheap Fortnite VPN
• Surfshark – the best VPN free trial
• Private Internet Access – the VPN with most servers

1. The best Fortnite VPN

ExpressVPN is the best Fortnite VPN.

ExpressVPN overview:

Pros:

• Uses the amazing Lightway protocol
• Offers a wide range of server locations

Cons:

• Slightly more expensive than others
• No free trial

ExpressVPN is a provider that we imagine many of our readers will have already heard of. It’s one of the most well-known VPNs and a part of the reason that it has been able to build such a positive reputation is through its use of the Lightway protocol. This enables it to encrypt your data with much greater speed than many of the other VPNs out there.

What does this mean for Fortnite players? Well, it gives you a tighter layer of security, making it even harder for malicious players to get your personal details and target you with a DDoS attack.

Meanwhile, though it does cost a little more, it also give you a large selection of countries to choose from as connection points, including those in close proximity to the various Fortnite servers. Overall, ExpressVPN is great for both maintaining your privacy and helping your game to run more smoothly.

Read the ExpressVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, to learn more about this provider.

2. The fastest Fortnite VPN

NordVPN is the fastest Fortnite VPN.

NordVPN overview:

Pros:

• Superb download speeds
• Uses the fantastic NordLynx protocol

Cons:

• Spans fewer countries than others
• No free trial

NordVPN is another of the giants in the VPN world. It uses the NordLynx protocol, which, like ExpressVPN’s Lightway protocol, is really fast. It’s hard to compare them directly against each other, but when both VPNs were tested for average server download speeds on OpenVPN, it was NordVPN that came out as the fastest VPN.

A fast VPN like this will be especially valuable if you’re experiencing lag caused by your ISP. Some VPNs can slow things down a bit because you are connecting through a remote server, which potentially negates any speed-related benefit, but with NordVPN you shouldn’t have that trouble.

It’s a great gaming VPN that works well with a long list of popular games. It might not have quite as vast a selection of countries to choose from, but NordVPN still exceeds the smaller providers and has a lot to offer.

Read the NordVPN review on PCGamesN (our sister site) to find out more.

3. The best VPN money-back guarantee

CyberGhost is the VPN with the longest money-back guarantee.

CyberGhost overview:

Pros:

• 45-day money-back guarantee
• Decent pricing

Cons:

• Free trial could be longer
• A little slower than some others

VPNs are not a small purchase, so we understand that you’re going to want to be completely sure that it will enhance your Fortnite experience before you invest anything. If you’re at all wary, then CyberGhost will be the provider for you to try.

While all of the other VPNs on this list have a 30-day money-back guarantee, CyberGhost is unique in that it gives you 45 days. This means that if you have any issues at all within the first month and a half, you can still get a full refund with no trouble. By that point in time, you’ll have a strong idea of what you’re getting for your money.

CyberGhost is also a little cheaper than certain other VPNs, so it’s a good choice for anybody who’s working with a more limited budget. It’s also one of the few who offer a VPN free trial, though it is only a day long. However, if you want a longer trial, keep reading…

Read the CyberGhost review on PCGamesN (our sister site) if you want to find out more about this VPN.

4. The best cheap Fortnite VPN

Ivacy VPN is the best cheap Fortnite VPN.

Ivacy VPN overview:

Pros:

• Brilliant prices
• Servers in over 100 countries

Cons:

• No free trial
• No Apple kill switch

While there are probably cheaper VPNs if you’re happy to go with poor quality, Ivacy VPN is the best service you’ll get for the lowest possible price, hence the best cheap VPN. All you need to do is pay $60 USD up front, and then you’re covered for the next five years. When you work out the monthly cost, it’s incredibly low, leaving you plenty of spare cash for the Fortnite Item Shop.

Impressively, it still manages to span over 100 countries, helping to give you access to alternative Fortnite services all over the world. If you’re a Mac user, you might be put off by the lack of kill switch functionality on Apple devices, but it does have military-grade 256-bit encryption, so on all other devices you’ll have a pretty comprehensive set of digital privacy armour.

Another of its strengths is the fact that Ivacy VPN allows you to use up to ten simultaneous connections, which could potentially help to protect your entire household while you have sneaky Fortnite sessions on your own devices. Although, if you like being able to use a VPN on multiple devices, wait and see what our next listing has to offer.

5. The best Fortnite VPN free trial

Surfshark offers the best free trial.

Surfshark overview:

Pros:

• Week-long free trial
• Unlimited simultaneous connections

Cons:

• Smaller overall server count
• Servers cover fewer countries

It’s actually quite rare for major VPN services to let you use a free trial, so Surfshark is pretty great for letting you use it for a whole week before you have to pay. That’s a completely pressure-free way to see exactly how much this VPN is able to enhance your Fortnite game, after which point, you’ll be able to make a very well-informed decision about whether or not you pay for it.

As much as we picked out the free trial as the biggest selling point for Surfshark, it has another very appealing feature that we could have focused on. While many VPNs will give you an allowance of around five simultaneous connections, you can use this one on as many devices as you like. If you and your whole household would like a Fortnite VPN, there’s nothing to stop you splitting the price between the lot of you and enjoying the benefits at a fraction of the price.

Speaking of price, Surfshark is another of the cheaper VPNs too, so that might also be a point in its favour depending on your budget. The only real drawback of this service is the fact that it offers a smaller selection of servers to connect through (and they’re located in a smaller range of countries). It’s still a big selection, but not the biggest, but if you do want the biggest, please keep reading (gosh, we’re good at segues).

Read the PCGamesN Surfshark review to find out more about this VPN.

6. The VPN with the most servers

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the Fortnite VPN with the most servers.

Private Internet Access overview:

Pros:

• Largest server count by some distance
• Decent pricing

Cons:

• One of the slower providers on this list
• No free trial

With over 35,000 VPN servers, PIA has a broader selection that every other provider on this list (although it doesn’t cover as many countries). By having so many servers, you avoid encountering server congestion, which is slowdown caused by the fact that there are too many users on the same server at once. PIA is the least likely of all VPNs to encounter this problem.

Despite the fact that it offers so many servers, it is still one of the cheaper VPNs on the market. On top of that, it allows you to use as many as ten simultaneous connections, which (shy of being an unlimited total) is one of the biggest allowances you’ll find.

It’s download speeds might be a smidgen beneath the likes of NordVPN and ExpressVPN, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the VPN version of a snail. The broad server selection will be handy for choosing connection points near the official Fortnite servers, and the lack of server congestion will help give you a smoother experience all-round. PIA is definitely not to be overlooked.

How we chose the best Fortnite VPNs

There are more VPNs than there are stars across the omniverse. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but there are a lot of them to choose between, and how did we manage to narrow it down to just these six?

In order to give you these recommendations, we carefully considered the strengths and weaknesses of a number of the top VPN providers, then compared them against the needs of Fortnite players. Though we believe that ExpressVPN is the option that will serve most readers best, we understand that everyone’s circumstances are different, hence the inclusion of the other five. We’re confident that at least one of these will suit your needs, regardless of your circumstances.

Fortnite server locations listed

Here is a list of every Fortnite server location:

• Canada (Atlantic)
• United States (Atlantic Coast)
• The Caribbean
• Central United States
• Mexico
• Canada (Pacific)
• United States (Pacific Coast)
• Europe
• North America
• Australia
• New Zealand
• South Pacific Islands
• South America
• Russia Far East
• Japan
• Korea
• Greater China
• Southeast Asia
• Arabian Peninsula
• East Africa
• South Asia

This will be a useful point of reference for anybody planning to use a VPN to connect through a server that’s in closer proximity to them.

For help with using VPNs with other top games, we also have guides on Warzone VPNs and Dota 2 VPNs. May all your future gaming endeavors be, not only lag-free, but protected with a nice extra layer of privacy too.