VPN or game booster: what each does to ping

What a VPN does

The US Federal Trade Commission describes a VPN app as an app that routes your data through servers the VPN provider controls before it goes anywhere else, often encrypted on the way, and notes that the app gets permission to intercept all of your internet traffic.

For ping, a VPN is one more stop. Every packet travels to the VPN server, and from there to the game server. A VPN server on the line between you and the game costs little; one off to the side adds its detour both ways, on every packet.

What a route optimizer does

Route optimizers, sold as game boosters, also run servers of their own, but they pick a path for the game: an entry point near you, their own network, an exit near the game server. GearUP Booster, for one, says it runs over 7,500 nodes in more than 180 countries and regions and switches routes when it meets jitter or failures. On phones it uses the system VPN permission to carry game traffic, so the mechanism is close to a VPN while the choice of route is not.

The idea is not unique to boosters. Valve's Steam Datagram Relay documentation describes carrying game traffic over Valve's own network and says it finds a faster route than the default one for many players, while some players end up with a slower route than before.

What neither one can do

• Remove distance. GearUP's own help page expects a latency of about 200 ms from Brazil to Singapore even after boosting, and a smaller gain on a strong connection close to the server.
• Fix the home network. Weak Wi-Fi, a busy home line and downloads on other devices sit before any tunnel or route. The Ethernet or Wi-Fi guide and the background downloads guide cover those.
• Move your account. A VALORANT shard, a League of Legends region or a Free Fire account region stays where it is, whatever route your traffic takes.

What publishers say about VPNs

Test what each one does on your line

1. Run the test with nothing running, and note the median and spread of the region you play on.
2. Turn the VPN on, tick A VPN or booster is running, and run again. A VPN carries the browser's requests too, so this run measures the route through the tunnel. The result says so and shows no booster link.
3. A booster is different: it routes game traffic only, and GearUP says its service covers games alone, so the browser test does not travel its route. Compare the ping display inside the game with the booster on and off, on the same server and at the same hour.