Is it safe to use WTFast/Pingzapper/Battleping?

[Red_Panda]

I have been toying around with these programs after hearing about their ability to help lower ping and reduce your lag. But while researching them I found a discussion that said that the programs use one proxy IP address for all users and that if someone who was using one of these programs got banned for whatever reason than that would mean you would get banned as well since you are using the same ip address as everyone else. This was the first I had heard of this and it doesn't seem to make much since that these programs would work like this and have such a massive risk involved. Is there anyone that has exp with these programs and could maybe shed some light on this subject?

Also I have been trying to figure out why the instructions on how to achieve the best results according to the website contridict what actually works.
According to the WTFast website it tells you to connect to the server closest to the game server being in Montreal for NA players.
However when I do this I get a higher then normal ping, but if I connect to the server closest to my actual location I get a lower ping.
I found one discussion on this and there was no clear answer with just wild guessing being tossed around. If anyone could shed some light on the reasoning being this or how it works in more detail that would be greatly appreciated.

[Red_Panda]

Ouch 200+ views and no replies. Guess these programs are not as popular as I thought they might be.

[Apricoth]

I don't think folks like to openly talking about third party programs. Though I do not know if SE's EULA applies to Pingzapper or other similar programs. <shrug>

[Zaft]

I have been toying around with these programs after hearing about their ability to help lower ping and reduce your lag. But while researching them I found a discussion that said that the programs use one proxy IP address for all users and that if someone who was using one of these programs got banned for whatever reason than that would mean you would get banned as well since you are using the same ip address as everyone else. This was the first I had heard of this and it doesn't seem to make much since that these programs would work like this and have such a massive risk involved. Is there anyone that has exp with these programs and could maybe shed some light on this subject?

Also I have been trying to figure out why the instructions on how to achieve the best results according to the website contridict what actually works.
According to the WTFast website it tells you to connect to the server closest to the game server being in Montreal for NA players.
However when I do this I get a higher then normal ping, but if I connect to the server closest to my actual location I get a lower ping.
I found one discussion on this and there was no clear answer with just wild guessing being tossed around. If anyone could shed some light on the reasoning being this or how it works in more detail that would be greatly appreciated.

To your first question, no, it's safe. They ban accounts, not IP ranges.

As to your second question, you can and should use the "Recommended" setting. It will check the ping times and set the best one for you.

I don't think folks like to openly talking about third party programs. Though I do not know if SE's EULA applies to Pingzapper or other similar programs. <shrug>

The third party "ban" only applies to third party applications that access or read game data. Things like Fraps, WTFast, etc, are not included.

[Nutz]

From my limited experience with WTFast, they usually suggest you use a server close to the game server to streamline traffic, but they also suggest that using a server close to home could be effective (depends on the specific route and where you're having issues). Their premium service (WTFast anyway) allows you to daisy chain their servers so that you can select one close to home to connect to and then connect that to another server close to the game server. None of this should raise any red flags or anything -- it's perfectly legal and within the ToS. How helpful it is will depend on your ISP, and the infrastructure between you and the game server (Montreal is often a bad spot for internet traffic, but it's not like you can avoid going through there).

[synesthetic]

I've been using a VPN since back in 2.0 and Titan-HM was still a thing. Never heard of the risk the OP mentioned.

Regarding the ping, I don't know if it's different with other VPNs, but with PZ it shows the ping between you and PZ's servers, which does not accurately reflect the ping between you and SE's datacenter. PZ gives me the option to route my connection to New York, which would be the shortest distance between me and the datacenter, but my latency is actually best when I connect through Chicago. I confirm this by seeing how quickly I can interrupt my own spells ingame. Like running nonstop and hitting Medica 2; the closer it gets to finishing the spell, the worse my connection.