Using ping/vpn programs to reduce latency?

[Buzzwords]

they're completely legal and allowed and all that, but as far as performance is concerned they primarily just "fix mistakes" rather than "alter the fundamental laws of the universe"

your communications with the server might take a more efficient route (if they were using an inefficient route) and that could reduce ping; but distance is distance and at a certain point there's nothing to be gained. some VPNs do offer free trials though, and i think mudfish even charges by the megabyte (playing the game is actually not that "heavy" but if you go that route you might wanna UPDATE with it off)

[Sylve]

WTFast isn't worth it. You're better off subbing to a real VPN for the security enhancements than a mediocre rerouting service with a low success rate.

Played ARR without WTFast, Ping was constantly fluctuating between 450 and 600 (This was back in the days before the adjusted server tick rate).
With WTFast, my ping is a rocksteady 180. From the south eastern end of Australia no less, which means my traffic needs to cross the entire width of the country to get to the pipe in WA that connects to San Jose.

To get the best results from WTFast, you absolutely need to enable multi server routing in the settings and have a sub. Then when you setup the connection, set both servers to "Choose Best". That picks lowest possible ping WTFast node on the first server, then picks a server with the least possible hops to destination as the second server.

For me, this manifests as a 5 hop journey.
1 - Home
2 - ISP
3 - WTFast node AU
4 - WTFast node US
5 - destination XIV datacenter.

You could probably do some sort of manual routing if the Security VPN service allowed user control like that, but generally their concern is data safety/anonymity, not best possible game connections (I'm aware there are some VPNs that offer both services in one). And they're especially unlikely to have dedicated server nodes exclusively for gaming traffic the way WTFast and I assume other similar services like Pingzapper do.

Also, some sites like Netflix simply will not function if they detect you on a VPN.

[rachcouture]

Tried all of that, but getting it to work consistently was always the issue, and that's something many people unfortunately experience with WTFast. Picking a server close to FFXIV's with my regular VPN was another story.

I actually don't know of anything I use other than the occasional purchase off of Mog Station where a VPN is an actual hindrance. Tbh, I assumed most people used Netflix on a device hooked to their TV, not through their web browser. I personally wouldn't know; I prefer my movies on something I own.

[Dagget]

An FC member of ours located in Queensland uses Exitlag and it trims a bit of latency down, from around 330 to 260 (Aus-->EU) and also far less chance of random latency spikes.

[Fhaerron]

I'm actually unable to play the game without VPN, as soon as I log into the world and the world loads I get disconnected and send back to the character select screen.
This started to happen when they did that netwerk stuff during SB, as always their horrible EU support did nothing and their response was actually that I should make a thread here on the forums and talk to other players.

Anyway, so I've used Tunnelbear for a year until 2018 somewhere and that worked fine, now I've been using NordVPN for over a year and that works great too, I select a German server because the DC is located in Germany.
I also use NordVPN to watch Netflix & Crunchyroll shows that are blocked in my country without issues (for over a year as well and no bans).

Just need to deactivate it for mogstation because reasons.

WTFast and other 'VPN's for gaming' have been a total failure and did not do anything in my case.

[Lilseph]

Is it legal? If so what are some good ones?
I'm tired of getting hit by stuff I dodged over a half second ago

Hi, Siete. I am also from Argentina and I ditched WTFast few months ago. It used to work great, actually, but overtime it dropped its quality. I've found a new VPN called "NoPing", which it's Brazilian and apparently it has a neat routing. I'm from Córdoba, and my ping to the NA DCs is 160 to 170ms on average. It would be nearly 300ms without it. They have a 7days trial I believe, so you won't end up wasting your money if it doesn't work out for you!

You can select the premium servers, but the "San José 2" servers (second tab) worked great for me.

[Saefinn]

Some are better than others. I use NordVPN but not just specifically for games, but I have had a couple of routing issues, it was screwing with my Discord too.

But if you are looking to reduce ping.
An alternative I've seen recommended is ExitLag, which seems to have game specific configurations and is designed as a latency tool and not as a VPN.
They have a free trial, so worth a try at least. Though as always, it's dependent on the cause of your high ping.

[Noitems]

I was using Mudfish for a time since it was fairly cheap and dropping down a couple of bucks secured me a good amount of bandwith. It worked fine for what it was, but I'd say the majority here are posting better options. I do know WTFast is one of the few VPN's that you can actually purchase a sub to at Gamestop since they're partnered.