Using a proxy/vpn to decrease lag

[nine2]

I'm not a networky guy but is it possible for users on slow connections to use a proxy or vpn to decrease lag?

I live in australia and sometimes have trouble connecting to Europe/American games.

Can I just rent a good VPN and possibly get faster speeds? (Like, if my ISP is just crap, perhaps the VPN will have a faster path to Europe).

If that is possible I might do it personally, but it also opens up a second idea.

What if FAF made it own dedicated proxies in Australia, China, USA, etc. They would be put somewhere with superfast net access. Presumably that would cost money so the people who live in those countries could donate to keep it running.

Is it possible?

[ColonelSheppard]

you know, just because you use a VPN doesnt nessesarily mean you use another internet route

[ckitching]

This is unlikely to help. You can't escape c.

[nine2]

Its not just the route tho right? Its how much bandwidth my isp has on that route, going via vpn would put me through their isp which might not be maxxed out.

And we are not trying to escape c, we are trying to get to c by avoiding contention

[ColonelSheppard]

propagation time isn"t THAT big:

Let's do some calculations that might be complete bullshit because i looked none of it up:
c=300kk, but it's slower in mediums so i'd guess like 0.7c
d(australia/europe) like 12kkm or so
so that makes 12.000.000/(300.000.000*0.7) ~= 0,057s =>57ms (one way)

But the short answer is: the traffic doesn't change, just because you use a VPN on an abstract level, it still more or less the same amount of data going from one place to another.

[nine2]

yes but dont you see i think my isp is being throttled.

its not about the physical distance ... sometimes connections to europe are 50ms which is fine. sometimes they are over 400ms. if you run with the theory that me/isp/something is being throttled for whatever reason (for example they only have a 100mbs connection for all users using that isp) then a vpn would circumvent that

im making assumptions about how all this works

[ColonelSheppard]

me/isp/something is being throttled for whatever reason (for example they only have a 100mbs connection for all users using that isp) then a vpn would circumvent that

no it wouldn't

[DarkTemplar]

yes but dont you see i think my isp is being throttled.

its not about the physical distance ... sometimes connections to europe are 50ms which is fine. sometimes they are over 400ms. if you run with the theory that me/isp/something is being throttled for whatever reason (for example they only have a 100mbs connection for all users using that isp) then a vpn would circumvent that

im making assumptions about how all this works

What you're saying is that if you could just connect via a VPN, you could have incredible speeds. Assume you connect directly to Google, just for kicks. Google is very generous so they grant you a 1Gbps pipe. Guess what, you still only have 2Mbps to your computer from your ISP. Google throws 1Gbps at your modem and your modem says, sorry man, only 2Mbps allowed.

It's the classic hose argument. Maybe if I hook my garden hose up to this here fire hydrant, i can put out the fire. NOPE. You still have a garden hose, friend. It will always only hold so many gallons per minute. And yes I know that analogy is flawed, obviously the garden hose can't hook up and even with an adapter it would just explode in your face anyway. But hopefully you get the idea.

[Zoram]

yes but dont you see i think my isp is being throttled.

its not about the physical distance ... sometimes connections to europe are 50ms which is fine. sometimes they are over 400ms. if you run with the theory that me/isp/something is being throttled for whatever reason (for example they only have a 100mbs connection for all users using that isp) then a vpn would circumvent that

im making assumptions about how all this works

What you're saying is that if you could just connect via a VPN, you could have incredible speeds. Assume you connect directly to Google, just for kicks. Google is very generous so they grant you a 1Gbps pipe. Guess what, you still only have 2Mbps to your computer from your ISP. Google throws 1Gbps at your modem and your modem says, sorry man, only 2Mbps allowed.

It's the classic hose argument. Maybe if I hook my garden hose up to this here fire hydrant, i can put out the fire. NOPE. You still have a garden hose, friend. It will always only hold so many gallons per minute. And yes I know that analogy is flawed, obviously the garden hose can't hook up and even with an adapter it would just explode in your face anyway. But hopefully you get the idea.

except his garden hose is very fine (assumedly) and the bottleneck is further down the line.
What he's saying is that he assumes that his provider can give him enough "pipe" until the VPN at which point the VPN would have take over for the "out of australia" part of the traffic, where his provider sucks.

It seems like an honest question. So why exactly wouldn't it work ? because VPN suffer from the same limitation as the australian ISP, or ?

[ColonelSheppard]

the bottleneck is further down the line.

ahja, where exactly? Tell me one realistic scenario please...