ProtonVPN keeps hanging/lagging? (Laptop, TV/Router, Windows)

Just switched from Mullvad to ProtonVPN. I am having an issue where the vpn hangs/lags out. This is present when attaching a ProtonVPN Wireguard config on my router (ASUS RT-AX88U) or when using the ProtonVPN app on my Macbook or Windows PC. This usually shows as buffering on videos or a video-game will lag out every 5-10 minutes and then catch back up.

  1. Tried different manual servers on my Wireguard config (I’m in the UK so have tried Manchester/London servers with lower load)
  2. Connect on the ProtonVPN app to ‘fastest’
  3. Do not use SecureCore

Am I missing something here? The speed/ping itself seems good when I test it, but the consistency/performance is not always great.

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve noticed connection and speed issues I never have before. I’ve been using Proton over a year, but over the last week or two it seems like it just loses connection, slows down, and just has various other issues.

Can you let us know who your ISP is?

What version of the Proton VPN app do you have installed on your devices?

Are you using any other VPN, proxy, or custom DNS services/settings on your devices or network?

What about any antivirus, firewall, or network monitoring applications?

Contact us through the ‘Report an issue’ option in the app menu (https://protonvpn.com/support/report-a-bug) with some answers to the above questions so we can have a better idea of the issue and assist you further. Meanwhile, try switching between the different connection protocols available to see if the behavior improves.

This has been happening to be now for weeks on my phone. Will have a good connection for about 20-30 mins, and then the connection hangs. Typically have to disconnect to reconnect and it’s starting to get really annoying

I have reported an issue through the app, when should I expect a response?

Just as a quick breakdown to what I said:

  • Virgin Media ISP
  • Latest version on Windows/MacOS/iOS
  • Asus RT-AX88U Pro Router (mostly default settings but turned Open Nat, have their firewall turned on)
  • Tried a mixture of using the native ProtonVPN app or a wireguard config on my router, both had issues
  • My initial speeds/ping are good when I first connect and test, but every 5-25 mins I will get a big lag spike/disconnect from the internet (e.g. video buffers, game lags out and disconnects)
  • I did not have these connectivity issues with Mullavad so I will be switching back if I can’t get this rectified soon

This is such a shame. I’ve tried most/all of the obvious things but to no avail. Didn’t have these issues with Mullavad but wanted to switch to ProtonVPN as I’m a ProtonMail customer and their solution has better split tunnelling.

Looks like I might have to go back to Mullavad.

This is EXACTLY what is happening with me. Great connection speeds when first connected, then 5 to 30 mins after it lags out, buffers, won’t load anything and I have to connect to a new server. Tried various servers in US, Netherlands and Japan. Same thing keeps happening.

I’m having exact same issues with ProtonVPN. How was Mullavad with streaming multiple video streams at once, or just buffering in general? I considered it before going to proton but I think the only thing I didn’t like about it was no port forwarding. But that’s better than constant lag and buffering when trying to do something.

Same. Often shows as VPN connected, but I have no connection: applications in use drop, webpages buffer and fail. Proton VPN software is also consuming a lot of CPU time (10%+) on my old computer some of the time. Sometimes it does not drop the connection, but it’s so slow it takes minutes to load a webpage. Server load is less than 50% every time, but if I can keep switching around and find a new server that works again (or just enough time has elapsed while searching?) everything resumes. Often times the issue arises again, however, in short order. I’ve tried to kill the Proton VPN processes and services completely to see if it works again or stops consuming so much CPU, but it’s hit or miss.