Skip to main content
Forum FAQ's
cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Wi-Fi Speeds with VPN after upgrading

DanC999
Contributor
Contributor

‎13-01-2026 02:24 PM

I recently upgraded from 500Mbps fibre to 900Mbps Fibre. Previously before the upgrade when using my phone on Wi-Fi while connected to NordVPN I would get about 300Mbps download speed, which is fine I accept the use of a VPN will cause the speed to be slower than the 'full' speed. However since the upgrade my speed on Wi-Fi has stayed around the same. I have tested on my computer which is hardwired and get pretty much the correct speed (900Mbps) with or without a VPN.

As i've said I accept use of VPN on my phone will drop in speed slightly but over 50% drop does seem too much. I've tested without the VPN on my phone and get the full speed. I am using wireguard protocol, and live in a 1 bed flat so never too far from the router.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions, or has had this problem themselves?

0 Helpful
7 REPLIES 7
Northerner
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

‎13-01-2026 05:12 PM

Hi @DanC999 

Tried connecting to a different VPN server.  This doesn't sound like an EE issue.

Thanks 



To contact EE Customer Services dial 150 From your EE mobile or 0800 956 6000 from any other phone.

EE standard opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 9pm - Saturday and Sunday, 8am to 8pm.
0 Helpful
XRaySpeX
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

‎13-01-2026 06:08 PM

@DanC999 wrote:

I've tested without the VPN on my phone and get the full speed.

Points to VPN being the culprit.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Home Broadband & Home Phone or Option 2 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up > 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB > 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB > 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU > 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU > 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC > 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC > 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC > 2022:EE 80 Meg FTTC SoGEA > 2025 EE 150 Meg FTTP
0 Helpful
DanC999
Contributor
Contributor
In response to XRaySpeX

‎13-01-2026 07:52 PM

Yeah, it does seem most likely, just found it strange that with the same vpn on my computer I had no issues 

0 Helpful
HusDawg
Visitor
In response to DanC999

‎14-01-2026 03:06 AM - edited ‎14-01-2026 03:10 AM

I’m starting to think this isn’t actually a VPN issue, because I get the same behaviour in the same conditions (EE, NordVPN, WiFi etc) 

Over Wi-Fi I hit my full ~900 Mbps with the VPN off, but as soon as I turn NordVPN on it drops to about half.

On my PC over Ethernet, speeds are fine either way, VPN on or off makes no difference.

What’s weird is that switching to NordWhisper over Wi-Fi makes it faster again, just not quite full speed (probably protocol overhead?).

Which EE router are you using? I’ve got the Smart Hub 7 Pro.

0 Helpful
DanC999
Contributor
Contributor
In response to HusDawg

‎14-01-2026 04:59 AM

Oh interesting, I tried with Nordwhisper and yeah pretty much get the speed I’d expect. So it does seem like the Nordlynx protocol causing the issue. 

I believe I have the Smarthub 6. 

0 Helpful
widdowsonben
Skilled Contributor
Skilled Contributor

‎14-01-2026 07:05 AM

Running Nord over a Virgin 1gbs connection I'm lucky if I can get even 100 let alone the 300 you have. I do wonder if the increase in UK customers waiting to avoid certain restrictions hasn't been matched by investment in capacity their end.

EE / BTTV user since BT Vision - EE FTTC (Apple TV & Mini's) - Starlink Backup
0 Helpful
DanC999
Contributor
Contributor

‎14-01-2026 08:02 AM

I’ve been looking into this a little more and found these could be likely reasons nordlynx over WiFi cause issues

Most likely causes are MTU / packet fragmentation issues on the hub’s Wi-Fi path and poor UDP queue handling in the Smart Hub 6 Wi-Fi firmware. WireGuard uses UDP with fixed packet sizes, so dropped packets tank performance. TCP-based VPNs recover cleanly, which is why NordWhisper works.

 

Ethernet isn’t affected because it uses a different, more stable processing path in the hub and doesn’t hit the Wi-Fi UDP buffering/fragmentation problems.

0 Helpful