Privacy and Gaming Consoles: Your 5 Step Guide to Setting up a PS4 VPN

If you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ve probably considered installing a VPN on PS4 at some point. Since you know that connection times matter a great deal when it comes to determining the speed of your responses and reactions, setting up a PS4 VPN is one of the ways to improve them. Besides, who doesn’t love being able to access servers from different regions and stay safe from raging gamers who take things a bit too far?

There’s no need to be tech-savvy to set it up

Setting up your PS4 VPN is easy if you stick to a tried and tested recipe. Bear in mind it’s going to take a bit more effort compared to just connecting it to your WiFi. But don’t worry – once you’ve reached the end of this guide, you’ll know everything you need to know to get the connection in working order.

The most common method is to connect your PS4 through your PC.

The secret lies in PS4 not connecting to the internet directly, but rather routing the connection through your PC where you’ve installed a VPN. Many people choose to do it this way. Alternatively, you can also install VPN software on your router – since this is a bit more complex in comparison, the vast majority of them prefer the former method. As a general rule of thumb, this requires setting up a specialized router; a good number of commercial routers aren’t cut out for the job. But if you install a VPN on your computer, there’s no need to purchase any additional hardware, so this is the method we’re going to be focusing on today.

It all boils down to these five simple steps:

Scour the marketplace for a good VPN

Finding the best VPN for PS4 means scouring the marketplace and identifying the key players in the game. Bear in mind, however, that there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation anyone can give you. Every VPN has its fair share of drawbacks and advantages. While you can get a free VPN for your PC that will do the job just fine, you should consider getting a paid one, since you can get so much more without shelling out a significant amount of money. In fact, a great VPN for PS4 starts at merely $5 a month. Getting a paid subscription is worth it for the unlimited data transfer benefits alone. If you’re unsure which one you should get, simply fire up a search engine and go through the results. Finally, test a couple of them out before making the final decision, and you’re all set. It really is that easy.

Install the VPN

After you’ve found the VPN you want to use, proceed to install it on your computer. Since every VPN is a bit different in this regard, it’s best to follow the website’s instructions. If you have any problems, they usually offer customer support you can contact via email, phone, or live chat.

Plug in the Ethernet cable

Since your PS4 won’t connect to the WiFi directly, you’re going to need an Ethernet cable. Once you’ve connected the two devices, your PC will act as a passthrough for the VPN you’ve selected. After establishing the physical connection, the next step is to visit your PC’s network settings and set things up.

Tweak the connection settings of your VPN

From this point on, you have multiple ways to proceed. You can either open up the control panel directly or right-click the internet icon on the system tray. No matter how you choose to go about it, the next step is to open up the Network and internet settings.

Next, find the ‘change adapter settings’ section and click on it. This should open a new window displaying every single one of your network connections, including the one belonging to your PS4. Right click on it and select ‘properties.’ A new 5-tab window should pop up. Select the ‘sharing’ tab. From there, tick the checkbox that allows the network users to connect through the computer’s internet connection.

After that, find the Home Networking Connection and select the home internet connection from the drop-down menu that you’ll be using for your PS4.

Got it all taken care of? Awesome. Now, the only thing that remains is setting up the VPN connection on your PS4, and you’re ready!

Set up the connection on your PS4

Once you’ve set up the VPN connection on your PC, it’s time to tweak the connection settings on your PS4.

The first step is to open up the home dashboard, navigate to the top row of the icons, and find the ‘settings’ section. It’s quite easy to locate – be on the lookout for a suitcase icon. Open up the network settings and select ‘set up an internet connection.’ When prompted, pick the ‘LAN cable’ and not the ‘WiFi connection.’ Pick the ‘easy connection’ option. and your console will scan the available connections and set up your Ethernet connection.

In the process, you may be asked several questions in regards to configuring your DHCP hostname, DNS settings, or your PS4 proxy server, so be sure to set those up if you need them. Generally speaking, however, getting too many of these is an indicator that the console is unable to find your VPN settings automatically. If that’s the case, go back to the VPN settings on your computer and check your connection. Chances are you’ve picked the wrong one.

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap! If you’ve followed every step outlined above, you should now be able to use VPN on your PS4. In case of trouble, re-read everything one more time and see if there’s something you’ve missed.