Console gaming on a VPN: what works on PS5/Xbox Series X

Using a VPN while gaming can give you a fair number of benefits, like avoiding ISP throttling, reaching other digital storefronts, and potentially improving lag in some cases. While you might be thinking of a gaming VPN as more of a ‘PC thing’, you’ll be pleased to know it’s viable on console, too.

Whether you’re looking for any of the benefits mentioned above, or just want to load into a different server in a game to be able to play with friends located elsewhere, it’s possible to play your PS5, Xbox Series S or X, and Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 via a VPN. Here’s how.

Use a hotspot from your laptop or PC

Top VPNs have apps on just about every platform, but you won’t find them natively on console.

Instead, you’ll need to run them on your PC or Mac, and connect to either via your console’s Wi-Fi connection or Ethernet.

Doing so will then let you use the VPN to obfuscate your location or get you ‘closer’ to the server you want to connect to. The best part is that this is relatively easy to do - just look into your chosen VPN’s documentation to get started sharing it with your console of choice.

Use a VPN Router

If you’re a little more confident, you can use a dedicated hardware-based VPN solution to connect your console to a VPN on the router itself, or set up your VPN on your existing router.

The exact steps to achieve this will depend on your router, but in general you'll need to make sure your device supports OpenVPN. Note that many routers provided by ISPs will not support VPN usage.

All of our recommended options below have router VPN settings, as well as comprehensive support options if you come unstuck.

Smart DNS

It's not technically a VPN, but we’ll mention it because there’s a degree of crossover. A smart DNS setup doesn’t encrypt all of your traffic as a VPN would, but instead works to circumvent geo-blocked content.

Many VPN services, including ExpressVPN, offer a handy Smart DNS service, so you’ll only need to grab the information from your VPN provider and enter that information in your console.

The caveat is that the lack of encryption means that you’re not going to be as secure, and your data is just as open to snooping as it would be sans VPN or DNS tweaks. On the one hand, you may be able to activate Netflix somewhere, but on the other, you could come a cropper and end up locked out of it and needing to fiddle with the settings just to get back to where you started.

GamesRadar+’s VPN recommendations

Here are three of the finest VPNs around in 2026.

ExpressVPN

Available for under $3.50 per month, ExpressVPN lets you log into 14 devices at a time (up from ten before).

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Surfshark

Got a ton of devices? Surfshark’s $2.29 subscription (on a two-year plan) lets you use it on an unlimited number of devices.

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NordVPN

NordVPN is a household name and includes a password manager and private cloud storage for backing up important files.

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