{"description":"Most VPN providers rent servers in other companies' data centers. Which networks carry their servers, how many providers share them, and what that means for you.","language":"en","latest_measurement":"2026-10-17","method":"latency-v3","method_page":"https://crackthe.net/method/","source":"https://crackthe.net/","text":"Key points\nA VPN provider rarely owns its data centers. Its servers usually sit in networks run by hosting companies. The published servers of the 13 providers here sit in 131 networks. 43 of them carry servers of more than one provider. The network M247 carries servers of 9 providers. Switching brands does not always mean switching networks. What a \u0026ldquo;network\u0026rdquo; is here Every address on the internet belongs to a network, an autonomous system, that announces it to the rest of the internet. For a VPN server, this is usually the hosting company whose data center and lines the provider rents. This archive looks up the network of each published server address in a public routing table.\nVPN brandrents servers Hosting networkruns the data center and lines Internetsees the network\u0026#39;s announcement Several VPN brands can rent servers from the same hosting network in the same city. How much providers share Share of each provider\u0026#39;s locations in networks that other providers also use Mullvad98 % AirVPN95 % IVPN95 % OVPN94 % Private Internet Access93 % hide.me86 % AzireVPN74 % Windscribe74 % NordVPN73 % Surfshark53 % Only providers whose list names server addresses can be assigned to networks.\nA high share is not a problem in itself. It means:\nThe same operator handles the traffic of several VPN brands at that location. Blocks hit several brands at once. A service that blocks a hosting network blocks every VPN that uses it there. Switching providers may not help if the new one uses the same network in the country you need. Where the networks are registered The country where a network is registered says nothing about where its servers stand. A network registered in one country may run data centers around the world. That is why this archive measures the servers\u0026rsquo; locations separately.\nHow to use this when comparing Open the comparison of two providers you are considering. Look at the column \u0026ldquo;Same network\u0026rdquo; in the country-by-country table. If both use the same network in the country you need most, the choice between them matters less for that country. All networks at a glance: the networks page lists every network, its registered country, and which providers use it.\nNext step Level 4 starts with How latency reveals where a server is: the method behind every status on this site.","title":"The networks behind VPN servers","url":"https://crackthe.net/learn/networks-behind-vpn-servers/"}