{"description":"What a virtual VPN location is, how many there are, which providers mark them in their lists, and what latency measurements show for marked and unmarked locations.","language":"en","latest_measurement":"2026-10-17","method":"latency-v3","method_page":"https://crackthe.net/method/","source":"https://crackthe.net/","text":"Key points\nA virtual location gives you an IP address registered in one country while the server stands in another. Providers themselves mark 430 of 1,673 listed locations as virtual (26 %). Only 6 of 13 server lists say which locations are virtual at all. Our measurements place the server outside the listed country for 132 of 1,126 measured locations. How a virtual location works You pick \u0026ldquo;Argentina\u0026rdquo; in the app. The provider has no server in Argentina, so it connects you to a server in a nearby country and gives you an address that address databases link to Argentina. Websites then treat you as a visitor from Argentina. Your data, though, travels through the other country.\nYour deviceyou pick Argentina Server in another countryaddress registered in Argentina Websitethinks you are in Argentina encrypted by the VPN not encrypted by the VPN\nThe country in the list and the country of the server can differ. Some providers say so in their list, others do not. Why it matters Speed: the real server may be far from where you think. Law and privacy: your data passes through the server\u0026rsquo;s country, not the listed one. Expectations: if you pay for \u0026ldquo;servers in 150 countries\u0026rdquo;, you may want to know how many are real. How many locations are virtual? 1,673 All listed locations, by what each provider\u0026#39;s own list says marked as virtual: 430 (26 %) not marked as virtual: 701 (42 %) no information in the list: 542 (32 %) Lists that use a marker say \u0026ldquo;virtual\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;not virtual\u0026rdquo; for each location. Lists without a marker say nothing, so this site cannot tell from the list alone. That is why it measures.\nShare of locations each provider marks as virtual NordVPN58 % ExpressVPN46 % CyberGhost45 % Private Internet Access43 % Surfshark33 % Windscribe2 % Only providers whose list has a virtual marker appear here.\nWhat the measurements show This archive pings one published server endpoint per location from probes around the world. A reply that comes back too fast for the listed country proves the server is outside it. 132 of 1,126 measured locations show this. Most of them are marked as virtual by the provider itself, so the list tells you the truth. The others are findings: the list does not mark them, but the measurements on two different days place the server elsewhere.\n1,122 Results for the measured locations matches the country: 644 (57 %) no conclusion possible: 346 (31 %) server outside the country: 132 (12 %) \u0026ldquo;Matches the country\u0026rdquo; means no reply ruled the country out and one reply placed the server near it; it is not proof. \u0026ldquo;No conclusion possible\u0026rdquo; means no probe was close enough to decide. The method explains the rules.\nCountries with only virtual locations In 27 countries, every location that any provider lists is marked as virtual by that provider. If you need a server physically in one of these countries, none of the providers here offers one.\nCheck a country before you buy: in the VPN finder, pick the country and tick \u0026ldquo;the provider does not mark its location there as virtual\u0026rdquo;.\nNext step The analysis of virtual locations lists every measured location whose server is in another country. For the method behind it, read How latency locates a server.","title":"Virtual VPN locations: when the server is somewhere else","url":"https://crackthe.net/learn/virtual-vpn-locations/"}