What is Double VPN technology (cascading connection) and how does it affect connection speed and security?

Double VPN technology, or multi-level proxying, is a method of network traffic routing where user data is sequentially encrypted and passed through two or more remote VPN servers in different geographical locations.

When you activate a double VPN, your client software first establishes a secure connection with the first server, Point A, and encrypts the traffic. Then, this already encrypted packet is wrapped in a second layer of encryption and sent to the second server, Point B, which delivers the request to the open internet.

The main advantage of this approach is the maximum level of anonymization and privacy. The first server knows your real IP address, but cannot see which websites you are visiting since the traffic continues further in encrypted form. The second server sees the requested resources, but does not know your true IP address, seeing only the address of the intermediate server.

Among the disadvantages of the technology are a significant drop in connection speed and increased ping. Each additional node in the chain adds overhead for data encryption and decryption, and also increases the physical distance that network packets travel.

Therefore, cascading VPNs are practical to use only for journalists, activists, or security specialists whose activities require enhanced protection against targeted surveillance. For everyday tasks like watching videos or downloading files, excessive double encryption will only get in the way.