Best Cox VPNs in 2025

Frequent bandwidth throttling and privacy concerns are common complaints among Cox Communications users. While Cox states that it does not throttle specific types of traffic, many users report noticeable slowdowns when streaming HD videos, downloading large files, or gaming online. Additionally, Cox publishes information about filtering or blocking several ports, including 25, 80, 135, 136 to 139, 445, 1433, and 1,900.

If you suspect that Cox is throttling your internet speeds, using a VPN can help. A reliable VPN encrypts your data, hides your IP address, and changes your location, making it harder for your ISP to throttle you. With a fast, tested VPN, you'll unlock your connection's full potential for streaming, gaming, and downloading. Plus, VPNs use ports that Cox doesn’t block, helping you avoid restrictions.

Some VPNs aren’t as good as others at remaining hidden, and some users have reported Cox throttling VPN connections that are discovered. That’s why I’ve tested 25 different VPN providers to check which ones can effectively stop ISP throttling and maintain your anonymity.

Best Cox VPNs to bypass throttling

1. NordVPN – the best Cox VPN to bypass throttling in 2025
2. Surfshark – privacy-first Cox VPN with strong anonymity features
3. Proton VPN – freemium Cox VPN with solid security and privacy features
4. TotalVPN – most inexpensive VPN to bypass throttling
5. IPVanish – solid VPN to avoid throttling when torrenting

The best VPNs for Cox need to provide fast and reliable connections that can stop ISP tracking and thus prevent speed throttling, while offering the ability to unblock and stream in HD, torrent, and game with a low ping. While these are crucial considerations, they should also provide a large server network that covers the most popular locations, including the US, for strong coverage and connectivity. Also important are powerful encryption, a strict no-logs policy that protects your privacy, and the ability to bypass geo-restrictions worldwide without detection.

With these criteria in mind, I tested 25 VPN services and determined that NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, TotalVPN, and IPVanish are the top Cox VPNs that never throttle your speed, provide robust data encryption, and effectively cloak your IP address to bolster your privacy and preserve your internet freedoms.

1. NordVPN – the fastest and most secure VPN to bypass Cox throttling

NordVPN is the best Cox VPN in 2025 thanks to powerful anonymity and security tools that will stop your ISP from tracking you or your activity.

During my in-house tests, I saw NordVPN hit speeds of up to 485 Mbps (500 Mbps baseline connection). Across 10 international VPN servers, it averaged 468 Mbps reflecting consistent performance across both near and faraway servers. NordVPN can be installed on routers too, which means you can protect all your household’s devices with a single installation. This includes the most common ASUS routers, DD-WRT, and others.

I performed my NordVPN tests with NordLynx – this protocol is built on WireGuard, the fastest standard VPN protocol around. NordLynx improves on WireGuard with a double NAT (network address translation) system that further improves IP cloaking and privacy, while optimizing processes that further boost speed. However, during my tests I noted support for a wide range of other protocols, including OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec, and the latest NordWhisper protocol – an obfuscation feature that offers extra protection on networks that penalize VPN traffic. This is another useful tool given that Cox customers have reported noticing slowdowns and disconnects when using VPNs that can’t disguise themselves well enough.

With these tools, I was happy to see that I could unblock Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, and any other website I tested. This was made even easier given NordVPN’s extensive server fleet – in total, the provider offers 7400+ servers in 118+ countries. Servers in the dashboard are also grouped into categories, allowing you to join a streaming-specific or torrenting-optimized server for example, which can provide even faster speeds and better performance.

NordVPN's prices start from just $3.09/month when you sign up with a NordVPN coupon. This gives you a 77% discount, and you can also claim a 7-day free trial if you create your account on an Android device via the Google Play Store. However, no matter which device you use, you’ll also get NordVPN's 30-day money-back guarantee.

2. Surfshark – privacy-focused Cox VPN with high-speed servers

Surfshark is the best Cox VPN thanks to lightning-fast speeds and unlimited connections, allowing you to protect all of your devices as well as those belonging to friends and family.

Surfshark’s speeds impressed me during in-house tests, producing a 467Mbps average download speed – retention of around 93%. I connected to 10 international servers in locations like the UK, US, Australia, and Singapore to establish this average. As a result, I noticed that Surfshark can suffer some speed dips on further-away servers compared to NordVPN, so it’s best when connecting to a server in close geographical proximity to you. You can install Surfshark on the usual spread of iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows.

These speeds were made possible by the speedy WireGuard protocol, though Surfshark also supports OpenVPN and IKEv2. Lately, Surfshark has moved from standard 256-bit AES encryption to ChaCha20 encryption specifically for users connecting via WireGuard. This highly secure encryption method can help you achieve even faster speeds across Surfshark’s vast network of 3200+ servers in 100 countries.

Surfshark’s arsenal of privacy tools helped me evade detection by Cox, Comcast, Virgin Media, and Sky ISPs during my battery of tests. Camouflage Mode helped me bypass geo-restrictions on popular streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu, allowing me to stream in HD without throttling. I could even access sites that are automatically banned by my ISP, such as certain torrenting and free movie streaming websites.

Surfshark is one of the most affordable premium VPNs you can get, with subscription prices starting at $1.99/month. I recommend starting with Surfshark’s 7-day free trial for mobile devices by downloading the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. After that, you’ll also have a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you time to see if the VPN is right for you.

3. ProtonVPN – no-logs VPN that works reliably with Cox ISP

Proton VPN is the best Cox VPN with a freemium model that lets you use a simple version of the software entirely free – upgrade to premium for lightning-fast speeds, one of the largest server fleets, and powerful security features.

Proton VPN maintained speeds of up to 438 Mbps during my test circuit, which included 10 international VPN servers across both short and long distances. It’s worth noting that these speed results were seen with the Proton VPN premium version – the free tier doesn’t have quite the same output, nor can you choose your VPN server location as of 2025. However, use Proton VPN premium and you can access 9900 servers in 117+ countries. The software is compatible with all major operating systems, as well as router brands like Asus and TP-Link.

Proton VPN connects via the OpenVPN protocol with forward secrecy enabled, which helps boost IP cloaking. This protocol carries the double benefit of also being widely compatible with home routers. When I used Proton VPN with OpenVPN to test unblocking capabilities, I was easily able to access international content libraries for YouTube TV+, Prime Video, Netflix, and more, as well as unblocking sites on my ISP’s blacklist.

Proton VPN doesn’t offer a free trial – instead, you have access to the free subscription tier. However, while premium VPN free trials usually let you try the software’s full feature set, the free version is stripped back to a handful of locations and reduced speeds. So, I recommend trying Proton VPN with the 30-day money-back guarantee so that you get a proper picture of how the software performs. If you choose to continue afterwards, it costs just $3.59/month with a Proton VPN coupon.

4. TotalVPN – cheapest Cox VPN service with good security features

TotalVPN is the best Cox VPN for people looking for inexpensive subscriptions and beginner-friendly software, but it still provides exceptional speed and anonymity.

TotalVPN supports the fastest and most popular VPN protocols – WireGuard and OpenVPN, as well as IKEv2. With WireGuard enabled for testing, I saw average speeds of 417 Mbps that never dipped due to throttling, even when downloading large torrent files and playing fast-paced, data-hungry online games like Smite 2 and League of Legends.

TotalVPN offers a more modest fleet of servers than other Cox VPNs I’ve tested, with 50+ servers in 35 countries. However, while the selection is small, it covers all of the most commonly sought connections, like the UK, US, Australia, and so on. What’s more, my download speed retention varied between 86-92%, only dropping to 69% on a Singaporean server – an expected result for such geographical distance, so these are very strong results.

When comparing TotalVPN to other Cox VPNs, perhaps the biggest drawback I noted is a lack of support for router installations. It’s not a particularly big deal – router installation isn’t usually the first choice for VPN users, but advanced users looking to protect all of their devices in one go will miss out. Fortunately, this has no impact on TotalVPN’s ability to avoid throttling and bypass geo-blocks when installed on any other compatible device, including iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows.

One other drawback of TotalVPN is that it lacks a free trial. Fortunately, it makes up for that snag with a 30-day money-back guarantee that effectively lets you use the service free for a month if you ultimately decide to get a refund. Besides, at just $1.59/month, TotalVPN is the cheapest Cox VPN that made my list of recommendations!

5. IPVanish – P2P-friendly VPN with servers in 20 US cities

IPVanish is the best Cox VPN due to its unlimited connections and fast, reliable WireGuard-powered connections. Its subscription model also gives Surfshark some competition on pricing.

When connected via the WireGuard protocol, I saw speeds of around 418 Mbps on IPVanish servers. This represents around 94% speed retention and was fairly consistent across all servers I tested, both nearby and far away. However, upload speed was quite variable depending on geographical distance from the server, so I recommend choosing another Cox VPN if you’re a P2P file sharer who cares about seeding files for other users. Bear in mind that lower upload speed performance can also impact gaming latency.

In terms of servers, IPVanish has a respectable fleet of 2400+ servers in 109+ countries. I tested 10 international servers to benchmark my speeds, but I also tested their unblocking power. IPVanish is well-suited to streamers, or for gamers looking to join other matchmaking lobbies – I could unblock Netflix and Prime Video content libraries in countries like Japan and the US without any trouble, as well as Disney+, Hulu, and other popular sites.

IPVanish’s identity cloaking features were more than sufficient to sidestep website restrictions and prevent speed throttling. I tested unblocking my usual battery of websites, including Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube TV+, and more, all of which were accessible regardless of my location. I also successfully bypassed ISP web blocks when I used IPVanish’s Scramble obfuscation feature, letting me browse the web entirely without restrictions. I performed these IPVanish tests using WireGuard, the fastest protocol and one which I recommend using; however, IPVanish also supports the widely used OpenVPN protocol, IPSec and IKEv2.

If you want to try IPVanish, you can start with a 7-day free trial when you download the software from the Google Play Store on an Android device. For any other platform, I recommend trying the 30-day money-back guarantee. IPVanish’s pricing beyond this introductory period is just $2.19, making it comparable in affordability to Surfshark.

Best VPN for Cox ISP compared

Below, I’ve summarized some of the most important features of each of the best VPNs for Cox so that you can see key information at a glance.

How I tested VPN services for Cox

ISP throttling works in the same way, regardless of provider; your ISP can track you based on your IP address, which includes seeing what kinds of activities you’re engaged in. As a result, they can target you with speed throttling, reducing your internet speed if you’re engaging in data-hungry activities. My approach involved testing 25 top VPN services with my ISP to determine which of them could effectively avoid throttling and tracking, and overcome native ISP web blocks.

I started by baselining my connection speed, before running tests where I downloaded large torrent files, streamed in 4K to ensure high data usage, and connected to data-intensive online gaming lobbies. Over a 24-hour period, I monitored and re-tested my connection with Ookla speedtest to see whether there was a sudden, sharp drop in speed. While this was my initial focus, I also branched into testing a variety of geo-restricted websites to see whether each VPN could overcome web blocks. This included unblocking international streaming sites and attempting to access unofficial websites that I know my ISP usually blocks by default, such as free streaming sites.

Speeds and unblocking aside, I also looked for key features that ensure anonymity and privacy, including a strict no-logs policy, AES-256 encryption or better, obfuscation and multi-hop features for enhanced privacy, and dedicated servers for gaming, streaming, and torrenting. I rejected VPNs that didn’t meet the strict criteria set out above, but I was also able to narrow down my list to the 5 best Cox VPNs – NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, TotalVPN, and IPVanish.

Get NordVPN to prevent speed throttling

How to install VPN on Cox router

If you’re ready to install a VPN on your Cox router, look no further than the guide below. In just a few short steps, you’ll be able to encrypt every device connection on your Cox router in a single step and avoid speed throttling and web blocks indefinitely.

Step1: Verify your router's VPN compatibility

Most ISP routers, Cox routers included, do not natively support VPN configurations. In other words, if you want to use a VPN for your router, offering protection for all connected devices simultaneously, then you’ll need a router that supports manual VPN configuration and connection. Here are some of the most popular VPN-compatible routers to get you started:

• ASUS RT-AX5400
• TP-Link BE550
• Linksys WRT3200ACM
• Netgear Nighthawk X10 AD7200

You’ll also find that compatibility across a supported brand is quite strong; for example, most modern ASUS routers will allow VPN configurations. Once you’ve determined that your router is compatible with VPNs, make sure that your router can support the OpenVPN client, as NordVPN – the best VPN for Cox – utilizes this protocol primarily.

Step 2: Choose a VPN service that offers router-compatible configurations

Once you’ve established that your router can support VPN connections, you’ll need to choose a VPN service offering router-compatible configurations. I recommend NordVPN as the best choice due to its extensive router compatibility, robust anti-tracking and security features, and the fastest VPN speeds currently available. NordVPN supports a wide range of routers, including ASUS, DD-WRT, and TP-Link, letting you encrypt all connections on your home network with a single configuration.

NordVPN’s obfuscated and multi-hop connections help avoid VPN restrictions and speed throttling, while the proprietary NordLynx protocol provides fast and stable connections that outstripped the competition during my tests. Coupled with military-grade encryption and a strict no-logs policy, your online activity and identity can’t be tracked.

Step 3: Set up your VPN-compatible router

Next, you’ll need to access your router’s administration panel. You’ll usually find the web address for doing so by checking the label printed on the reverse of your router. It’s normally listed as an IP address consisting of several numbers and full stops, and if you haven’t accessed it before, the default login credentials will normally be printed on the reverse too. I recommend changing these the first time that you log in so that your router is secure.

Once you’ve logged into your admin panel, you can locate the VPN setup tab within the settings menu. Here, you’ll need to enter the NordVPN (or other VPN) configuration details. NordVPN provides these in its setup tutorials for a wide variety of router models. Simply save your changes and reboot the router to enjoy full protection for your household.

Step 4: Test the VPN connection

Once your router has come back online, test whether your VPN connection is working properly – I recommend checking what IP address is displayed when you use the IP tool at whatismyipaddress.com. Instead of seeing your usual geographical location, you should see the location of the VPN server that you’ve connected to. If your IP address hasn’t changed, I suggest checking your chosen VPN’s router installation guides or contacting customer support if you’re sure that your configuration is correct.

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Cox bandwidth speed test

The steps for performing a Cox bandwidth speed test work a little differently depending on the type of router that you have.

If you have a Cox Panoramic Wifi Gateway, start by downloading the Cox Panoramic Wi-Fi application from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on your mobile device. Use your Cox login credentials to log into the app, select the Wi-Fi tab, and then Troubleshoot. Here, you’ll find an option to test your whole home network. As part of this test process, you’ll see a speed test result for your Cox internet connection.

If you’re not using Cox Panoramic Wi-Fi, then you can use a third-party speed assessment tool instead. I suggest visiting the Ookla Speedtest website or downloading the dedicated Ookla application – the same tool that my colleagues and I use to benchmark and test VPN performance. To see the most accurate results, I recommend running this test on a device that’s connected to the router via an ethernet cable and ensuring that no other connected devices are engaged in data-intensive activities like streaming and downloading files. Performing multiple tests throughout the day can help you to get a picture of your internet connection’s average speeds.

Cox VPN issues: steps to fix your connection

If you’re having trouble with getting your VPN to work with Cox internet connections, it could be down to a number of factors. Below, you’ll find reasons why your VPN connection might fail along with troubleshooting steps to help you get up and running quickly.

1. Your VPN might be blocked or throttled: Cox may limit VPN connections or throttle their speeds if they manage to identify that you’re using a VPN, either due to internal policies or high data usage. I recommend trying a different VPN protocol to see if it helps, as well as enabling obfuscation where available.
2. You may be suffering DNS or IP conflicts: If your VPN suffers from DNS or IP leaks, or has trouble properly resolving DNS queries, your connection might fail. On Windows devices, you can try opening the command prompt and entering ipconfig /flushdns, before reconnecting to the VPN.
3. Your router may be incompatible with Cox: Some Cox routers don't support VPN passthrough, meaning they may still limit or even block detected VPN traffic. Try enabling VPN passthrough in your router's administration panel, as well as disabling Advanced Security in your Cox router. If this doesn’t work, you may need to try another router.
4. You may be using outdated VPN software: If you were already using a VPN and haven’t updated the software recently, it could lead to connection failures. Check for software updates via your VPN’s dashboard.

I would typically recommend contacting customer support if you have problems, though it’s unlikely that Cox will help you with VPN-related queries due to their policies on VPN usage. Instead, contact your VPN’s customer support. NordVPN has round-the-clock support and fast response times, so it should be quick and easy to resolve your problem.

Get NordVPN, the best Cox VPN to avoid throttling

Final thoughts on using a VPN with Cox

Using a VPN with Cox or any other ISP prevents your service provider from tracking you, which means that they can’t throttle your speeds. It also has the benefit of letting you bypass geo-blocks and other websites that your ISP blocks natively, while offering you overall protection from hackers and phishing attacks, keeping your device and data secure.

After testing 25 VPN providers to determine the best Cox VPNs, NordVPN provided the broadest router compatibility, fastest VPN speeds, and simplest setup process. NordVPN’s router installation guides were a boon that helped me set up my VPN quickly and without any confusion – it’s the best choice for any user looking to protect their entire home network with a single installation.

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FAQ

Why is Cox throttling my internet?

Some Cox customers report their internet slowing down when engaging in high-data activities like streaming in HD, torrenting, and gaming. While Cox has announced that it does not throttle internet speeds, some ISPs will slow your internet for overuse. I recommend using a VPN installed on your router to cloak your IP address and online activity, which prevents your ISP from being able to see what you’re doing online and throttle your speeds.

Can I use a VPN with Cox?

Yes, you can use a VPN with Cox by installing it on your router, which will protect all devices connected to your home internet network. You should choose a VPN that offers broad router compatibility and powerful anonymity and security features. After testing 25 VPN providers, I recommend choosing NordVPN. It supports a huge range of routers, publishes router installation guides to help get you started, and offers a combination of the fastest speeds in the industry and robust obfuscation tools that keep you hidden

Does Cox offer VPN services?

No, Cox doesn’t offer a VPN service for its router, and you won’t be able to install your chosen VPN on your Cox router either. Instead, use an independent VPN solution with a supported router from a brand such as ASUS or TP-Link. During in-house tests, I had success preventing tracking and speed throttling by using NordVPN with an ASUS router for Cox internet connections.

How do I stop Cox from throttling my internet?

You can stop Cox and other ISPs from throttling your internet by installing a VPN on your router to protect all connections in your household. This will hide your IP address on every device, which means that Cox can no longer track you online. As a result, they won’t be able to see that you’re using a high amount of data nor be able to slow down your internet. I recommend using NordVPN, the fastest available VPN, to preserve the highest speeds possible.

Can I install a VPN on my Cox router?

Yes, you can install a VPN on your Cox router by logging into the admin panel and looking for the VPN configuration tab. If you haven’t logged into your router’s administration panel before, you should find the credentials printed on the reverse of the hardware. You’ll need your chosen VPN’s configuration details too – NordVPN, for example, publishes these in its router installation guides on the official website.