When you establish a VPN session, all data that is sent to and received from the UT VPN server, including Web pages on campus servers, is secured by a cryptographic process. Each data packet sent must be encrypted, and each data packet received must be decrypted. This increases the amount of work that your computer must perform for each data transaction. In addition, when you are working off campus, the physical distance can affect speed. You are farther from your data than you would be if you were on campus, and your data has to travel a longer path (which may include slower networks).

For these reasons, you should only connect through the VPN when you really need to do so.