Operators and networks
Testing is planned on the MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, T2 and Rostelecom networks. Mobile internet and fixed home connections are tracked separately: they are fundamentally different conditions and results can differ for the same operator in the same city.
Cities and regions
Each test point belongs to a specific city. We state where a check was run and do not extend a single city's result to the whole country: filtering varies by region even within one operator.
Devices and versions
We record the platform (Windows, Android, iOS), the device type and the app version. Without the version a result cannot be matched against client-side changes.
What counts as a successful connection
A connection counts as successful only when both conditions hold:
- the tunnel is up — the client reported a connection to the server;
- the internet works through it — a control request to an external resource returned the expected response.
Why the second condition matters
The most common complaint reads "the VPN connected but there is no internet". If only tunnel establishment counted, those cases would land in the statistics as successes and the number would stop meaning anything useful.
What we measure
- time from starting the connection to the tunnel being ready;
- the result of the control request after connecting;
- how often a long-lived connection drops;
- success rate — the share of successful connections out of all attempts in a period.
How often checks run
Checks run automatically on a schedule rather than manually "when something broke". Otherwise the sample contains only outages and the picture looks worse than reality.
Limits of the study
Worth reading before using any of the numbers.
- A result in one city does not guarantee the same result across Russia.
- The number of test points is limited: this is a sample, not a census.
- Conditions change quickly — week-old data may not describe today.
- We have detailed data about our own service and much less about others.
- Mobile and fixed connections differ; merging them into one figure is misleading.
How the data is labelled
Continuous measurements are published as "VolnaLink Russia Connectivity Monitor"; one-off analyses and reports as "VolnaLink Research". The word "independent" does not apply: the service runs its own monitoring.
Current state
The method is documented before data collection starts so it can be discussed and corrected in advance. First results will appear on the monitoring page once test points are in place.