VPN Demand Surges Sevenfold in Iran Following Nationwide Internet Outage

Reports from VPN platforms reveal that following Iran’s nationwide internet blackout, demand for circumvention tools soared dramatically. Top10VPN data indicates that VPN interest increased by up to 579% compared to normal days.

Top10VPN’s latest report tracks VPN demand after the nationwide blackout on January 8. With partial internet restoration from January 18, a wave of requests for VPN services emerged.

The first significant jump occurred on January 18, with demand rising 187% compared to the 28-day average before the outage. As access windows expanded over the following days, demand peaked on January 24, recording a 579% increase. Although slightly declining afterward, demand remained 349% above normal levels.

Record-Breaking Registration Numbers

Proton VPN reported an extraordinary 400,000% spike in Iranian registrations ten days after the outage began. The daily registration chart shows a near-vertical rise once partial connectivity resumed on January 21, indicating users’ urgent attempts to regain internet access.

Similarly, VPN Super reported a 3,758% increase in VPN traffic compared to pre-outage levels, with 118,261 active connections at peak. During the total blackout, traffic had nearly fallen to zero. The main surge started on January 22, when connections jumped 376% in a single hour.

Proxy Channels See Unprecedented Activity

Data from the Virtual Social Networks Analysis Channel shows that Telegram content shifted from messaging and news-sharing to access-oriented posts during the outage. Between January 8 and February 1, over 622,000 posts mentioning proxies, VPNs, and configuration guides were shared.

While activity dipped during the full blackout (January 8–19), it surged with gradual internet restoration in late January. This pattern indicates that many content creators and proxy channel administrators are based in Iran, resuming activity as connectivity returned.

Channels like Free Internet gained 1.5 million new followers, while iRo Proxy added 804,000, becoming the fastest-growing sources for uncensored access. Other notable channels include Proxy MTProto.