Is anyone still actually seeing noticeable vpn speed loss these days?

I recently upgraded my home internet to a gigabit fiber line, and while tweaking my network setup, I remembered the old rule of thumb everyone used to repeat: expect roughly a 30 percent bandwidth drop the moment you turn on an encrypted connection. Back when older protocols were the norm and home connections were much slower, that performance hit was immediately obvious when streaming heavy feeds or downloading large files. Lately though, with lighter protocols integrated directly into operating system kernels and network infrastructure getting faster, my day-to-day speeds feel practically identical whether the connection is routed or direct.

So I wanted to ask the community plainly: are you still noticing real vpn speed loss in your everyday setup, or has the hardware and protocol side finally advanced enough that the old penalty assumption is obsolete?

I am particularly curious if people on mobile connections, high-latency rural setups, or lower base speed tiers are noticing a bigger hit than those on fast fiber, or if physical distance to the exit node remains the only real bottleneck left. Are you still toggling your connection off for latency-sensitive tasks and high-bitrate streams, or do you just leave it running in the background constantly without noticing any hit to performance?