# Region Selection & Migration

Your Vagon Computer runs in a specific physical region in the cloud. The region you choose directly shapes latency, streaming quality, and how snappy the workstation feels. Vagon picks a recommended region based on your network so you get the best experience without manual tuning.

## How Region Affects Your Session

The closer your Vagon Computer is to you physically, the less time the stream spends travelling between the data center and your device. Picking the recommended region gives you the smoothest connection.

![Region selection](/files/k3gr9kVbGly8951BZWTu)

The connection quality indicator reflects this. A region close to you reports a **Smooth** connection.

![Smooth quality](/files/6DtWaqxa0tbUcENZgl7I)

Switching to a distant region degrades the experience. For example, moving from Dublin to California downgrades quality from **Smooth** to **Acceptable**.

![Region change](/files/pAP49bGRtyVRL9e2Q8BB)

{% hint style="warning" %}
Stick with the recommended region during initial setup. As distance between you and your Vagon Computer increases, you may experience noticeable lag and latency.
{% endhint %}

## Pricing Varies by Region

Hourly rates for performance options differ between regions. The region you pick affects not only latency but also how much each session costs.

{% hint style="info" %}
Before provisioning or migrating, check the live rates for your region on [vagon.io/region-prices](https://vagon.io/region-prices). The general pricing model is documented at [vagon.io/pricing](https://vagon.io/pricing).
{% endhint %}

## When You Might Change Regions

Most users never need to change region. Consider migrating when:

* You move countries or continents long-term.
* You need to collaborate from a location far from your original region.
* Your network conditions change and the recommended region is no longer the best match.

If you only travel occasionally, the existing region is usually still acceptable – test the connection quality indicator before migrating.

## What Happens to Your Data on a Region Change

A Vagon Computer is tied to the region it was provisioned in. Moving regions means starting fresh on hardware in the new location.

* The disk contents of your existing computer do not automatically follow you to a new region.
* Anything you need to keep should be moved to **Vagon Files** before migrating, because Vagon Files is tied to your account rather than to a single computer.
* After migration, restore your assets by syncing them down from Vagon Files into the new computer.

{% hint style="info" %}
Plan a region migration like a fresh setup: back up your project files to Vagon Files first, then provision the new computer and pull the assets back down once you reconnect.
{% endhint %}

## Next Steps

{% content-ref url="/pages/jUyY3e46bN7chxmKnLiM" %}
[How to Use Vagon Computers](/computer/introduction/how-to-use-vagon-computers.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/iosVTQk1MfV77ifsCOJr" %}
[Vagon Files Directory](/computer/features/vagon-files-directory.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/RAZObY49RDgKOCsGaOwW" %}
[Connection Performance](/computer/troubleshooting/connection-performance.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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