2. If I set up my S19 XP ASIC miner with a pool through a VPN, would that hinder my chances with block rewards ?
It depends on VPN. But there shouldn't be noticeable impact as long as you choose VPN server nearest to where you live and choose pool server nearest chosen VPN server.
3. How important is internet speed and/or bandwidth in relation to block rewards and if so what are suggested upload/download speeds ?
Mining on centralized pool? Slow bandwidth is fine, but make sure your internet has fast latency/ping (less than 100ms) to the pool.
Solo mining? Your internet speed, latency and node setup is very important since pool usually have dedicated setup for fast block propagation.