Have you ever connected to a public Wi-Fi network, and wondered if someone might be able to see your personal information or online activity? With a Virtual Private Network (VPN), you can protect your information from prying eyes, and people trying to steal your personal information. Whether you’re in a corporate office, home office, on the road, or in your home, a VPN is one of the best ways to protect yourself on the internet. Read on to learn more!
You may be wondering, what is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)? How does a VPN work? Why do I need a VPN? What are the downsides? What to look for when purchasing a VPN service? This guide will answer those questions for you, including a few you probably haven’t thought to ask.
What is a Virtual Private Network?
VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network”. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a service that is responsible for establishing a protected network connection when using public networks.
How Does a VPN Work?
The VPN works by providing you a protected network connection between one, or more, public networks. It accomplishes this by encryption, which means adding a layer of protection to your online activities by building a tunnel between your traffic and anyone who tries to spy on you. The encryption takes place immediately, in real time. A VPN hides your internet traffic and disguises your online identity. Therefore, VPN services make it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal your data.
Why Do I Need a Virtual Private Network?
Internet privacy and security are essential. Since humans began using the internet, there has been a movement to protect and encrypt internet browser data. The rapid growth of social media, online shopping, and online banking has more people entering their personal information online. Therefore, you must take the necessary steps to protect your privacy online at all times.
For example, lets say you are out in public and you connect to a public network called XYZ_WIFI. It is very important to remember that it’s very difficult to tell whether or not a Wi-Fi network is truly what it appears to be. Just because the public network is named XYZ_WIFI doesn’t mean that it’s really owned by XYZ. It could easily be owned by someone trying to spy on you, that named their network using the same XYZ name.
Another reason for needing a VPN is that in recent years, there has been increasing demand for content with geographical access restrictions. For example, video streaming services such as Netflix or YouTube make certain videos available only in certain countries. With contemporary VPNs, you can encrypt your IP address so that you appear to be surfing from another country. This enables you to access this content from anywhere.
Did you know that your internet service provider can sell your browsing history to the highest bidder? That is the creepy truth that all internet users in the United States woke up to after US lawmakers voted to end online privacy rules.
“the US House of Representatives voted to kill Federal Communications Commission rules that would have stopped ISPs from selling this data. Later that night, Google searches in the US for a tool called a VPN (short for virtual private network) spiked to a five-year high, according to Google Trends.” (CNET)
“After US lawmakers vote to end online privacy rules, people are looking for ways to hide their browsing histories.” (CNET)
VPNs can also grant access to blocked websites. According to the GlobalWebIndex, the number of VPN users worldwide increased more than fourfold between 2016 and 2018. Some governments have decided that it is in their best interest to block certain websites from access by all members of the population.
With a VPN, it’s possible to tunnel to a different country with more progressive policies, and access sites that would otherwise be blocked. And again, because VPNs encrypt web traffic, they help protect the identity of people who connect to the open internet in this way.
You can also do it in reverse: from the comfort of your home, you can establish a connection over to a far-away VPN server, perhaps to access streaming video that is unavailable in the US.
That being said, governments are wise to this, which is why we’re seeing VPN use being blocked in Russia and China. Overall, the number of people using VPNs worldwide is increasing steadily. You should have VPN service on all of your devices.
What Are the Downsides of Using a Virtual Private Network?
There are some practical downsides to using a VPN. There are some general trust issues. People want to know that the service is doing everything that it claims to do. In addition, your connections can be slower. Running an additional service on your network can possibly slow the connection down. If you have a basic internet service, your connections could be affected more. One way you might want to address the problem is by moving up a tier on your internet service. My experience has shown that slowing of my internet connections has been very minimal. I have always had a middle or upper tier internet service though. Just keep it in mind.
What to Look For When Purchasing a Virtual Private Network Service?
Here are some things that you should definitely be looking for in any VPN service that you consider purchasing:
1. Number of VPN Servers
A VPN works by creating an encrypted data tunnel between the user and the provider’s server. The reality is that any VPN will need to have many servers to handle all of their traffic, and to allow many users to connect.
Better VPN services will tell you how many servers they have. For example, NordVPN says that it has just over 5,500 servers. A larger number of servers means that you should get more bandwidth and therefore faster speeds when connected to the VPN.
2. Location of VPN Servers
The location of your VPN server is equally important when it comes to your internet connection.
Having a VPN server located nearby can be an advantage for a no-lag, responsive connection, which is very useful when participating in activities such as online gaming.
Alternatively, a VPN server in another country can be an asset to overcome geo-blocking restrictions, as you appear to be in the same country as the server and can thus access otherwise blocked content. This is how some users access the US version of Netflix from other countries, for example.
3. Number of Connected Devices
Now that you understand how a VPN works, and the benefits of a VPN, you should connect multiple devices to it simultaneously. But, almost all VPN services have a cap on the amount of devices (PCs, phones or tablets) you can connect. In some cases, this is dependent on the exact plan (tier) you subscribe to.
For example, one VPN service provider may offer a lower tier that has unlimited data, but limits the user to three simultaneously connected devices. Most VPNs will allow up to five connections, but there are a few that have no set limits on the number of devices that can be simultaneously connected.
4. Support For Additional Devices
Just about every VPN will support a Windows PC with native software, and most major providers also have native clients for Mac, iOS and Android devices. We use more devices today, than ever before. Some VPN services can be set up on a router to get the service across your entire home network, which includes all of the hardware connected to it.
As well as routers, some providers support Linux, and offer browser extensions for Chrome, Bing, and Firefox. When you pick a VPN, be sure you examine the list of devices it supports, and ensure that your requirements are met.
5. Data Caps on the Virtual Private Network
Internet usage is all based on the transmitting and receiving of data. While many ISPs still have unlimited data plans, it is not so simple when looking at a VPN service. Some VPN service providers offer a free tier and a paid tier. Be wary of signing up for a free plan. With these free plans, the major restriction is that it offers a limited amount of data for the month. What is the catch? They hope the user will try the service out and use up the data in less than a month. Therefore, the user will decide to become a paid subscriber.
6. VPN Privacy and Logging Policies
Despite the thought and promise of complete anonymity online, the fact is that all VPN services do log and keep some user data for a certain period of time. In addition, they will also turn this data over to government authorities following lawful requests. The VPN service providers have no desire to become a ‘partner in crime’ with someone who is breaking the law.
Different VPNs have different policies on what data they keep. Since you have to establish an account with them, the VPN service will at least have your login info and an email address. Some VPN services will keep a log of user activities for a given time period. Other VPN services claim to not keep any logs at all. It’s well worth checking out the provider’s privacy policy to know exactly what sort of logs are maintained. You should lean towards the VPN service providers that do not keep any logging records at all.
7. VPN Pricing
Pricing is one of the most significant differences between VPN services. Some providers offer free plans, with their other plans being relatively expensive. Price may be the determining factor in your decision. One thing for you to consider is that if you try a VPN service on a monthly plan and find you like it, consider a longer-term subscription. The longer term should definitely give you a largely discounted price.
If you are starting a website for business, or you are wanting to monetize your website or blog, you can check with your web hosting provider. The better web hosting providers may also provide VPN services, although most of their packages may be geared towards businesses.
I wrote a post How to Start a Website With Bluehost. Namecheap and Bluehost are providers featured there that offer VPN services.
Conclusion
A virtual private network (VPN) provides you with the security you need and deserve while working online. With the use of the internet for business, banking, and social media trending upwards rapidly in our society, you cannot afford to take chances with your personal information. In addition, with the rise of the “cancel culture”, is it easy to envision a time where your request for information and your voice could be censored. Make the decision to protect yourself while online, and put the control back where it belongs. In your hands!
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