A virtual private network can be the key to online privacy by shutting down eavesdroppers such as hackers, or governments, and your Internet service provider. A VPN connection usually encrypts all your online activities and keeps you safe when you are on public Wi-Fi networks in locations such as coffee shops. The number of people using VPNs is increasing day by day. This is because more and more people are using the internet for most of their daily needs, and there is a lot of sensitive and personal information circulating, hence the need to protect themselves using VPNs.
Benefits of using a VPN
While it is essential to use it nowadays, it is vital to make the best decision when choosing a VPN. Choosing a fitting one can be a challenging task due to the rise of VPN service providers. In this comprehensive post, we’re going to look at the benefits of VPNs and the factors you should consider when looking for one suitable for your security needs. For example, I personally use privacysharks.com to protect myself online.
Remote Access
Using VPN shows that your information can be accessed remotely from any location, allowing you to access your content if there is any restriction on the site. Using VPN can increase the productivity of the company because employees do not have to be in a particular location to be productive.
Improved Security
VPN has a lot of advantages to increase our online security and privacy when surfing the Internet, not only against hackers, government, and telephone operators per DNS Leakage. However, if you surf the web from any location, we can always do without a VPN. But if you are connecting to a public WiFi network, it is better to do it through a Virtual Private Network. Your real IP address will be safe while your actual location is masked and your data will be encrypted against potential intruders.
An ISP is used to view all the consumer’s online information stores containing data, passwords, and personal information. But when a VPN is present, ISPs will not have access to a user’s log. Instead, they see encrypted statistics through the VPN server.
Bypass Restriction
With the help of a VPN, one can easily browse the Internet completely untraceable. One of the advantages of using a VPN connection service is that you get anonymous access to all websites and web applications. For example, NetFlix only allows streaming from specific locations. However, when you connect to such services using a Virtual Private Network, it will indicate to NetFlix that your IP address comes from a location they allow. This allows your VPN service to skip all sorts of geographical restrictions to give you maximum internet coverage.
Access to blocked websites is gained using VPN and to go through established internet filters. For these reasons, there are a greater number of VPN services available in a country where Internet censorship is practiced.
Downloading Files
Yes, let’s face it – many people use VPN connections to download files via BitTorrent. This can even be useful if you’re downloading completely legal torrents – if your ISP is cutting off BitTorrent and making it extremely slow, you can use BitTorrent on a VPN to get faster speeds. The same goes for other types of traffic that your ISP might impede (unless they impede the VPN traffic itself).
How to choose the best VPN?
Depending on your requirements, you can use a VPN from your workplace, create your VPN server, or sometimes host one from your home. However, realistically, the vast majority of people are just looking for something to protect them while torrenting or help them view online media they can’t access from their country.
There are more than 300 VPNs on the market now! So, how do you know which one is the best for you? Simple. You figure out what you’re looking for in a VPN and then you look for one that fits that. But how to find the best VPN for you? Take a look at the list below.
Speed
VPNs usually encrypt all your traffic, and this can reduce your browsing speed to some extent. However, the degree of speed reduction usually depends on the vendor. A good VPN will guarantee that the speed reduction when browsing is minimum, and other times VPNs can also increase your upload and download speeds.
Multiple device support
If you are the type of techie who is used to walking around with his laptop, smartphone, and tablet, you may be interested in the number of devices that can be protected. We recommend Surfshark, which allows you to use the service not on 5, not on 7 (as with other providers on the market), but any number of devices at once. You can secure as many devices as you want at the same time.
Protocols and encryption
VPNs normally encrypt your Internet connection, but the actual strength of the encryption usually determines whether or not your activities and data are secure. One of the most secure protocols right now is OpenVPN, and many top VPNs normally support it. Your VPN should not only be fast but also secure.
Coverage
The number of servers and locations can be the decisive factor for some VPNs. If you live in a less populated or less developed country or plan to travel or live there for some time, you will require a VPN that has servers in that location or nearby. China is known for its limited internet service and having a VPN that can effectively address their censorship and restrictions is essential if you are going to live or work there.
No-logs policy
Generally, a VPN hides your online data and activities from everyone, but it can see all your activities. If your favored VPN stores all that data and later shares it with some third party, then you have wasted your money for nothing. In most cases, free VPNs do that to generate some money. Therefore, it is always important to check the privacy policy of a VPN before subscribing to it. Make sure it is located in locations that respect privacy and have a no-logs policy.
Multi-platform support
In the past, people used the Internet only through their laptops and computers. Nowadays, people normally use smartphones, Smart TVs, tablets, Fire Stick, game consoles, and Kodi among others to connect to the web. If your gadget is connecting to the internet more regularly, then it needs protection. Therefore, you need to ensure that your virtual private network can support different operating systems and devices and allow simultaneous connections.
Pricing and payment modes
Payment is always important to consider when looking for a VPN. Prices vary depending on the features of a VPN and the subscription length. How you pay is also important. Some VPNs offer completely anonymous payment systems, such as BitCoin, while others allow you to purchase gift cards to avoid the use of personal information.
While free VPNs are intriguing, we don’t recommend using one. Even if you don’t pay for it with money, you’ll pay for it in some other way, whether that’s with ads, unreliable protection, or poor-quality streaming. If price is an issue, consider using one that offers great discounts and coupons.
Customer support
In some cases, you may encounter problems when setting up or using a virtual private network. The chances of this happening are quite high, especially if you are a beginner and not well versed in the matter. But friendly and reliable customer support that offers users round-the-clock support and help can be a great incentive in such cases. When making your selection, look for one that offers not an only ticket and email support, but also live chat support.
Final words
People are looking for the best ways to avoid being tracked while browsing the Internet and VPN is the best solution for that. It helps in protecting and preventing the Internet Service Provider of a website owner from tracking your activities while browsing. The problems of the free versions of VPNs on the Internet are the few location options and bandwidth limitations. Therefore, it is best to pay for a reliable and genuine VPN that will provide good speed, connectivity, and guaranteed data security.
