A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a private network that extends through a public network, such as the internet, allowing connected devices to send and receive data as if they were connected to a local network. And the minimum in computer security. You should think about using VPN if you want to connect to a remote network through the internet or connect multiple networks in a secure way. Also if you are worried about privacy on the internet and even more, if you want to evade regional access restrictions.
What is a VPN used for?
Extend the connectivity geographically: Using a VPN you can connect to the internet as if you were in a specific country. For example, if you need to watch a movie that is only available in the United States; you can connect to a local network in this country and consume the content without any problem.
Guarantee security in public connections: If you are connected to a public network in an airport, for example, and you must authenticate in places with an unsafe connection. That is, sites with the HTTP protocol, in which the navigation data passes without encryption through the network. A VPN, in this case, will allow you to secure your connection and ensure that our data is not intercepted by sniffers.
Evading internet blocks: In some specific countries or regions, or even in some companies, there are certain internet access controls. That is, you cannot visit certain pages. With a VPN you can avoid this type of restrictions.
Evade restrictions from your ISP: Many internet service providers control the traffic of certain services on the web. This is the case of YouTube, for example. They can do this by identifying your activities since they have access to your entire history. They know the sites you visit and even the files you download.
The only way to prevent your internet provider from being able to obtain this information is to encrypt your data. In this way, they can read them in a clear way, but they cannot be intercepted. With a VPN, all your data transferred between a device and the internet will be encrypted and the ISP will not be able to determine exactly how to restrict all those services. To know more details just read the review of PureVPN.
How are VPNs classified?
They can be classified into two broad categories:
- Remote Access: It is the most used model currently. Users connect from remote sites through the internet to local networks. In the business field, it is used a lot; employees use it to have access from anywhere in the world to internal resources of the company, which can only access locally.
- Point-to-point: Point-to-point connections connect whole networks to others. For example, a complete office to the headquarters of an organization.
How to connect to a VPN?
The first thing you need is a VPN client. The vast majority of operating systems have one in a native way. There you must define the configuration of access to your VPN, indicating the server to which you want to connect, the type of VPN encryption and authentication. However, there are many services on the internet that allow you to download a client that saves you all those configuration steps.
What matters in a VPN?
In general terms, 3 things matter in a VPN. Some very specific use cases may prioritize other functions, but in general, this is what you will want to look for most of the time (if not all):
Privacy provisions
The main reason why the VPNs were created was for torrenting anonymously and encrypting the data. For this, there are two key points to consider:
The encryption technology used by a VPN. This is what encodes your data while it is on your computer and decodes it at the other end, and vice versa. A strong encryption means that it is safe from intrusion attempts and brute force hacking alike. The obsolete or inferior encryption methods contain well-known exploits that the unhappy parties will not hesitate to take advantage of. Worse, you can adopt riskier behavior if you mistakenly believe that you are protected, which leads to problems.
The registration policy of the VPN Company. All encryption in the world will not protect you if you cannot trust that your VPN will not rule it out. If a provider keeps records of how your service is connected and used, they can be hacked or cited by interested third parties. The best type of record is the one that has never been held as a responsibility. You should not compromise at this point, and a large VPN will not either.
Preservation of speed
When you use a VPN, your data is routed through a remote server instead of through your Internet service provider’s computer. The encryption process also adds some overhead to your bandwidth usage. In simple terms, a VPN will always reduce the speed of the connection, the question that remains is “how much does it cost?” A large provider does everything possible to minimize this compensation and offers first level security without introducing a very noticeable deceleration. A good VPN will allow you to ingeniously dodge these countermeasures with little data, allowing you to play, transmit and download without hindrance.
The ease of use
The best VPN in the world is not very good if you cannot use it, right? Consider these three factors:
- Ease of installation. Renowned VPN providers have invested in their product enough to ensure that versions of their software are available for most major operating systems and platforms. Also, there should not be any arcane knowledge needed to download and install a VPN on your device.
- Intuitive UI. VPNs are complex pieces of software, full of configurations and customizable configurations. In any case, the user interface of the application must have an intelligent and intuitive design, which facilitates the start-up of your VPN, even if it is not a technology assistant.
- Good customer support. Sometimes, you just do not know what you’re doing wrong; you may not be able to unlock Netflix, or you are not sure which server or configuration is best for your use case. Or maybe, something went wrong temporarily with the software. In any case, you will want your VPN provider to help you communicate with your questions (they should also be effective in answering them). Fast and accurate responses are preferred through any number of communication methods, while 24/7 helplines are even better.
