Articles

VPN. What is it? How does it work? What service to use?

by Bob F. CCO

In this article we will tell you everything about VPN (virtual private network).

Security

Secure VPNs send your Internet traffic through an encrypted VPN tunnel, so your passwords and sensitive data stay safe even over public or untrusted Internet connections.

Privacy

Keep your browsing history private. Good VPNs, do not log user activity and do not transfer data to third parties. Anonymous VPN services allow you to use the Internet unsupervised.

Freedom

VPNs were created as a platform that breaks down the barriers of Internet censorship, allowing you to access any site or content anywhere on the planet.

 

To make a long story short

It is a tool that allows you to bypass most of the blockages on the Internet.

 

In more detail - how any VPN works

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a technology that is needed for secure and private access to external servers. It is easiest to show how it works by comparing it to a standard network connection.

  • With a VPN, your ISP doesn't see what Internet resources you're using or what requests you're sending. It only sees the IP address of the VPN server with which you exchange encrypted traffic.
  • A site or other service on an external server does not see you either. It only has access to the IP address of the VPN server, which in turn can see and remember your actions, such as filling out forms or entering search queries.
  • In general, VPN can be called a type of anonymizer. The essence of any anonymizer service comes down to the fact that it uses an intermediary (proxy server or web proxy), whose IP address will be passed off as yours. 
  • To understand the difference between the services mentioned above: the VPN server not only spoofs the IP address and encrypts the traffic. It also minimizes the loss of speed (but it will still be slightly lower than usual) of the connection and ensures its security. This is the key difference from other IP spoofing methods, such as proxy servers.
  • In this case, the only way your ISP can limit the use of a VPN is to block a specific set of IP addresses that belong to VPN servers. But it's hard to call this measure effective. You can't stop all addresses, and most services easily allow you to switch to another IP.

Paid or free VPN

  • If data security and speed of access are important - only a paid one, it is better to choose a VPN SCANNER. If there is no money at the moment - then the paid one with a free rate.
  • If you are willing to sacrifice speed, you can use a proven free VPN. However, we would still advise against transmitting personal information, such as passwords and even more so, bank card data, through free VPNs.

Free or paid?

A working VPN service is a fixed cost. You need hardware (at least rented), you need software, and you need at least one employee who supports and maintains it all. Of course, all these points  cost money. And once someone invests money, he expects to get more money back.

Good, if he gets that money in the form of a subscription fee. It's worse if he gets it for selling your data, introducing malware, or showing certain content - not always legal content.

We don't mean to say that free VPNs are evil. There are honest and relatively safe free VPNs. You can get promotions, trial periods, basic packages with speed/traffic limitations, etc.

However, any free VPN should make you wary. At least to the extent that you start looking for reviews and history of data leaks.

What other criteria to choose a VPN

We recommend studying these criteria from three angles. The first is official information from the service itself. The second - is reviews. The third is the test of personal experience.

No tax policy

Logs are, roughly speaking, your data. If a VPN doesn't store them, it means it can't sell them or use them in any other way. As a rule, a strict no-logging policy is inherent in all paid VPN services.

Access Speed

Any VPN service makes the download speed slightly lower than usual. The reason is to redirect traffic through at least 1 additional secure server.

Encryption

The best option is AES-256. The 256-bit key length makes the encryption extremely tamper-resistant.

Functionality and scaling

If you choose a paid VPN - it makes sense to consider three things before buying.

The first is the availability of applications for Windows, macOS, and mobile devices, and ideally also the availability of extensions for your favorite browser.

The second is the number of users who can use one account.

The third is the number of devices that can simultaneously use the VPN.

With this in mind, it is possible to buy a suitable tariff once and for a long time. Most paid services have a standard rule: the longer the subscription term, the cheaper the 1 month is.

Availability of servers in the desired country

For simple access to most sites and services, it is not necessary. However, if, for some reason, you need, for example, Facebook to see you as a resident in Australia and in any other way - you need to check the availability and sufficiency of Australian servers.

Ability to manually change the security protocol

A handy feature in case your ISP is forced to open a witch hunt. If your VPN service allows you to choose from WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPSec, L2TP, PPTP, and others - it is the protocol change that will be your first action when VPN is unavailable.

What to look for if you need a VPN for business?

  • The number of connections and users. Ideally, no limits, but the more the better. At least 10 is required, even for small businesses. Even allowing for the fact that one of the devices may be a router to which several people are connected.
  • Ability to manage settings both in bulk and on each device.
  • Secure connection to public Wi-Fi networks, so employees can work remotely from anywhere.

What if you need a VPN for streaming platforms?

  • A network of servers. The more addresses available, the harder it is to block them all. 
  • If the content on the streaming service is only available within the country, there must be servers and the number of servers in that country. This rule applies, for example, to BBC iPlayer.
  • Speed of operation and no traffic limits. Free VPNs with a traffic limit and speed of 1-5 Mb/sec are unlikely to work here.

Conclusion

VPN is a set of technologies that allows you to create a logical network on top of a physical one. It is used to protect traffic from interception by intruders and safe Internet activity. VPN allows access to blocked resources, so many people are willing to put up with slower Internet speeds and possible program logs. Although a VPN uses fairly reliable encryption algorithms, turning on a VPN client on your PC does not guarantee 100% security of confidential information, so you should be careful in choosing a VPN provider.


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About Bob F. Junior   CCO

5 connections, 0 recommendations, 15 honor points.
Joined APSense since, September 23rd, 2019, From Croydon, United Kingdom.

Created on Aug 16th 2022 07:48. Viewed 213 times.

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