How Important is VPN and How Can It Protect Your Browsing Habits?

What is VPN?

VPN, or Virtual Private Networking, is becoming a popular Internet security technology that is basically an added layer of security for private and public Internet networks. A VPN allows users – individuals or group entities – to send and receive data while maintaining secrecy and anonymity for its private network.

Having a VPN is like creating a “secret tunnel” for any network to enjoy access to private internal systems. It also means that users can browse in complete anonymity online and access content not allowed by an ordinary ISP (Internet service provider) such as Netflix or BBC’s iPlayer.

Why is VPN a must these days?

In many countries, privacy is of utmost importance. Thus, when using a VPN, you prevent your ISP and government from seeing your Internet history. VPN’s are also emerging as popular tools for those conscious of their freedom of speech rights in order to avoid censorship by their employers, by third parties, and by the government. Therefore, even if you write negative reviews against your employers anonymously on another site, your employer won’t find out.

VPN can also be used to either hide or “geo-spoof” the exact location of a user. Users can customize their location settings to either bounce off their location from different countries or to be able to use overseas services not available to specific countries because of legal or licensing issues, such as TV streaming services.

VPN’s can also protect users against hackers since the technology protects when using a public Internet hotspot or third-party networks. This is important with business trips that necessitate using public Wi-Fi in places like coffee shops or open office networks. When using VPN, cybercriminals will find it difficult to penetrate into your gadgets, and even preventing phishing and malware attacks.   

What VPN service should users choose?

In reality, there are over 400VPN services all over the world, some specializing on mobile devices only. We did our research and found at least 3 of the best.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is the best all-round VPN service for speed, privacy, and unblocking. It has 1800 plus number of servers, 148 server locations, and at least 30,000 IP addresses. Maximum devices supported are 3.

§  15 months - $6.67/month

§  6 months - $9.99/month

§  1 month - $12.95/month

§  Wide range of secure VPN apps

§  Superb 24/7 live customer support

§  Ultra fast VPN servers in 94 countries

§  Only supports 3 connections

IPVanish

This VPN service is awesome for torrenting and other P2P traffic. It has 950 plus number of servers, 60 server locations, and up to 40,000 IP addresses. Maximum devices supported are 5.

§  24 months - $2.87/month

§  12 months - $6.49/month

§  3 months - $8.99/month

§  No traffic logs

§  Excellent download speeds

§  Configurable software

§  No free trial

VyprVPN

Another service that’s great in performance and security is the VyprVPN. It has 700 plus number of servers, 73 server locations, and over 200,000 IP addresses. Maximum devices supported are 3-5.

§  12 months - $5/month

§  12 months - $6.67/month

§  1 month - $9.95/month

§  Very fast performance

§  Good value annual plans

§  Powerful, configurable clients

§  Monthly plans are more expensive