6 tips for choosing the best VPN service
These days, people use VPN services for a variety of reasons, such as to hide their footprints on the internet and also to help secure their privacy. VPNs have become more affordable as well over the years with many new services appearing, one site I recommend you check out for information on price and quality of VPN providers (in addition to BestTechie, obviously) is VPNRanks.com.
Of course, the most important question that everyone has is which VPN provider is the best? In order to answer that question, there are certain things that you need to know before choosing a service. Below are guidelines that you must take into consideration before purchasing any VPN service.
1. Encryption and Protocol
There are certain reasons for using a VPN and you must consider a service that best suits your needs. Most of the users use it for security. That is why you need to check whether a provider offers the best encryption.
One of the best protocols for security is the OpenVPN protocol that offers encryption and speed both in a balanced way. There are some other protocols too but this protocol is the most advanced and recommended and used by the best VPN providers.
2. Data Logging
While VPNs are often used a way to protect your privacy, if you’re not careful, you may end up selecting a VPN service that stores the data of the users such as the websites they visited, connection timestamp, payment information, and their addresses. It is always read the privacy policy of the company before purchasing service and look for text on a VPN providers site like “No logging.”
3. Say No to Free
Yes, there are some free VPN services, but these services are slow and unreliable. Keep this thing in mind that nothing is free in this world. A VPN is essentially another server your computer is tunneling through to get to the internet. That ultimately costs money. If a company is offering its service for free, it likely means you are compromising something else (such as some of your privacy/data). If privacy and security is the reason you’re using a VPN, you’re definitely better off paying a few dollars per month.
The price of VPN service depends on the features and the number of connections. Moreover, if you go for the yearly plan then the price will be more reasonable than a monthly plan. Also, you can test a VPN service by subscribing for a trial offer.
4. Number of Servers
One of the most common uses of VPN is to open location-restricted websites. There are some countries where sites like Facebook and Netflix are restricted. A VPN can help you access these websites without any problem. Additionally, certain things (e.g. P2P) may be looked at more favorable or not as harshly in certain countries which can be appealing to some users. Bottom line: check the locations of the VPN providers servers to ensure it can meet your needs. For instance, you need the right VPN for BBC iPlayer that offers a server in the UK to access the popular streaming service.
5. Number of Connections Allowed
Another factor is the number of connections a VPN provider allows. No one wants to pay separately for mobile and device and separately for the desktop. There are many VPN providers out there now that offer their services on multiple platforms and allows multiple connections for a single low monthly and/or yearly price.
6. Platform Compatibility
The majority of the best VPN providers offer their services on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Ideally, you need to make sure that whatever provider you choose has support for the platforms your devices run on as it makes for a better overall experience. Having access to a dedicated app for whatever platform you use makes it much easier to get up and running with a VPN.