VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and a VPN provides privacy, anonymity, and security to the user by creating a private network connection allowing you to connect to websites without them tracking your own IP address and all the data is encrypted to a military standard making it almost impossible for internet service providers, hackers, or the government to spy on your internet browsing.
When you use a VPN, you connect the VPN’s servers first so that when you go on to a website there is no direct connection, and all the site sees is the IP address of the VPN and not your IP address. You might not be aware that your internet service provider and the websites you visit record your visits, how long you visit for and the content you are looking at and this information is then sold on to marketers. When you are looking for a VPN, choose one like Avast VPN that offers all the options below and more and you won’t go far wrong.
- Logs Policy
Its key to make sure that your chosen VPN has a zero logs policy, in fact it’s the first thing you should look for, a no logging policy is a must to ensure that your VPN provider is not recording or tracking logs and then selling your information or browsing data with advertisers or other third parties.
- Kill Switch
The kill switch is important, if your VPN connection fails or there is an issue with the VPN server, the kill switch cuts off your internet connection, so you do not unknowingly browse the internet without the VPN protection and encryption.
- Regional or national restrictions
A VPN can allow you to visit sites from other regions as though you were in that region, allowing you to get around restrictions or censorship and watch foreign streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime. This is great news and works well, but before you purchase you must check which countries and regions your VPN provider offers to ensure its compatible with the service you want to view as each one is different and some work better with various providers.
- Speed
This is what separates the great VPNs from the poor ones, speed is paramount, the last thing you want is a sluggish connection and there are many variables. The main thing is to look for a VPN that offers options, and the main thing is to go for a VPN from a brand you can trust as well as different configurations for different usage to ensure you always have good speed on your side, especially if you are using your VPN for streaming.
- Security
First of all, it is important to ensure the provider offers super secure connections on all of its servers and can protect you regardless of whether you’re at home or in public. You need to have and enable wi-fi protection as well as concealing your online footprint from your Internet Service Provider, advertisers, government and any other third-party including hackers. A minimum of 256-bit AES encryption, this is pretty much considered a virtually impenetrable key. Look for DNS leak protection as this ensures that your IP address is secured over IPv4 and blocks IPv6 requests so you can rest assured you will remain anonymous online.
In our list above of the top things to look for in your VPN it is essential to find one that matches your requirements along with your budget, the final choice is up to you, research is the key and always go for a well known solution and you will have safe, private and protected VPN experience.