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What is a VPN?
As we mentioned before, VPN stands for virtual private network. As with many of these things, the explanation is in the name, all you need is a bit of context.
VPNs were born out of the need for businesses to allow their employees to access a computer system remotely, but with the same credentials as people who connect from the home network. This isn't normally possible - well, not without a ton of cabling and some serious know-how - but by setting up a special program, a VPN client, you can trick the computer you're talking to into thinking you're a member of the same network.
In fact, you're creating a network in - and we hate that term - cyberspace, which means it's virtual, without being physically connected to others. Because it's password-protected, it's also private, and that's a virtual private network. A VPN is essentially an online space that you can use without other people having access to it, it's like having a small private mini-internet of your own.
What are VPNs for?
The problem is that this small mini-internet is not very interesting in itself, unless you are able to fill it with stuff. This is what many businesses do, as well as academic institutions like the Fordham University. Employees and students can use a VPN client to connect to the local server as if they were sitting in front of the mainframe computer and access it freely. Researchers in particular make great use of them, as the price of an annual university library membership is often only a fraction of the cost of a subscription to academic journals.
However, the main use of VPNs is not the small network they create for themselves, but rather the use of the network to access the internet. The reason is very simple: when you use a VPN, you don't appear as “you” on the internet, but as a network. That means you're essentially hiding your identity behind that of the network, making it impossible to find you.
That's the great strength of VPNs and why they're the number one tool when it comes to protecting your online identity. If you use a VPN to access a questionable website, for example, and they try to find you, they will only find the network through which you accessed the site.
This anonymity also extends to your ISP: all they can see is the VPN connection you've established, nothing else. It's an ideal solution for people who are worried about ISPs selling their data, or for those who simply want to browse pornographic sites with peace of mind.
Besides these first-world concerns, people who live in countries that censor the Internet are also very happy with VPNs, as using a VPN allows them to access the “real” Internet rather than the dog and pony show set up by their country. That said, with the odd ideas emanating from American and European politicians, some parts of the more developed world may soon follow China's path.
How does a VPN work?
So far so good: VPNs seem almost magical, don't they? They ensure anonymity and allow you to navigate without worrying about someone watching you (unless they're looking over your shoulder, as if nothing could help).
To do this, VPNs replace your IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is the web equivalent of your postal address) with that of the VPN. If that was all a VPN did, it would technically be a proxy, a service that simply forwards traffic, which is inherently insecure.
This insecurity lies in the fact that anything you send over an IPv4 or IPv6 Internet connection (the standard way of transferring the bits and bytes that make up data), a third party can simply look at and read it themselves. Internet traffic is inherently insecure unless you encrypt it.
This encryption is what differentiates VPNs from proxies. A VPN creates a so-called secure tunnel between your computer and the VPN server. All of your traffic goes through this tunnel and no one can verify what's going on there using one, or sometimes even several, layers of encryption (read our NordVPN review for a service that takes encryption particularly seriously).
Note that this means that the VPN service itself knows what you're doing, unless it has a “no logging” policy in place. Most decent services won't keep your logs (with the possible exception of some basic information, known as metadata), but unfortunately there are plenty of unscrupulous services out there.
Good and bad VPNs
Not all VPN services are created equal, which makes you wonder how secure VPNs are. The main offenses of the latter are that they may not encrypt your traffic at all (imagine it happening to you in China, for example) or encrypt it, but then sell your data to marketing companies.
In general, the best VPN services are chargeable.
First of all, they offer advanced encryption. That should go without saying. The problem, however, is that advanced encryption slows down your Internet connection a bit, in addition to the slowdown you're already experiencing when sending your signal through another location.
The fastest VPN services may drop by as little as 10%, while others may slow down to completely inaccessible. Another tip is choosing a VPN provider with lots of servers scattered around the world, making it easier to find the one that offers you decent speed.
There are several types of encryption available for VPNs, called protocols, each with their pros and cons. There are too many to list here, but the best and most used is OpenVPN. Other protocols are PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, and SSL/TLS. Read our full review of VPN protocols to see the difference between all of these protocols.
Usability is another essential criterion, especially if you are not a geek. Generally speaking, you should look for a provider that has a clear interface and doesn't have too many buttons.
Other considerations may vary from person to person, but may include things like whether a service has a kill switch (which cuts off your VPN connection if your VPN server stops responding), whether it allows you to pass the Netflix VPN ban, and whether it works on mobile or not.
In each case, though, be sure to always check to see if you're dealing with a bona fide service or a few coding cowboys ready to make a few bucks with a proxy that they've labeled VPN.
What to expect from a VPN
At the same time, don't expect too much from even the best VPN services. While VPNs are a great way to protect yourself online, there are, quite simply, limits. After all, you're just exchanging the data stored by your ISP with the data stored by the VPN provider. Almost all of the services offered claim not to keep logs and verifying these claims is, in a way, impossible.
We recommend a VPN when we have no indication that a service is keeping logs. While this may seem like a messy way to select something, it's also the most honest. We recommend ExpressVPN and CyberGhost, for example, because we don't have any credible reports that either of them keep logs, while we recommend that people stay away from another service in our PureVPN review because he has cooperated with law enforcement agencies in the past.
At the end of the day, there's no one-size-fits-all way to seal your identity online. If total anonymity is your goal, you'll need to completely shut yourself off social media, use a different VPN service for each different activity, disable several of your browser's standard features, and pretty much ruin your entire browsing experience. Since we doubt that most reasonable people would do this, we also recommend that our readers keep their expectations of VPNs reasonable.
The result? Expect a good VPN to provide you with reasonable security, most of the time, and help you stream shows from abroad. The VPN should also help you improve your Internet access speed in the event of an ISP throttling or poor peering agreements. If your goal is to evade government surveillance while increasing your entertainment options, most of the VPNs we recommend will work for you.
FAQs
Can I use a VPN for free?
There are lots of free VPNs out there, but most of them are completely crappy and will sell your data even harder than your ISP. There are a few exceptions, of course, with our favorite being Windscribe.
Do VPNs really work?
Yes, absolutely. Some are better than others, but all of the VPNs we've recommended so far ensure your security and privacy are maintained when browsing.
Can we track you if you use a VPN?
No, if the VPN you're using offers sufficient security, you should be fine. However, do your due diligence and read a few online reviews before signing up for a service, some are better than others.
Do I need a VPN on my phone?
Yes, you know that. Smartphones are increasingly becoming the way we interact with the web, and so they store more information than ever. Using a VPN on your phone is very important.
Is it illegal to use a VPN?
Not in most countries. The exceptions are China and Russia, but even there, these VPN bans are rarely enforced.
Is it illegal to use a VPN with Netflix?
Not at all. When Netflix catches you using a VPN, all you need to do is disconnect and reconnect for the streaming to go as before. We've been doing it for years and have never had a problem.
Summary.
When it comes to security, a virtual private network is the very first line of defense against people who try to spy on your data and online behavior, even if it's not perfect. We hope that this article has clarified some of the questions you have been asking yourself and inspired you to start protecting your security and privacy by using such a network.
If you're just starting out, we recommend using our selection of the best VPNs in case you want to secure access to business resources or for personal use.
