Would you benefit from using a VPN?

A globe, with a large padlock in front and a chain along the bottom

What are VPNs and what do they do?

A large green giant with wild hair and beard looking into the window of a houseVPNs hide your IP address. Otherwise, your IP address allows the sites you visit (and others that track what you do on the internet – such as Google and Facebook) to tie together your visits to different places and at different times. All of this helps them to build a better picture of website visitors so that they can more accurately target advertisements at the people most likely to respond to them.

An IP address (internet protocol address) uniquly identifies a device connected to the internet. This is usually your router so, actually, all the users in a household are using the same IP address when connected via the router. This includes mobile phones when connected via wifi.

Go to Google and type in “what is my IP address” and you will see many websites offering to read back your IP address.

Your IP address is allocated by your internet provider. Depending on your contract, it is just possible that you might have a “dynamic” IP address. This changes over time, whereas the more common “static” IP address does not.

VPNs are services whereby you do not connect directly to your desired website. Instead, your request to visit a site goes via at least one third party (with a different IP address). This means that it is not possible for the final website to know your actual IP address. Moreover, the IP address you appear to be using will change every time.

What else does a VPN do?

All of your internet traffic that travels via a VPN is encrypted in both directions. This makes it impossible for anyone to eavesdrop on your internet traffic. Even if you think it unlikely that anyone would eavesdrop on your home internet connection, the risk is much higher if you are using a public wifi connection – such as in a coffee bar. For goodness sake, please do not ever do any online banking in a coffee bar using their free wifi unless you use a VPN, as the person on the next table might just be using software that allows them to read your internet traffic. In practice, most internet connections are already encrypted these days, anyway, but a VPN adds another layer of security.

Do VPNs do anything else?

With most VPNs you can elect to use one of their servers in a specified country. This means, for instance, that you could log into the BBC iPlayer from a country outside the UK and access the same content as if you were in the UK. Actually, this is probably not a good example as the BBC has a reputation for being able to spot when a VPN is being used and blocking access whether the server is UK-based or not.

There are downsides to using VPNs:

  • Speed – all of that re-routing of your internet requests and encrypting/decrypting everything can slow down your internet. Sometimes, connections do not even complete. It is true to say, though, that speed is less of a problem than it used to be.
  • As mentioned, some websites might block you if they think you are using a VPN.
  • Your internet activity is still not completely anonymous and private as all your traffic goes via the VPN service. You need to be able to trust the VPN service and, just for once, please read their privacy policy.
  • Unless the VPN offers a “no logs” policy, they have records of your online activity that they might hand over to government authorities.

Some VPN services offer free plans

A house, with windows lit, inside a bell jarDisadvantages of free plans include:

  • You can only send and receive a certain amount of traffic in a given month (this is known as a “bandwidth limit”).
  • The VPN Provider may intentionally slow down their free VPNs.
  • Server(s) may only be available in one country.
  • The VPN provider may shower you with advertisements.
  • Other enhancements might not be available. For instance, a decent, paid-for, VPN will allow you to name exceptions. The VPN will not get involved in the connection to sites in the exception list.
  • Paid-for VPNs usually have a “kill switch” that automatically drops the connection if the encryption fails. Free VPNs are unlikely to offer this.
  • It is even possible that the VPN provider is selling your internet data (thus fatally undermining the reason for using a VPN in the first place). As with so many things on the internet, if you are not paying for it, then you are more likely to be a “product” than a “customer”.

My own experience with free plans is that they are useful as a trial, but the disadvantages soon become unbearable. When I eventually decide that I am willing to pay for a VPN, I will undoubtedly check out the reputation of the provider and choose a leading one with no history of data breaches. I will even read their privacy policy!

Some of the major VPN services are:

https://www.expressvpn.com/offer/recommended-deal

https://nordvpn.com/special/

https://www.tunnelbear.com/

For more information, it is well worth looking at the following links:

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-vpn-services

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/best-vpn


Post icon (featured image), giant and bell jar designed by David Leonard with Microsoft Designer