VPN has become an integral and even necessary element of any Internet user’s life since a VPN will protect your actions, personal information, and your account passwords. You might be faced with the eternal problem of choice: how to choose the most suitable VPN from more than three hundred different VPNs and be sure that you made the right choice?
You have discovered VPN services, and that’s cool! VPN has a lot of advantages: your data is encrypted; your network activity is hidden from prying eyes. And most importantly, you get anonymous web browsing and different IP addresses. But you already know all this because you read our articles, right?
If it’s the first time you hear about such stuff, though, read this article.
Now that you have decided to find a suitable VPN service for yourself, you need to figure out how to choose the one among hundreds of available services. Well, it’s quite simple. You need to decide what exactly you expect from the VPN service, and thanks to these criteria, you will find what you need.
But how do you know what exactly you need? It’s even simpler – go read this article as we’ve come up with a bunch of tips for you that will help you determine what kind of VPN services will be useful to you.
1. Decide why you need a VPN service
You do not go to the tea shop and buy the first tea you look at, right? The same principle applies to when you are choosing a VPN. If you need a VPN to which you will connect all your home devices, pay attention to the VPN for the router. If you are a cinema lover, you need a VPN service that can guarantee a high-speed and reliable connection and has unlimited network bandwidth. If you travel frequently and use public Wi-Fi networks a lot, then you definitely need a VPN that guarantees the highest level of protection with servers around the world.
2. Study the characteristics of each VPN service
Make sure your priorities match those of your ISP. Each one has its own: speed, quality and reliability of encryption, the anonymity of users. For example, if you are a journalist or simply value your confidentiality and anonymity, you should look for a VPN provider that adheres to a keyless policy and uses reliable encryption methods. You also need to check if the provider provides an emergency disconnect function.
3. Check which devices are compatible with the application
If your computer runs on Windows, but you also use an iPhone, you should make sure that the selected VPN service has applications for both platforms. You also need to see how many devices you can connect to the service at the same time. You can connect an unlimited number of devices to some VPN services, while others only let you connect up to three devices simultaneously.
4. Find a VPN with a user-friendly interface
The application installation process and the interface of many VPN services are quite clumsy and complicated. Therefore, if you are not versed in any of this, it is important to find a service where all the actions will be as simple as possible, and the interface will be convenient and understandable.
Samuel White
5. Make sure that you can work with the servers of the regions that you need
The number of servers and their location can be a decisive factor when choosing a VPN service. The servers of the VPN service must be somewhere nearby your location.For example, in China, you won’t update your Twitter or Instagram feed without a VPN. In this country, you need such a VPN service that will bypass local blocks.
6. Determine which tariff plan suits you best
Prices for VPN services usually depend on the functionality and duration of the subscription. But the most important thing is the payment method. Some VPN services only use anonymous payment methods – for example, bitcoins or gift cards, which can be purchased without providing personal data. Free VPNs are very tempting, we can’t argue. But even if you don’t pay money for them, you may well pay differently: by viewing annoying ads or lamenting over an unstable connection.
7. Look for a VPN provider with reliable user support
The most important VPN characteristic, which, for some reason, is rarely remembered when choosing, is 24/7 technical support. VPN services are constantly being improved and changed, so it is very important that you can always quickly and effortlessly contact someone who will help you solve any problem you encounter. Choose VPN services that have live chats, because sometimes you may wait for the response to an email or ticket for several days.
8. Make sure the service provides a money-back guarantee
It's nice to know that you don’t have to pay for an application that doesn’t suit you somehow. If it happens that you choose some kind of VPN service, but then decide that it is not suitable for you, breaking the contract may not be that simple. Find a VPN that guarantees a refund within a certain time period, so as not to end up in a situation where you are obliged to use the service before the expiration of the contract.
Do not believe if someone suddenly tries to trick you and say that all VPN providers provide the same services. When you decide what exactly you want from a VPN, you make it easier for yourself to find the most suitable service for you. If you don’t have time to sort through hundreds of VPN providers, then, as usual, the Internet Protocol team will save you. Next time, we will prepare a list of the most convenient and reliable VPN services.
