What is a VPN and how does it work?

VPN or Virtual Private Network gives you online privacy and anonymity by creating a secure connection over the internet. The VPN was originally created to provide a secure connection for businesses to exchange data on the internet. The secure connection may be established using an encrypted layered tunneling protocol.

A VPN can also be used to access websites or contents that are restricted in a particular region. Now let’s see about VPN in more detail.

What is a tunneling protocol?

A tunneling protocol defines a set of rules for communication that allows the secure movement of data from one private network to another while using public network connectivity. It encrypts the data that is to be sent to some other network.

Some tunneling protocols are given below –

PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol)
SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
TLS (Transport Layer Security)
IPSec (Internet Protocol Security)

How does a VPN work?

When you browse something on the internet your browser sends a request to the server. If the server finds the required information then send it back to your browser. The data send or received to a computer connected to the internet is prone to external attack. A hacker can retrieve sensitive information by collecting and analyzing the data.

When you use a VPN, It encapsulates and encrypts the data send or received to a computer connected to the internet. A VPN creates a virtual point-to-point connection using a tunneling protocol.

Why should you use a VPN

Most of the time people browse or transact while connected to the public network connectivity or internet. By doing so they are exposing their personal information it can be your bank details and passwords etc.

The security provided by a VPN can protect your activities such as sending emails, paying bills, and sharing other sensitive information on the internet.

Free vs paid VPN service

Many people are using free or paid VPN services every day. Free VPN services are good for basic use but these can have some limitations. Depending on your purpose and how often you do things like paying bills, transacting to your bank account, etc you can choose between free or paid VPN services.

Limitations or problems with free VPN

With a VPN service, users generally look for connectivity, speed, reliability, privacy, and anonymity, etc. Many free VPN can track you online and find some useful information they can sell data to make profits. Now if a third party can access your information that means your privacy is compromised.
Many free VPNs use unreliable security measures and encryption techniques that can be easily crackable.
These can slow down your internet speed that can be a bad user experience.
If everything good with a free VPN then it can have a limited-service after a certain time you will be asked to upgrade to the premium version of that VPN.

All these limitations of a free VPN can be overcome using a good paid VPN service.

List of some good paid VPNs

If you are really concerned about your online privacy then you should use a good VPN service. A list of some good paid VPNs is given below-

1. Nord VPN –

Nord VPN is a Panama based VPN service provider. It has features such as a built-in kill switch and DNS/IP leak protection. It has a very strict no-logs policy.

2. Express VPN –

Express VPN is one of the most used VPN in the market. It is best known for its speed which is provided without sacrificing security, privacy and internet freedom, etc.

Express VPN is a British Virgin Island-based VPN service provider. It does not keep logs of the user’s online activity.

3. TunnelBear VPN –

A TunnelBear VPN is a Canada based VPN service provider. It is available for different platforms including Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, and ios. It provides a free version that you can download and test.

Some other paid VPNs that you can use are Cyberghost, Windscribe, Surfshark, StrongVPN, etc.