Why You Should Use A VPN

The use of a VPN (virtual private network) is becoming a very standard thing and if you aren’t using one today, chances you will be in the near future. So exactly what are we talking about here? A VPN is a group of computers which are networked together over a public network such as the internet.

One of the most important considerations for having a VPN is that it will secure your computing activities and guarantee that your data being either received or transmitted is safe and secure from others while in transit. This is true whether you are a business conducting transactions across the ocean or a student in college or a person at home communicating with family across town.

There are typically just a few types who need to utilize a VPN. They are listed below and you may be one of these. But as you can easily see, there are some good reasons to use a VPN.

• A security minded person – This is a person who likes to have their computer time and all communications secure and private whether at home or out and about.
• The world traveler – This individual wants it all in his/her computer. If they are in some podunk town they want to watch their favorite TV show as it airs and not have to wait for a re-broadcast or translation, or perhaps a new web service that has just become available and is limited to a specific region but not where they are.
• That computer person who is a big downloader – (That’s whether they are downloading illegally or legally…) They don’t want to have to pay fines and get into trouble just because they did or did not do something correctly.
• The employee or student – This is someone who is just working or studying and has to get access to the school or work to get the job done. A VPN will help them get that done without anyone watching over their shoulder while they are doing it. This is especially true if their travelling and using Wi-Fi to get it done.

Then of course in the examples above there may be a combination of a few of those people rolled into one. This is where a VPN comes in very handy. You may be handling sensitive info, doing homework or just covering your own butt. But the fact is you don’t want someone on the internet looking over your shoulder while you are doing it.

Some of the items you may want to look for when finding a VPN for yourself are basically four in nature. You would want to know what are the overall features, connectivity protocols, server locations, and pricing.

Regarding protocols there isn’t much difference on the user end and you wouldn’t most likely notice what they are. The most recommended and used protocol these days is [bold]OpenVPN.[/bold]

The server locations would be primarily dependent on what you are using the VPN for. If you are trying to get around a location restriction to watch TV in a certain place you would need to make sure that the provider had servers in that location. If you were to want to play poker in the U.S. you would need a server outside the U.S. to accomplish that.

If you do not wish your usage to be logged and recorded you need to find out about that up front. If you were say a downloader and did not want that info kept, you need to know that prior to signing up with them.

Just remember that if your privacy is important to you that the best security you can possibly find with top notch encryption will be when you have a VPN while doing your computing work. In the long run it is not expensive for what you get and the best protection available.