When you are choosing a VPN service, it’s easy to get confused by the multitude of providers on the market.
They advertise so many features and benefits, that it’s becoming more and more difficult to decide on a particular one that will meet all your needs.
And you should be looking for exactly that, a product that will check all the boxes for speed, security, privacy and technology.
Let’s take a look at a few tips that are going to make your life and, your choice, easier.
Location, Location, Location
This one might seem as a no-brainer, but have you considered the countries or locations you are going to connect to through the VPN service?
How many such locations can you think of?
Make sure you check whether the VPN provider supports that.
A word of warning would be verifying there is more than just one server or IP at the location you are going to be connecting to.
Also, verify whether that’s the true location (more on that here). The more of them, the better.
You definitely don’t want to rely on a single IP that can easily get blocked or a server you might lose track of.
Speed, The Ultimate Deal-Maker (or breaker)
The speed of a VPN is going to make up most of your user experience. The slower it is, the less likely you are to use it often.
Moreover, whenever you do, you will probably curse the whole time. Look at speed values that suit you.
You can use download and upload speed for reference, and don’t forget ping time, either.
If you frequently download large files, stream videos or upload photos to a cloud, chances are, you are going to need excellent speed for that. Do you often use Skype for personal or business calls?
Or maybe you are an avid video game player? In that case, ping time has to be as little a number as possible.
Don’t overlook this fact as it can be critical to your internet experience. Establish which are the most important metrics to you and start your search for the best VPN service from there.
A Word On Privacy
Most of the internet users seeking to place their activity behind a VPN service do so with the main goal of increased privacy in mind, as you can read at https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-use-a-vpn-to-
protect-your-internet-privacy/ .
If this is the main reason for you as well, check whether the provider you are considering keeps track of their users’ internet activity in the form of logs.
Also verify whether the so-called “zero log” services are indeed log-less.
Why? Because different providers have discrepancies in their criteria of log-less VPN service.
Some will advertise full anonymity for you in your web surfing while at the same time keeping track of visited IP addresses and connection times.
Despite the fact that some might consider this negligible information in terms of identifying a particular user, the logs of an internet provider paired with said
VPN provider activity tracking might amount to more than one could imagine.
Technical And Client Features
Do you have a preferred VPN protocol you would like to use when connecting?
While most people don’t, if you are one of the few that do, you might want to make sure your potential VPN provider offers and supports it.
Whichever group you belong to, do choose a provider that uses a good one. It will at least have to be secure, right? Needless to say, the same goes for any encryption and authentication concerns you might have.
Next, what devices and operating systems are you going to use the VPN on? Services are not created equal, so they will not be supported by all operating systems or work on all of your devices.
Even if two VPN providers claim to support the same platform, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the service of each one will cover all features of said platform.
Put simply, whatever features and platforms you care about, make sure they are supported.
Are There Any Restrictions?
Be aware that there are providers who impose restrictions and limitation on the service they offer.
The most common one is the number of simultaneous connections possible.
Draw a mental picture of the most likely number that’s going to be needed in your case because, while you might need five or six, your future VPN provider is very likely to provide only two in their basic service plan.
In case you plan on downloading torrents or perform file sharing and peer-to-peer, do choose a service that doesn’t limit the number of active connections you are going to have.
Also, restrictions might include, but not b limited to, upload and download speeds, internet connection speed at specific times of the day, etc. Do check before you purchase a service in order to avoid disappointment later.
Reviews Are Your Best Friend
How do you make sure you don’t miss any important aspects of the process of finding the best VPN service for your individual needs? The answers is, customer reviews, such a https://www.fastestvpnguide.com/surfshark-review/ .
Tens, even hundreds of them. Take advantage of the information that current users have provided for you. What specific benefits are mentioned?
What are the difficulties, shortcomings and cons you come across most often? Are they relevant to your personal needs and requirements?
Customer reviews are the best way to avoid making the same mistakes somebody else did and it would be unreasonable not to take advantage of that.
That said, if a provider has strikingly few reviews or most of them place the product as average, you definitely want to move on to the next potential service.
As a summary of all tips given, look for speed, security, privacy, features and benefits.
Do not let price be the only determining factor as it’s likely to lead to bad judgment.
Even if you are on a tight budget, try to strike a balance between good quality and reasonable price.
See how many boxes a provider ticks in terms of you personal usage and needs.
Make sure other users’ experience is good so that chances are you have a good experience, too.