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The top 3 main reasons why people use a VPN service are: Anonymity, Security, and Performance (dedicated VPN). Let me share to you some insights on selecting between a Free and Premium (paid) VPN Service. I've been using premium VPN on my day to day online activity since 2012. Prior to that, I've used several free and paid VPN services as well.
ANONYMITY AND SECURITY / FREE VPN vs PAID VPN
Sa panahon ngayon maraming Internet companies and Government entities ang nagagather ng data mula sa mga Internet users either for profit or intelligence. Even most ISP store a data of your online activity such as the websites you visit and what you search on search engines. So, if online privacy is very important to you - this is a major problem. Now a VPN service is "supposed" to obscure your Internet location as well as your online activities however since most people doesn't want to spend extra, most of them go for a Free VPN service which is for me, like moving one step forward and two step backward.
Here's some of the major problems with a free VPN service:
1. It has the tendency to leak DNS revealing your actual DNS of your ISP so if you're doing something fishy - you're blown.
2. It's pretty much congested so performance is a bit way off the scale which causes downtime without even giving you notice.
3. There's no support so if there's a problem you're on your own.
4. There's no 3rd-party audit report to check and make sure that they are not keeping logs of your online activity. And the list goes on...
With paid services however, you can assure there's no DNS leakage. Load balancing is also on a premium so they can provide you a much better performance. Also you get all the other perks you need to stay safe and anonymous online. You get support 24/7 and you can select which provider allow 3rd-party auditors to check and make sure they have zero-logs policy.
Now some people asks, "can a VPN service keep my computer from getting malware or viruses?" It depends. Yes, hackers will have a real hard time getting into your computer if you are connected to a VPN service but that's not the only way a malware or virus can get in to you computer. Most of this bad elements can pretend as if it's an image of your favorite dog, an attachment in an email, or maybe app, that after you download and clicked on it gives you a headache for a day.
SPEED AND PERFORMANCE
Now when it comes to speed and performance there is one feature (add-on) on a Premium VPN service called Dedicated IP VPN. On a regular VPN service you normally get a dynamic IP address from wherever server you are connected to. This is good for anonymity since the IP address keeps changing everytime and theres more than 1 person connected to the server. However, if you wanted to go exclusive to the server, you can avail for a Dedicated IP. Your provider will then assign you a static IP address. You can select which server to get a static IP address from.
There are lots of advantages of getting a Dedicated IP. In my case I mostly use it for work so when I edit a live website, I can set and use my static IP on a file called .htaccess so I can view the actual website, while other people with different IP addresses gets redirected to, let say, a maintenance page.
One advantage of a Dedicated IP is you can whitelist it, so you can use it with your online banking and other online accounts by-passing any 2-factor authentication. Also you can make sure that your emails are not sent directly to spam folders. Also you get a better performance, since there's no one sharing this IP address with you. I use it with Netflix all the time and boy the stream is just awesome! It is also very useful in online gaming and a lot of people avail Dedicated IP for this reason.
The only disadvantage of a Dedicated IP is with it you're less anonymous so if you do something bad, you can get traced easily because the IP is exclusively assigned to YOU so it's not advisable to use a Dedicated IP when downloading torrents. But of course, you can still give out a different name and credentials when you sign up for the VPN service and pay using Bitcoin for added anonymity. Cheers!
HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT VPN SERVICE?
If you only want to become anonymous with your simple day to day browsing activity, yes, a free VPN service might do. BUT, if you really value your privacy, and you do more than just browsing and you work online, I would suggest you choose a reliable VPN service that's NOT based in the U.S., U.K., and other countries that censors or asks for user logs from the VPN service providers. At the time of this writing there are currently 19 countries that does this, that includes Russia and of course China as well.
Also make sure that the company that provides the VPN service does NOT log their user's activity and that they allow some 3rd-party companies to audit them. This is very important. Don't rely on what they say on their website, do your research first before subscribing to one.
The VPN provider that has more actual server than virtual servers is also a good thing. And if you're planning to sign-up for a Dedicate IP, make sure the VPN provider has a server that's close to you location. Also, you need to consider what protocols they provide such as OpenVPN, SSTP, IKEv2, etc.
Finally, not because the VPN company is famous and it's the one recommended to you by your friend, doesn't mean it will make you safe online. Again, do a little research first before signing up to a premium VPN service. And when you sign-up you gonna have to pay. Why? Because freedom is NOT free
Of course I don't want you to just take my word for it so a bit of my background. I was a System Admin for an ISP many many years ago (hindi ko na sasabihin ko aling ISP). Right now I'm a freelance full-stack web developer and a part-time FreeBSD (UNIX) Port Maintainer. Sana po makatulong ito sa karamihan.
ANONYMITY AND SECURITY / FREE VPN vs PAID VPN
Sa panahon ngayon maraming Internet companies and Government entities ang nagagather ng data mula sa mga Internet users either for profit or intelligence. Even most ISP store a data of your online activity such as the websites you visit and what you search on search engines. So, if online privacy is very important to you - this is a major problem. Now a VPN service is "supposed" to obscure your Internet location as well as your online activities however since most people doesn't want to spend extra, most of them go for a Free VPN service which is for me, like moving one step forward and two step backward.
Here's some of the major problems with a free VPN service:
1. It has the tendency to leak DNS revealing your actual DNS of your ISP so if you're doing something fishy - you're blown.
2. It's pretty much congested so performance is a bit way off the scale which causes downtime without even giving you notice.
3. There's no support so if there's a problem you're on your own.
4. There's no 3rd-party audit report to check and make sure that they are not keeping logs of your online activity. And the list goes on...
With paid services however, you can assure there's no DNS leakage. Load balancing is also on a premium so they can provide you a much better performance. Also you get all the other perks you need to stay safe and anonymous online. You get support 24/7 and you can select which provider allow 3rd-party auditors to check and make sure they have zero-logs policy.
Now some people asks, "can a VPN service keep my computer from getting malware or viruses?" It depends. Yes, hackers will have a real hard time getting into your computer if you are connected to a VPN service but that's not the only way a malware or virus can get in to you computer. Most of this bad elements can pretend as if it's an image of your favorite dog, an attachment in an email, or maybe app, that after you download and clicked on it gives you a headache for a day.
SPEED AND PERFORMANCE
Now when it comes to speed and performance there is one feature (add-on) on a Premium VPN service called Dedicated IP VPN. On a regular VPN service you normally get a dynamic IP address from wherever server you are connected to. This is good for anonymity since the IP address keeps changing everytime and theres more than 1 person connected to the server. However, if you wanted to go exclusive to the server, you can avail for a Dedicated IP. Your provider will then assign you a static IP address. You can select which server to get a static IP address from.
There are lots of advantages of getting a Dedicated IP. In my case I mostly use it for work so when I edit a live website, I can set and use my static IP on a file called .htaccess so I can view the actual website, while other people with different IP addresses gets redirected to, let say, a maintenance page.
One advantage of a Dedicated IP is you can whitelist it, so you can use it with your online banking and other online accounts by-passing any 2-factor authentication. Also you can make sure that your emails are not sent directly to spam folders. Also you get a better performance, since there's no one sharing this IP address with you. I use it with Netflix all the time and boy the stream is just awesome! It is also very useful in online gaming and a lot of people avail Dedicated IP for this reason.
The only disadvantage of a Dedicated IP is with it you're less anonymous so if you do something bad, you can get traced easily because the IP is exclusively assigned to YOU so it's not advisable to use a Dedicated IP when downloading torrents. But of course, you can still give out a different name and credentials when you sign up for the VPN service and pay using Bitcoin for added anonymity. Cheers!
HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT VPN SERVICE?
If you only want to become anonymous with your simple day to day browsing activity, yes, a free VPN service might do. BUT, if you really value your privacy, and you do more than just browsing and you work online, I would suggest you choose a reliable VPN service that's NOT based in the U.S., U.K., and other countries that censors or asks for user logs from the VPN service providers. At the time of this writing there are currently 19 countries that does this, that includes Russia and of course China as well.
Also make sure that the company that provides the VPN service does NOT log their user's activity and that they allow some 3rd-party companies to audit them. This is very important. Don't rely on what they say on their website, do your research first before subscribing to one.
The VPN provider that has more actual server than virtual servers is also a good thing. And if you're planning to sign-up for a Dedicate IP, make sure the VPN provider has a server that's close to you location. Also, you need to consider what protocols they provide such as OpenVPN, SSTP, IKEv2, etc.
Finally, not because the VPN company is famous and it's the one recommended to you by your friend, doesn't mean it will make you safe online. Again, do a little research first before signing up to a premium VPN service. And when you sign-up you gonna have to pay. Why? Because freedom is NOT free
Of course I don't want you to just take my word for it so a bit of my background. I was a System Admin for an ISP many many years ago (hindi ko na sasabihin ko aling ISP). Right now I'm a freelance full-stack web developer and a part-time FreeBSD (UNIX) Port Maintainer. Sana po makatulong ito sa karamihan.
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