Which vpn

For that reason, I mainly limited my testing to providers that have been subpoenaed for user data in the US or Europe and failed to produce the logs or have undergone a third-party security audit. While these criteria can't guarantee the providers aren't saving log data, this method of selection gives us a starting point for filtering through the hundreds of VPN providers. Using these criteria, I narrowed the field to the most popular, reputable VPN providers and began testing them over a variety of networks 4G, cable, FiOS, and plenty of painfully slow coffee shop networks over the past nine months.

I tested network speed and ease of use how you connect , and I also considered available payment methods, how often connections dropped, and any slowdowns I encountered.

The sale of any VPN service is cause for some concern, but in this case it's more worrying than usual. Kape Technologies, once known as Crossrider, has been accused of malware distribution and fraud. If you'd like more details on the company's background, see this article at Restore Privacy.

It's important to understand not just what a VPN can do, but also what it can't do. As noted above, VPNs act like a protective tunnel. A VPN shields you from people trying to snoop on your traffic while it's in transit between your computer and the website you're browsing or the service you're using. Public networks that anyone can join—even if they have to use a password to connect—are easy hunting grounds for attackers who want to see your network data.

If your data is being sent unencrypted—like if the website you're connecting to doesn't use the secure HTTPS method—the amount of information an attacker can gather from you can be disastrous. Web browsers make it easy to tell when your connection is secure. Just look for a green lock icon at the top of your screen next to the web address. But if that green lock icon isn't there, as it sometimes isn't on school, library, and small business websites, anyone can view whatever data you're sending.

Unless you're using a VPN, which hides all of your activity, even on unencrypted websites. Just connecting to a VPN isn't enough. Be sure to check out our guide to using a VPN to make sure you have everything set up correctly.

By giving you a different IP address, a VPN can make it appear as though you're in a different physical location. So even if you're sitting in California, the website you're accessing will think you're in Canada, Hungary, Uruguay, or Thailand.

Unfortunately, this method of obscuring your location is not airtight. Mullvad has instructions on how to disable WebRTC in most browsers. It's debatable how much masking your IP address really helps protect your privacy in the first place. Your IP address is only one of many, many bits of data websites collect about you. If privacy is your concern, you're better off using web browsers and extensions that offer additional tools to protect your privacy.

Mozilla Firefox has several of these tools available. Or if you want to get serious about it, use the ultra-private Tor browser. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin tend to be perceived as anonymous, but ultimately they create a digital paper trail that could be linked back to you. Matthew Green, cryptographer and professor at Johns Hopkins University, phone interview, May 16, Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at Electronic Frontier Foundation, phone interview, May 27, Amber Baldet, co-founder of Clovyr and Zcash Foundation board member, email interview, September 24, David Huerta is a digital security trainer at Freedom of the Press Foundation, where he trains journalists in the use of privacy-enhancing technology, such as VPNs, to circumvent national firewalls and empower a free press.

Yael Grauer is an investigative tech journalist based in Phoenix. She likes cooking, hiking, playing puzzle games, listening to bluegrass music, and spending time with her husband and their rescue chiweenie. Our pick. Mullvad Trustworthy and secure Mullvad is transparent about its security and privacy practices. Also great. Everything we recommend. What about Tor? What about creating your own VPN? The competition Frequently asked questions Sources.

Why you should trust us. Who this is for. Illustration: Sarah MacReading. What you should do before considering a VPN. Use a password manager to create and manage secure, unique passwords for all your accounts. Reusing passwords means that if one of your accounts is compromised , others can be, too. Enable multi-factor authentication , a security feature you can find at most major sites , including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Encrypt your laptop , in case you lose it or someone steals it. If you are choosing to use a VPN to avoid being tracked online across various ad networks, some browser extensions can be helpful.

Note that you can manually turn off these extensions for websites with features that work only with ad tracking allowed, a feature generally not available with VPN apps. Currently this function is an experimental feature in Chrome. Consider using a Wi-Fi router or mesh-networking kit that does not allow administration over a web interface and that auto-updates. Otherwise, your router may be remotely exploitable due to known security vulnerabilities, which would let an attacker take over your entire home network.

Learn more about Tor below. Be aware that although the above tools can minimize your digital footprint, they have limitations. Trusting a VPN. On the other side, there are some VPNs whose no-logging cases have been proven in court:. Perfect Privacy stated on its blog that authorities in Rotterdam, Netherlands, seized one of its servers to try to obtain customer data but were unable to do so. Limitations of VPNs. How we picked. Privacy and terms-of-service policies.

The minimum: a free version or trial or a money-back guarantee. The best: a free version or trial and a money-back guarantee.

The minimum: at least 75 server locations in at least 20 countries. The best: more than 1, servers. The best: additional operating systems, routers, and smart TVs. The minimum: two simultaneous connections. The best: five or more simultaneous connections. Custom ad blockers: Although this is a nice feature to have in a VPN, you can find a number of trustworthy and free browser extensions for this purpose.

Multihop connections: For added encryption and obfuscation, some VPNs can route your traffic through multiple servers. This is unnecessary for most people, though, and it can reduce speeds.

The EFF supports this legal position , though it stopped tracking warrant canaries in ; other highly regarded companies and organizations think warrant canaries are helpful only for informing you after the damage has been done.

How we tested. These two tests show how using a VPN, especially a distant server, will generally slow down your internet connection. This screen recording has been sped up, so the connection time may be longer than depicted. Tuesday midday, between 10 a.

Pacific Tuesday evening, between 7 p. Pacific Sunday midday, between 10 a. Our pick: Mullvad. Prices accurate as of October 21, Flaws but not dealbreakers. Also great: IVPN. The competition. We dismissed several other services before performance testing for a variety of reasons.

Frequently asked questions. Can I change my location with a VPN? Will a VPN see all my web browsing? Will a VPN slow down my internet? Does a VPN protect me from hackers? Will a VPN make me anonymous online? Network performance is acceptable and prices are par for the course. However, the biggest draw is its comprehensive privacy policy and regular audits, which will appeal to you if you're looking for a VPN to genuinely keep your information safe.

TunnelBear's simplicity, though, is also its downfall. While it's easy to use, so are ExpressVPN and most of the other top-rated providers, but once you get used to using them, you'll have the choice to explore in-depth options if you want to.

No such luck with TunnelBear, though, as there's a dearth of configuration. You've also got no choice but to run TunnelBear's client software — unless you use Linux — which may concern some privacy-minded users, and there's no option to set up TunnelBear connections on routers or other devices.

Sign up now on the TunnelBear website. One of the best antivirus providers Bitdefender has launched a standalone VPN product. Bitdefender VPN used to come bundled with the antivirus package, but now it's available on its own, and for a very reasonable price. However, that reliance on Hotspot Shield does mean Bitdefender doesn't have much control over its logging policy, and it's also impossible to manually set up as a router VPN , too.

Bitdefender's app is about as simple as possible — which will be positive or negative depending on what kind of user you are. That's it. The only close to unique feature is Bitdefender's autoconnect menu.

You can set the VPN to activate if it detects P2P, banking, mature content, dating, and a number of other kinds of website, which may well be quite attractive. Beyond that, though, there's little in the way of features that would make you choose the service over those higher up this list. Read more in our full Bitdefender VPN review. Sign up now on the Bitdefender website.

If you don't mind signing up for a massive five years, Ivacy is just about the cheapest VPN you can pick up. Beyond that, Ivacy is a pretty decent VPN overall, and quite unlike Bitdefender, its apps are full to the brim with interesting additions. You can filter your servers for the best ones to use with any particular streaming provider, save your favorites, choose between a number of protocols, and the app even claims to scan downloaded files for viruses.

You'll also get a kill switch and split tunneling. However, there are a few usability issues that we weren't hugely impressed with. Automatic server selection didn't often give us the server we'd usually choose, and Streaming Mode threw up a host of problems like hidden IP addresses and unswitchable servers.

Plus, while we know it's cheap, we didn't appreciate being served ads in a commercial product. Overall though, you can't sniff at that price, and if that's your only concern, Ivacy might be for you. Sign up now on the Ivacy website. Choosing the best VPN for can be a tricky process — that's why we've put together this comprehensive guide. As a middle ground, fan-favorite NordVPN is also useful. It offers serious security for a decent price, and has apps for tons of devices.

When testing VPNs, we check every aspect that might be of concern. To begin with, we look at what personal details a service needs, and any essential features like encryption. Then we consider pricing, and whether money-back guarantees are on offer, and whether it works on other operating systems as a Mac VPN or Linux VPN as well as on Windows.

During the physical testing, we test speeds over a number of servers, check for DNS leaks, test kill switch functionality plus any and all other additional features, and measure connection time and if the apps crash.

Finally, we review how easy the apps are to use, and test the services on desktop and mobile devices. Using a VPN is not illegal, and it's perfectly legitimate to want to protect your data and activity. Having one on your computer and using it regularly in pursuit of watertight web security and location spoofing is in no way unlawful.

However, using a VPN to hide illegal activity doesn't make you above the law, so downloading copyrighted material is still illegal even with a VPN. However, in those cases it's well worth reading up on what you may or may not be permitted to use a VPN for, and consider if the very small risk is worth taking. The best VPN can make it look like you're located somewhere you're not. It's a well-worn practice to evade online censorship, as is done in some countries, or to tap into US streaming services while in Europe or Asia.

But there are some caveats. A VPN will give you more privacy, but not more security. If you end up on a website harboring malware, the VPN can't prevent you from being infected.

You just need a proxy service that will make it look like you're in the right country. There are many free proxy services available, but do your homework before choosing one — some are a bit dodgy. There are no guarantees that a particular service will evade geographical restrictions on a particular day. The most basic qualities you should look for are speed, privacy and ease of use.

These might seem like basic attributes, but in reality few providers have found a happy medium. Connection speed relies on having a wide range of well-maintained servers. This allows the VPN to provide excellent speed and bandwidth to everyone using its servers. Having excellent security is a fairly basic requirement, but hard to get right. If you're concerned about that, make sure your VPN has an airtight privacy policy, and a no-logging policy is even better.

Finally, although many users might be au fait with tech, more and more newbies are looking to start using VPNs. If that's you, it's definitely worth making sure that your provider has well-designed apps on all the devices you expect to use with the service. Naturally, free services are very popular products because everyone likes to save their money.

And, they can be handy bits of software if you're not somebody that's likely to keep their VPN turned on all the time and just want it for occasional use for staying safe on public Wi-Fi. Oh, and if you don't mind ads For most people, though, free services provide a false economy. They tend to have limited servers in just a handful of locations, often restrict you to a single device and almost always have a limit on the amount data you can use per day or month.

Most operating systems have built-in support for at least one of these protocols, which means you can use that protocol — and a willing VPN service — without client software. The full-fledged VPN services have online instructions for how to do this, as well as how to set up routers to connect directly to the services. You'll need either the VPN service's client software or one of the many free alternatives. Either way, you'll still need to pay for the VPN service.

If you're looking for some quick pointers, here are universally applicable advice guides for beginners. None of them. While there are plenty of excellent free security and privacy apps online, VPNs sadly aren't among them.

Safe VPNs cost companies a lot of money to operate and keep secure, and a free VPN service is almost always malware-laden data snoops. Check out our quick list of budget-savvy VPNs to find one in your price range. If your goal is to protect your personal data from prying eyes, you want a VPN on whatever you are using. If your goal is to use a VPN to gain access to streaming services which have been made unavailable in your country for whatever reason, you want a VPN on whatever you are using to access those streaming services.

Whatever your reason for wanting a VPN, it's usually a good idea to have it set up on as many of your web-connected things as possible. Use a mobile-friendly VPN to avoid slower speeds and ensure greater data privacy for your whole device. Mobile VPNs generally have a smaller memory footprint, and require less processing power than desktop VPNs, so they run faster and save more battery.

Our top three VPN picks all have excellent, easy-to-use mobile app options for their services. Some VPNs will only work with one type of platform -- like Apple or Android -- and some are universally compatible. We routinely update them with our retesting information, so check back often. If you're working from home, you may be sharing your internet connection with multiple devices and family members or roommates.

That's a lot of simultaneous connections to a VPN and a lot of drag on a network. Pick a VPN that lets you use one subscription on as many devices as possible and has excellent speeds so your Wi-Fi isn't bogged down. If your job involves handling sensitive information like financial or medical records, however, your priority VPN criteria is security.

Our top three VPN picks are the most secure we've found, and each has a different number of connections they'll allow for a base-level subscription.

There are a few other factors worth considering for a home-office VPN, though, so check out our guide to picking the right VPN now that you're working at home.

Most VPNs are chosen based on having a good balance of speed, security and cost. But if you want a VPN specifically to connect to game servers in another country, speed is everything. Free VPNs won't be fast enough, but, fortunately, high-end security won't be a cost driver, which gives you more options at modest prices. Since all VPNs reduce speed -- most by half or more -- that means picking one from the set that performed best in our speed tests.

In tests, Surfshark managed to win our speed race while still being one of the least expensive VPNs we've seen. If you're a journalist, a lawyer or a professional in any other privacy-sensitive field, forget about speed and price when choosing a VPN. Focus, instead, entirely on security. Your VPN may be somewhat slower but, for both VPNs and presidential motorcades, speed is always the trade-off for privacy. You may find our primer on VPN evaluations useful.

Although speed does play a factor in our rankings, our top three VPNs were all selected by veteran journalists, scrutinized and reviewed with complete editorial independence, with the most privacy-sensitive professions in mind. If you live in a country that censors its media or are traveling to one, geo-restricted content is a pain. You can use a VPN to circumvent censorship or access your home country's normal media content for online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

Pick a VPN that lets you manually select which country you want to connect through and has something called obfuscation. Our top three picks offer this. If you're looking to try out other VPNs, choose one with a large number of IP addresses, preferably 10, or more.

Once you have your VPN installed, connect to the country whose content you wish to view, restart your browser and go to the streaming site.

If your VPN is working, the site should treat you as a resident of your selected country and serve you content assigned to that audience. A remote-access VPN uses public infrastructure like the internet to provide remote users secure access to their network.

This is particularly important for organizations and their corporate networks. It's crucial when employees connect to a public hotspot and use the internet for sending work-related emails. This gateway will typically require the device to authenticate its identity. It will then create a network link back to the device that allows it to reach internal network resources such as file servers, printers and intranets, as if it were on the same local network.

This is when the VPN technology uses a gateway device to connect the entire network in one location to a network in another location. Rather than using the public internet, it is also normal to use multiprotocol label switching clouds as the main transport for site-to-site VPNs. VPNs are often defined between specific computers, and in most cases, they are servers in separate data centers. However, new hybrid-access situations have now transformed the VPN gateway in the cloud, typically with a secure link from the cloud service provider into the internal network.

Here are some additional tips on what to consider when choosing a VPN, each of which link to a more in-depth discussion. Look for a no-logs VPN, but understand the caveats : The best VPNs keep as few logs as possible and make them as anonymous as possible, so there's little data to provide should authorities come knocking.

VPN transparency is important, but warrant canaries are only the beginning : Many services use "warrant canaries" as a way to passively note to the public as to whether or not they've been subpoenaed by a government entity, as many investigations from national security agencies can't be actively disclosed by law.

But -- like the no-logging issue -- warrant canaries aren't always as straightforward as they seem. You should spend more time investigating whether your prospective VPN has cooperated with authorities in the past -- and how and when it's disclosed that fact. Yes, they may have little data to access if the service has a strong no-logs policy, but why not just choose a service that's based outside Uncle Sam's jurisdiction?

If this is a concern for you, you'll want to avoid countries that the US has intelligence-sharing agreements with, too. If you subscribe to only one CNET newsletter, this is it.