VPN Services Work!

By Stuart Fisk

VPN stands for virtual private network and is commonly used by organizations to provide remote access to a secure organizational network. For instance, you are working from home and you need to access files in your computer at the office or connect to applications that are available only via your office network. If your office has VPN installed and your laptop or home computer is configured to connect to it, you can get what you need from the office without having to worry about the security of the data transported over the Internet.

VPN is also used to mask the IP address of individual computers within the Internet. This allows people to surf the Internet anonymously or access location-restricted services such as Internet television.

You can find many providers online offering VPN services at different rates. It depends on how the service will be used. If you need it just to browse web site content (no downloading or streaming), you can get it cheaply (as low as $5 per month) or even for free!

But if you want to download or stream content, you should have a premium VPN account. Aside from being readily available, the subscription may have other value-added features (depending on the provider) such as your own IP address, strong encryption for any data you are sending over the Internet and your choice of server locations (to be able to visit sites that would normally block your access).

There are many VPN service providers out there, and you can narrow your list by deciding how you want to use the service. Browsing? Downloading? Watching Internet television? All of the above? More importantly, look for and read the terms and conditions of service of the provider you are vetting. There may be some restrictions against "illegal" activity, usually involving downloading of intellectual property such as music and literature.

"Try before you buy" is another good rule. Providers who have nothing to hide will not hesitate to offer a trial period. It is one of the best ways to determine if their service is the one you want.

Check the Internet speed: Is the speed reliable or are there certain times of the day when browsing or downloading is inconvenient? Assess the timeliness and quality their technical support: How long before they respond to questions or help requests? How well do they understand your concerns and were they able to help? Bottom line: Is the service worth the cost?

You can also check out what other people are saying - good or bad - about certain VPN service providers on online forums. While providers will have customer testimonials on their website, you hardly read about any possible issues there. On the other hand, a significant number of negative comments on an online forum would indicate that doing business with a particular provider would not be a good idea. - 31881

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