How to Setup a VPN for Better Online Security

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows you to securely connect to public Wi-Fi while maintaining your privacy.

While a VPN might seem like a luxury for most people, it can be the difference between feeling protected and unprotected when using the internet. Your security and privacy online can be improved by using a VPN – and in this guide, we’ll show you how.

Why Should You Use a VPN?

Most people use the internet for essential tasks like banking, shopping, and social media. This means that a large amount of sensitive data is flowing through online transactions and websites every day. While this data is secure enough when transmitted over a private network, it’s open to the risk of theft when transmitted over a public network.

Keeping your personal information secure and private when online is a major priority. However, it can be difficult to know how secure your data is while online. You can’t always trust that the site you’re on is secure or that the website you’re visiting is trustworthy.

A VPN allows you to securely connect to public Wi-Fi while maintaining your privacy. When you establish a VPN connection, all of your internet activity is encrypted. This means that only other VPN users can access your data while it’s being transmitted.

Additionally, some VPNs allow you to establish a secure connection with a website you visit. This means that the website itself can’t access your personal information — even if they want to. This type of VPN is known as a virtual private firewall (VPN service)

How to Setup a VPN

Setting up a VPN isn’t as complicated as it seems. All you need is a VPN service, a free month of internet access, and a little patience.

Most VPNs are designed to be simple to use. They usually have a dashboard where you can see all of the connected devices and services. From there, you can easily establish a secured connection with just a few clicks.

To set up a VPN, you first need to choose a provider. Keep in mind, however, that not all VPNs are created equal. Some providers are more secure than others. After you’ve chosen a provider, you should look for one that has a good reputation.

Since we already established that security is of the utmost importance, you should also look for a VPN that offers military-grade encryption. This will help ensure that your personal information is completely secure and private while online.

Once you’ve established a connection with the VPN, you can easily browse the web and make secure transactions. For added security, you can use an anonymous VPN, which doesn’t have a server location listed. This means that the service can’t be tracked by the government or other cybercriminals. It also means that you can’t be identified by the website you visit.

However, you should still be wary of public Wi-Fi. Many restaurants, cafes, and other public places offer free internet access. While this might sound like a great opportunity to gain access to needed information, it also means that your personal data could be at risk.

The Best Free VPNs for 2020

If you’re looking for a secure way to connect to the internet, you have several good options. There are a few free VPNs that we’ve reviewed and are highly recommended. Here are some of the best free VPNs for 2020.

Safari

Safari is the default web browser on iOS devices. While Safari offers some privacy protections by default, its browsing history is still collected by Apple and shared with third parties. In particular, Apple uses web browser history to determine what ads to serve you based on your previous surfing habits. Because of this, we don’t recommend using Safari as your only means of securing your internet connection.

Chrome

Google’s Chrome is another popular choice among web browsers. Like Safari, Chrome is installed by default on most Android devices. While Chrome doesn’t collect as much information as Safari, it’s still a valuable tool for maintaining your privacy. Additionally, the browser has become a bit more private over the past year, making more room for less data collection. Finally, unlike other browsers, you don’t have to enable any additional plugins to use the service.

Opera Mini

Opera Mini is a free, basic web browser for Android, iPhones, and other mobile devices. While Opera has a history of offering strong privacy protection, the company has been trying to expand its user base in order to improve its ad targeting through behavioral analytics. This is why the browser’s privacy protections are quite limited. Still, for those who use it, Opera Mini is another great option for securing your web traffic.

Tornado

If you use Microsoft’s Windows software, you can try out the company’s newest web browser, called Tornado. Like Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, Tornado comes preinstalled on most Windows devices these days. This makes it simpler for people to use the service and reduces the number of systems required to utilize it. Finally, like other modern browsers, Tornado deletes all of your browsing history when you close the program.

Vivaldi

If you use Google’s Chrome but want a different design or feature set, you can try out Vivaldi. Similar to Opera Mini, Vivaldi is another option that doesn’t require you to enable any additional plugins. This makes it simpler for inexperienced users to use. Finally, while the service is free, you can purchase a VPN to ensure that your personal information is private.

Privet

Privet is yet another free VPN that we recommend. This service supports all of the major platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux) and has a large number of servers available in different locations around the world. Additionally, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you decide that the service isn’t for you.

Privet utilizes a combination of OpenVPN and IPsec for connection encryption. This makes the service fairly secure and reliable. However, we would still recommend using a VPN since the service may not be able to protect your personal data if compromised.

To protect your personal information, you should visit https://privet.com/privacy and opt-in to receive communications from the company. You then need to follow the instructions to enable Two-Factor Authentication and set up a new account if you haven’t utilized the service before.

This process is fairly painless and takes just a few minutes to set up. Once you’ve done so, you can use the service to browse the web privately and securely.

ExpressVPN

Another great choice for a free VPN is ExpressVPN. Like the other VPNs mentioned so far, ExpressVPN is available for multiple platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux) and has a decent number of servers to choose from. Additionally, the service offers military-grade encryption (AES-256) and a kill switch to ensure that your internet connection is always secured.

However, ExpressVPN doesn’t offer a lot of features for free, so it’s important to consider this if you’re looking for a product that offers exceptional value. This is why we can’t recommend it as your only means of securing your internet connection—unless you don’t mind using a VPN that isn’t as secure as you would like.

To use this service, you first need to choose a server location based on your area of residence (ideally, in a location where privacy is respected). After you’ve done so, you can click the green lock icon on the browser’s address bar to connect to the VPN.

From there, you can quickly connect to any other server location as needed. To prevent any issues, we would recommend avoiding public Wi-Fi and using a VPN in concert with public cellular data networks.

If you do choose to use publicly available Wi-Fi, however, you should be careful to protect your personal data and ensure that your internet connection is always secure.

CyberGhost

Finally, let’s not forget about CyberGhost. This is one of the most popular VPNs among web users and mobile device users. Similar to the other services mentioned so far, CyberGhost is completely free and open source (Foss). Additionally, it has a lot of servers to choose from and is highly recommended for its simple to use interface. Furthermore, new customers can try out the service with a 7-day free trial.