Connecting to a public Wi-Fi hotspot on your laptop or phone carries risks, because the security may not be very good and it is possible that someone could snoop on your internet activity. A VPN (virtual private network) creates a secure and encrypted connection between you and the VPN server, bypassing anyone that might try to look at what you are doing, including the owner of the hotspot.
A VPN is especially useful for online shopping, banking and anything that requires you to log in, because it adds a layer of almost uncrackable security. Some VPNs such as Hotspot Shield (www.hotspotshield.com) will detect when you are using an insecure public Wi-Fi hotspot and automatically switch on to secure it. A VPN can be manually enabled, too – just don’t forget to switch it on!
Free vs paid-for VPNs
You may be wondering why you would want to pay a monthly subscription for a VPN when you can get one for free. One reason is the number of servers you can connect to. Free VPNs provide a small number of servers, but subscribing increases this to dozens or hundreds (depending on the service), so you have the choice of appearing to be in more locations.
The amount of data you can download is restricted with free VPNs and subscribing greatly increases the allowance. With Avira Phantom VPN (bit.ly/phm415) you get 500MB per month for free or unlimited data if you subscribe. However, if you register the product, which is also free, your data limit is increased to 1GB per month.
There will be fewer people sharing a paid-for VPN server, so the performance will be better. CyberGhost (www.cyberghostvpn.com), for example, says its paid-for service is five times faster than the free version.
Some free VPNs show adverts, but paid-for services do not. If you install Hotspot Shield and ignore the request for payment, the service won’t cost you anything but you’ll have to put up with occasional adverts.
Turn off Windows Update
If you are using a free VPN, you will have to use the limited data allowance wisely. Windows Updates can be 1GB or more, which will use all of your data allowance, so you should switch them off while using the VPN to avoid wasting data.
In Windows 7, go to the Control Panel, Windows Update and click ‘Change settings’. Select ‘Never check for updates’. In Windows 10, press Windows+i and click ‘Network & Internet’. Click the ‘WiFi’ heading, then ‘Manage known networks’ to see a list of Wi-Fi networks you connect to. Click ones where you use a VPN, click Properties and turn on the ‘Metered connection’ switch. This stops unnecessary internet activity such as large Windows updates from consuming your data allowance.
Increase the response speed
There’s more to a fast internet connection than its download speed. Tweaking the latency and ping can speed things up and although the two terms are technically slightly different, you can treat them the same for the purposes of a VPN. Both latency and ping measure how fast a server on the internet responds when your PC connects to it.
Online gaming, for example, requires a fast internet connection, but your actual download speed might not be that critical whereas a responsive connection is essential for action games where a few milliseconds can make a difference. A player on a slow internet connection is an easy target for players on responsive connections.
Measure the response speed of the internet connection using the ping tool. Press Windows+R, type cmd then press Enter to open the Command Prompt. Type ping followed by the name of a server, such as ping google.com, then press Enter. Look at the last line, which shows the minimum, maximum and average time taken for the server to respond. Low figures indicate a responsive internet connection and are better for games and using other online applications that require a fast response.
Try this before connecting to a VPN, then repeat it again afterwards to see the difference the VPN makes. If it slows down, make a note of the difference.
VPNs provide a list of servers you can connect to and selecting one that is close to the server you want to use could reduce the latency and ping, making it more responsive. For example, if a game server is in the US, then connecting to a US VPN server might be more responsive, although this can also depend on the number of current users. Try various VPN servers close to the website or game server you want to access, ping them from the Command Prompt and use the fastest one.
Encryption pros and cons
A VPN encrypts the internet connection, scrambling all the communications between you and the web servers you’re connecting to, so anyone snooping on your data will see only garbled nonsense. The type of encryption affects the speed and security of the internet connection. NordVPN (nordvpn.com) encrypts the data twice, which increases the security but makes it slower than encrypting it once. This doesn’t necessarily mean NordVPN is slower than other VPNs, but if a service offers a choice of encryption, simpler tends to be faster, but less secure.
VPNs for routers
Some routers can be configured to use a VPN. To set this up, log into the router’s setup program, open a browser and enter the router’s IP address, such as 192.168.1.1. If you aren’t sure what the IP address is, press Windows+R, type cmd and press Enter. Type ipconfig and look for the Default Gateway. All routers are different, so we can’t give exact details of how to set them up. PureVPN has guides for several routers at bit.ly/rou415.
The advantage of a router VPN is that every device in your home that connects to the internet – including computers, phones and tablets – will automatically be secured by the VPN. However, the processing power of a router is significantly less than that of a computer, so its internet performance won’t be as good as a PC-based VPN. It’s a question of convenience against speed.
Associate sites with VPN servers
ZenMate VPN is a Chrome extension available from the Chrome Web Store at bit.ly/zen415. It’s free but you need to create an account to use it. ZenMate adds an icon to the browser’s toolbar and clicking it opens a panel that lets you customise its settings. Click the middle icon halfway down and you can select the server location from a list. The options are limited with a free account but many more are available with the paid-for version. ZenMate’s most interesting tool lets you associate a website with a specific VPN server. When you type a URL into Chrome, ZenMate switches to the VPN server associated with it. This is handy if you want to use particular locations with specific websites. To set this up, visit the website and click the icon. Select the server to use with the site.
Free servers for free software
VPNBook (www.vpnbook.com) provides free VPN servers around the world and more experienced users should check it out. Go to the site and click Free OpenVPN Account or Free VPN. Click one of the Free OpenVPN links and a ZIP file downloads. Unzip it, then remember the username (vpnbook) and password at the bottom of the VPN server list.
Download the OpenVPN software from bit.ly/ovpn415 and install it. Run it and close the message that appears. Now right-click the OpenVPN icon in the taskbar and click Import. Select the files in the ZIP you downloaded from VPNBook, then right-click the icon again to connect to one of the VPNs you imported.