What VPNs Can Do (and What They Can't) ...Middle East

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The idea behind VPNs is they keep you and your data safer while you're browsing, with a trade-off in terms of speed (though the best VPNs will aim to minimize the hit on download and upload transfer rates). If you're wondering what exactly a VPN is, how these services work, and whether or not you should be signed up for one, you'll find all of these questions and more answered below.

Why use a VPN?

This tunnel offers several protections. It means it's a lot harder for people on the same wifi network as you at the local coffee shop or the hotel you're staying in to see what you're up to—so VPNs are often deployed by users when they're traveling and connecting to numerous public wifi networks.

VPNs can let you pretend you're in places you're not. Credit: Lifehacker

Another reason for using VPNs is to conceal or spoof your location: Websites can only see the location of the VPN server you're using, not your actual location. That means they can't track your whereabouts as easily, and in the case of streaming services, might serve up different libraries of content depending on where your VPN server is (though streaming services are pretty wise to VPNs now, so this doesn't always work).

How VPNs work—and their limitations

If you want to stay safe on a public wifi network, it's best to connect to a server in your country—it'll be faster. If you want to pretend you're in another country, or would like to stop websites and apps from knowing where you are, you can pick a server somewhere else. Some VPNs let you double-up servers for extra security.

If you connect to a lot of wifi networks, VPNs can help keep you safe. Credit: Lifehacker

In addition, you're essentially transferring your trust from your ISP to a VPN provider: Your ISP provider can't see your traffic, but your VPN service potentially can. What's more, VPNs are under the same legal obligations as ISPs when it comes to giving data to government and law enforcement agencies. With that in mind, it's important to pick a VPN you trust.

How to choose a VPN

It's a crucial part of choosing a VPN, so VPN providers will usually promote "no logs" policies quite prominently. Read the policies for ExpressVPN and NordVPN, for example: You'll see mention of independent auditors, technologies that scrub data automatically, and operations that are based in countries where data retention laws are less strict (which means VPNs aren't legally obliged to keep records on their users).

See what VPN providers say about their data retention policies. Credit: Lifehacker

Make sure you check how many devices you can connect to the VPN service at any one time, as this will vary—and some VPNs may not even have apps for every platform. You can also look at what you get in terms of customer service and support if something goes wrong. And don't forget to consult reviews from trustworthy tech publications, too.

How much VPNs cost

Considering how important VPNs are, in terms of trusting them with your data, it's a good idea to avoid free ones if you can—at least if it's not clear how they're making their money. There are trustworthy free VPN packages around, and we've listed some of them here, but make sure you go for a well-known name with a long history.

Check the deal length and bundled features when comparing VPN prices. Credit: Lifehacker

While subscription tiers and pricing are changing all the time—look out for introductory deals if you're just signing up—here are a few offers available at the time of writing to give you a general idea: ExpressVPN is $12.95 a month, NordVPN is $12.99 a month, ProtonVPN is $9.99 a month, and TunnelBear is $9.99 a month. As usual, you can get lower monthly pricing by signing up for a year or two, and varying tiers with varying features are available on these services.

Should you use a VPN?

Then there's the ISP issue: These big internet companies keep much more detailed records than most VPNs do. If you'd rather as little of your browsing activity was logged as possible, then a VPN might be the way to go (though again, this applies to activity logged by ISPs, and not necessarily advertising companies or websites).

VPNs can offer extra peace of mind. Credit: Lifehacker

VPN providers are usually falling over themselves to offer free trials or introductory offers, so there's no harm in signing up for a package and seeing how it suits you—and how much you actually use it. You could even sign up for a couple at a time and compare them in terms of online speeds and the quality of their apps.

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