Research before subscribing to a VPN
While many would probably disagree, I consider VPNs essential when it comes to improving your privacy and security on the Internet although most Kenyans aren't aware of.
The past couple of years have seen a surge in VPN services that all try to get a piece of the market that grew significantly ever since Edward Snowden revealed how national agencies tracked users across the Internet.
There are big differences between VPN services, from price and availability to privacy and traffic.
While it is easy enough to sign up for any one of those services, it is usually not a good idea to do so before you research the service to make sure it offers all the features you require of it.
Not all questions may be relevant to your use case. If you just want to improve your privacy and security for regular web browsing for instance, you may not care about logging, or whether a service supports P2P or media streaming.
Or, if you want to protect your data while traveling and using hotel Wi-Fi or public connections, then you may not really be interested in anonymous payment options.
Basic questions
Closing Words
Some questions may be hard to answer. If a service does not offer a free trial or speed test for instance, you cannot really say anything about your throughput unless you subscribe to it and test it.
The same may be true for information that the company that operates the VPN does not reveal on the website.
The only option you have then is to contact them to ask them directly about it, or drop them and check out other services that are more open about it.
The past couple of years have seen a surge in VPN services that all try to get a piece of the market that grew significantly ever since Edward Snowden revealed how national agencies tracked users across the Internet.
There are big differences between VPN services, from price and availability to privacy and traffic.
While it is easy enough to sign up for any one of those services, it is usually not a good idea to do so before you research the service to make sure it offers all the features you require of it.
Not all questions may be relevant to your use case. If you just want to improve your privacy and security for regular web browsing for instance, you may not care about logging, or whether a service supports P2P or media streaming.
Or, if you want to protect your data while traveling and using hotel Wi-Fi or public connections, then you may not really be interested in anonymous payment options.
Basic questions
Basic questions can be answered quickly usually by browsing the website of the VPN service. They help you sort out the services that are not suitable for you, and help you get a clear comparison of different services that may be suitable.
1. You should get answers for the following questions:
2. How much does the service cost (discounts)?
3. Which plans are offered?
4. Unlimited bandwidth / traffic?
5. What are the payment options (important for anonymity, Bitcoin, Gift cards, cash)?
6. Which devices are supported (desktop, mobile, router)?
7. How many devices can connect simultaneously to the VPN?
8. How many countries and servers are available?
9. Is a free trial offered?
10. Money back guarantee?
11. Support availability?
Some questions may be hard to answer. If a service does not offer a free trial or speed test for instance, you cannot really say anything about your throughput unless you subscribe to it and test it.
The same may be true for information that the company that operates the VPN does not reveal on the website.
The only option you have then is to contact them to ask them directly about it, or drop them and check out other services that are more open about it.
No comments