VPN: What is it and how can I choose the best one for my needs?

Many Internet users at some time, for various reasons, tend to want navigate with a higher level of «protección y privacidad», whether from home, work or anywhere. For this they usually make use of the «VPNs», which are nothing more than «Redes Virtuales Privadas». Phrase that in English, is written «Virtual Private Network» and is abbreviated «VPN».

And this, precisely why a «VPN» creates a secure connection within public networks, be it a connection «WiFi» of a means of public transport, a building such as a hotel, swimming pool or restaurant, or a specific network such as our home or work. «Conexión segura» that allows our data traffic to circulate through well-defined servers through the «cifrado» of the same, in order to hide our activities on the Internet, in addition to offering us «protección» faced with the many dangers of the web.

Let's not forget that «VPNs» They are usually very useful in many ways. That is, not only ofrecen «protección y privacidad», both for us and for our devices, but they can also help us overcome the possible «restricciones o censuras» from certain Internet providers or governments, and facilitate us the «acceso» from anywhere to various Internet sites that could be geographically blocked by their providers or the laws of their countries.

In addition, certain providers of «VPNs» Well-built, they usually have a long list of servers with different «anchos de bandas» available that can offer different levels of user experiences according to the needs required by them. Reasons why, they are usually found today in many places; from large public and private organizations to anyone's home, in order to obtain remote and secure access to any public website or private infrastructure.

How to choose the best VPN for my needs?

Although there is no one «VPN» perfect, Ya que all have at least some limitations or restrictions, which are usually more or less important to different people, the main thing is its potential to guarantee our «protección y privacidad». Therefore, the recommendations or elements to consider below will be a simple but useful guide to take into account.

Prefer one based on trust and transparency

Always give priority to the Service of «VPN» that guarantees you to be reliable and that it will not compromise your data, even if you only use the service for a simple geo-unblocking issue or others.

Don't be swayed by misleading advertising

Avoid choosing your «Proveedor de VPN» based on simple searches and results obtained on the Internet, which many times are only the product of a type of marketing called «publicidad nativa» which is derived from «programas de afiliados» and commercial profits, which is an abuse and a big problem within the realm of VPN providers.

Analyze your geographic location or jurisdiction

Remember that in recent years many cases of «programas de vigilancia masiva» from various governments of certain countries around the world, and from large corporations with a global reach as well. Therefore, avoid using a service whose base is in said countries or subject to said governments or belong to those organizations directly or indirectly involved, to prevent them from being susceptible to «registros ilegales» and legal commitments made on behalf of the «seguridad nacional» or offshore business activities.

Avoid choosing one that records your activities

Choose a service that specifically states «que no mantienen registros», or failing that, what types of records do not keep. Many services from «VPNs» they claim not to keep records, but if they do so please confirm the terms and privacy policies of those providers yourself.

Finally, and in summary, keep these other points in mind:

• Payment methods and requirements: Avoid providers that ask for a lot of sensitive identification data.
• Used protocols: Prefer those that use free and open source protocols, so they can be audited and improved by security experts. Those compatible or based on OpenVPN are the most preferable, and PPTP the least suitable for privacy.
• Own DNS and IPV6: Choose a VPN Service that maintains its own IPV4 or IPV6 DNS server, and provides a new VPN-specific IPv6 address that can only be accessed through the VPN tunnel.
• Used encryption: Choose a VPN Service that has data encryption and strong handshake. Make sure the offered protocol has the correct encryption level available.

To choose the best VPN there are many websites available, but We recommend the following 2 websites, one on English and the other in Spanish that make excellent comparisons on many of the providers of «VPNs» existing to choose the one that best suits our needs.

Conclusion

How can we easily conclude, the «VPNs» are extremely useful, since among many things hide our traffic information visible to our «Proveedor de Servicios de Internet (Internet Service Provider - ISP)»; leaving only in view, that we have established a connection with a employee «VPN», nothing else. In such a way that all our data circulates through it from end to end, gaining «protección y privacidad».

And let's not forget, that to obtain said profit when using a «VPN» surfs through an IP address other than the one given by our ISP, in order to keep our true identity on the Internet safe at all times. Thus our destination does not know that our traffic comes from our real location, but that it comes masked from the employee «VPN».

If you want to know more about VPNs, we recommend delve into the subject of «Tunneling de las VPNs» and «Protocolos VPN» used within such technology. And last but not least for this reason, it is always good to make use, as usual, of free or open technologies, so you we recommend using «OpenVPN» wherever possible, as such technology and / or service offers the best balance between speed and security.

If you liked the publication, tell us what service «VPN» do you use or recommend and why?