What is a VPN and How does it work [5 best VPNs]?

As most of us know that a lot of websites spy on us even without our knowledge, we must take some initiative to control our user data. One of the best ways it can be reduced is by using a VPN. If you want to take control of your privacy or want to access content unavailable to you due to your geographical region, then read more to know about VPNs, and get the best VPNs for your device.

What is a VPN

VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network”.The first version of the VPN was invented by a Microsoft employee in 1966 called PPTR (Peer to Peer Tunnelling Protocol). Since our lives are becoming more transparent to the internet the need for secured browsing without letting third parties access our data is very important.

Also, People who connect their devices to public wifi’s are very prone to get hacked or might end up leaking all of their private and personal data including passwords and bank details. The use of a secured VPN will minimize it to an extent as it keeps the user’s identity safe. But if the hacker behind you is good enough then VPN will be just an additional step in their process.

In earlier days VPNs were only used by big entrepreneurs, large businessmen, and governments but nowadays it is very common around us. Also for debloating your android visit this.

How does a VPN work?

When you browse “www.instagram.com” in your favourite browser then your request is sent to the server of Instagram with the IP Address of your device. Meanwhile, an IP Address or Internet Protocol is a unique identity of every device that connects to the Internet. Then Instagram analyzes your request and sends back the results to the same IP Address. Thereby keeping a track of everything you do. The website you visit might gather your data by the name of website cookies. Also, this might give a loophole for the hacker behind you.

By using a VPN, once you search a domain name say “www.instagram.com” the request is first sent to another ‘private’ server from which the request is sent to Instagram thereby masking your device and protecting your IP Address and website traffic details. This will protect you from cookies and third parties.

What are the advantages of using a VPN?

• It will protect us from third parties and cookies and will ensure our privacy.
• It will give you additional safety while using public WiFi.
• You can also fake your location, let us say you have to watch a series that is banned in your country. By using a VPN, we can give a false
• geological location. Say I am browsing for a Netflix series from India which is of course banned in India, using a VPN I can set my geological location as Canada and when I browse for the same series from India, Netflix will think that I am from Canada and will grant me access to the content.
• Don’t keep a log of websites you visit and gives you some privacy while browsing
• By fixing other geological locations the suggestions based on your geological locations will also reduce on Youtube and Netflix.

Are Free VPNs Secure?

Not 100%. Most Free VPNs are just scams that collect your data logs and then send them to third parties while another part just makes you see ads and thereby makes a profit for them and reduces the user experience. So before choosing one make sure you read the privacy policy to the fullest. We will also put a step-to-step lead to Install a Free VPN which we felt better than the rest.

Best VPN

Are you looking for a VPN, but cannot find a good VPN? if so, here we include a list of Best VPNs to use for different devices including windows, Android, IOS and browsers. These may not be the best for you, but we are sure this will be the best among the hundreds of different available options.

Android/IOS

1.1.1.1

This App is available on the Play store and is completely Free. The biggest factors that make this VPN the first in our list is due to mainly three reasons, first, this app is made and run by Cloudflare, and even though Cloudflare may not be familiar to many common users, almost all websites use one or another service from Cloudflare to speed up the website, including this. secondly, it is great to use and does not have any Ads to go along with it, which is the case with most other free VPNs.

The last reason is the fact that there is no limit to the maximum amount of data that can be used through this app, not a limit on speed. One major disadvantage is that you cannot choose the location of your liking, which is a feature much more common with other VPNs. if that feature is important for you, then just go with the next selection. Now all you have to do is download it from the Play store or app store and start using it. After Installing follow the prompts, to get the VPN up and running. You can Install 1.1.1.1 from the play store by clicking here

Secure VPN

If you are not content with the service provided by 1.1.1.1 and want to choose the location of your liking, or want to watch content from specific locations of the world, then the best free VPN for you will be the secure VPN. A Popup will be shown asking if you need Free Server with AD or a Fast Server without AD. If you need Premium benefits without ads then go for the latter else go for the former. For normal day-to-day uses Free server with AD would be more than enough. You can Install Secure VPN from the safety of the Play Store here

Windows/Linux/Mac

AnyVPN

This is for Windows Users. Sadly there are significantly fewer Free VPNs available in the Microsoft Store. Most VPNs are not usable, or even borderline malware, so there is neither a wide number of features nor selections to choose from when talking about Linux/Mac/Windows computers. The best among the available is Any VPN whose link is attached here. the time is limited, and hence is not the best experience available. It contains various countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, etc from which we can choose. but you have to reset it every 5 minutes to use it, so it will not be a smooth experience.

Browser ( Edge/Chrome/FireFox)

If you want to use a Free VPN, but cannot use the free options available for your native desktop OS. there is always a viable and much better alternative to go to. That is to use a browser extension VPN. granted you are okay with not using desktop Apps, these little add-ons to your browsers can be lifesavers. Now if you want to try some new VPN extensions for chrome/Microsoft web store etc, check out one of the few we have listed below.

Hola VPN

This free VPN may be the easiest and most straightforward way to use. moreover, it has more functionalities, such as automatic change of location for VPN, when you visit websites, auto on and off depending on your location ETC. Activating the VPN is also fairly easy, just click on the hola VPN icon on the browser bar, then turn it on. it is fast, and available in a large number of locations. the one negative side to this is that it is not unlimited. after a specific amount of time, you will have to wait for some time, to restart again. Download Hola.

Hotspot shield

If Hola is not your piece of cake, then you should check Hotspot shield. The main advantage of Hotspot shield is that it is not limited in terms of time. But neither is it as fast as fast as the other one. now, which option to choose from the two is your choice. the best option will depend on what you are expecting from the hotspot shield. Download hotspot shield.

End notes

We hope that you understood what a VPN is, how to use it etc. If you have any doubt about such techincal/ software issues, or need suggestions about new laptops, mobile phones etc. Do connect with us. Else if you want to know more about such topics, explore other posts in the series ‘Tech explained’ .