HOW DO I CHOOSE A VPN PROVIDER?

Choosing a VPN service provider can get confusing and complicated when you start looking at all the options. It’s easy to look at cost as one of the first criteria, but while it’s important, there are other priorities you should consider. If you search the internet, there are many articles that will give you different opinions on what the most important criteria for selecting a VPN service provider might be. The opinions below aim to focus on three areas:

1. Security

2. Return on Investment

3. Interface

Privacy Policy

You want to know that the privacy policy offered by the VPN service gives you the protection that you’re seeking in the first place. This includes that they do not record any logs of your online transactions nor retain any type of records. If they do keep any, you’ll want to look for another provider. Any VPN service provider that records or keeps activity logs would make your data susceptible to being exposed if they were hacked. They would also be in a difficult position when it comes to any legal requests for information. A clear VPN policy will outline if they use logs or records. If they do, you may want to find an alternate provider.

Service Relationship

It’s important to understand what you’re getting for your money. Some VPN services will have multiple plans and those plans may limit the number of simultaneous connections you can have. For instance, the basic plan may only allow two connections at the same time. If you’re planning on using the VPN service on two tv’s, a mobile device, and computer all at the same time, that plan won’t work for you. Some VPN Services like NordVPN allow up to six devices at any one time, which provides a lot of flexibility, even in a busy household.

Utility, Performance, Availability

If you have the most secure product and the one that gets you the greatest number of devices online, it would also be good to enjoy the experience of using it because:

1. It works on all your devices

2. It has an easy-to-use interface, and

3. It is available.

Check the list of compatible devices against all the devices you want to install it on. If your devices aren’t listed, it’s an easy choice whether to continue with the current service provider.  

Next, if loading the VPN service app is cumbersome or hard to navigate, you probably won’t enjoy using it and that’s enough to cause end of use frustration. The NordVPN service has a nice and easy to use button selection interface across multiple devices. If all you want to do is logon and click connect, you can. If you want to do more advanced functions, you can also easily navigate the settings options.

Lastly, it’s equally important that the service does what it says and that is connect you to a VPN service. The number of servers it has becomes irrelevant if you can’t connect to the ones you want to connect to.

You can test all these important questions with a service that provides either a free trial or a money-back guarantee.

Money-Back Guarantee

If you’re new to the VPN service world, being able to use it without worrying about getting your money back if you don’t like it is an important part of making the purchase. NordVPN offers both a 30-day money back guarantee as well as a 30-day trial. A month to evaluate it or to get a refund is more than enough time to test mobile devices, televisions, computers, and tablets.

Do You Want or Need It?

Given considerations of privacy, security, and access to information evaluated against cost, ease of use, and making a peace of mind purchase is a valid place to start your VPN experience. As you look at all those criteria, you ultimately want to answer one fundamental question: Do you want or need it? If you’ve come this far, chances are you’ve been at least thinking about it for any number of reasons, so maybe you’ve at least answered the want part of that question.

One of the best ones I have evaluated is the NordVPN Service. It checks all the boxes mentioned in this article and probably others like friendly customer service, easy on-line transactions, stability, brand reputation and more. You can get a discount through the NordVPN offer link in this article if you’re interested in adding some protection to your home internet devices.

This is an opinion article by Guido Piraino of  The Monthly Social Podcast. It may also be heard on The Path Radio Mix Online. You can read other opinion articles on the blog page.

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