It’s tough to choose a VPN these days; there are literally 100s of VPNs on the market now – nearly all offer the same standard protocols in OpenVPN, Wireguard, and IPSec, created with their own unique interface. Some offer socks5 or SSL proxies to use inside a browser extension. Some offer streaming and servers specific to torrenting on multiple devices at the same time, but the biggest question is, who can you trust?
If you require a VPN for a specific purpose, it may be easy to sign up and get going if you are not too fussed about the details, but it’s vitally important to know what to look out for when choosing a VPN.
- Privacy Policy – Make sure to read your provider’s privacy policy carefully and be sure you understand it; if not, contact the provider for clarification.
- Jurisdiction – VPN services in some countries may be forced to hold some data about you or corroborate with law enforcement without you ever knowing about it.
- Do they log? This seems obvious, but it doesn’t have to include your browsing traffic. All that is required is a simple time stamp, and you could be pinpointed with high accuracy. A VPN provider can tell you anything, so it isn’t easy to know 100%.
- Past History – Some providers over the years have been caught holding logs they claimed they didn’t, and some have pinpointed users with great accuracy and handed their data over to the authorities. Be sure to research and check to see if this has happened before.
- Servers in your location—Do they have servers in your location or nearby? It’s always recommended to use servers close to you for speed and latency purposes, especially if you’re gaming.
- Killswitch – Does your provider provide a killswitch? It’s imperative that you have one enabled to prevent leaks in the event your VPN disconnects for any reason.
- Split Tunneling – This feature allows you to tunnel specific apps through the VPN and keep others outside the VPN. It’s convenient in the event you have an application that doesn’t play nice with the VPN activated.
- Ad/Malware Blocking – Blocking ads and filtering Malware is essential today; most providers offer this as a feature.
- Reviews – Look for reviews left by individuals on sites such as Trustpilot and Google – sometimes, some VPN comparison sites may favour providers who pay to be there.
- Encryption – Make sure the provider is using the latest encryption standards and best practices – you want a provider who keeps up with modern times.
We deem the top ten points above the most important aspects to look out for when choosing a VPN. Unfortunately, in all cases, you have to take the provider’s word for it. PremeirVPN.net is one of the only providers that gives you control of your privacy and resources. It’s a personalized VPN, so to speak, and will build a VPN server to suit your needs.
