Macworld

Best VPN services

By using a VPN you can keep your identity and data secure online. Ian Paul reveals our top picks

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Choosing the right virtual private network (VPN) service is no simple task. A VPN should keep your Internet usage private and secure, but not every service handles your data in the same way. Just look at the critiques of notable computer security experts and online pundits to understand the challenge.

Since it takes research to find out if a VPN service has a history of good or bad behaviour,

we’ve done the legwork to find the best VPN out there. In order to win our seal of approval, the service has to protect online privacy; allow you to keep anonymity; offer a good variety of locations from which to direct your traffic; offer fast, reliable performanc­e; and provide an easy-to-use interface

What is a VPN?

VPNs create a secure tunnel between your PC and the Internet. You connect to a VPN server, which can be located in the UK or a foreign country. Your web traffic then goes through that server to make it appear as though you’re browsing from that server’s location, and not from your actual location.

When you’re using a VPN, it’s difficult for others to snoop on your web-browsing activity. Only you, the VPN service, and the website you’re visiting will know what you’re up to.

A VPN can be a great response to a variety of concerns, such as online privacy, anonymity, greater security on public Wi-Fi, and, of course, spoofing locations.

While a VPN can aid privacy and anonymity, I wouldn’t recommend fomenting the next great political revolution by relying solely on a VPN. Some security experts argue that a commercial VPN is better than a free proxy such as the TOR network for political activity, but a VPN is only part of the solution. To become an Internet phantom (or as close as you can realistica­lly get to one), it takes a lot more than a £7 monthly subscripti­on to a VPN.

If you want a VPN for political reasons, this article cannot help. But there are other places you can turn to online such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Moving on to less serious topics, a VPN is an excellent choice for staying secure while using Wi-Fi at the airport or your local café. Hackers sitting on public Wi-Fi can try to hack your PC, but a VPN makes that task much harder.

Finally, you may want a VPN to spoof your location to download content you shouldn’t have access to, but this too has limits. A VPN used to be the go-to solution to watch Netflix overseas. That changed in 2016 when Netflix opened up to almost every country on Earth. Since then, the company has invested a lot in detecting and blocking VPN users. Even people using a VPN inside their own country will be blocked by Netflix if detected.

There are VPNs that can fool Netflix, but they are rare and there are no guarantees these services will outsmart Netflix forever. Beyond Netflix, a VPN can help to download an Android app that is only available on a foreign version of Google Play.

One final note of caution: do not rely on your VPN to protect banking informatio­n on an open Wi-Fi connection. Whenever possible, leave online financial dealings for home over a hardwired connection.

What to look for in a VPN

Before anything else, understand that if you want to use a VPN you should be paying for it. Free VPNs are either selling your browsing data in aggregated

form to researcher­s and marketers, or giving you a paltry amount of data transfer every month. Either way, a basic rule of thumb is that a free VPN will not protect your privacy in any meaningful way.

The next thing to consider is a VPN’s logging policies. In other words, what kind of data is a service collecting about you and your VPN activity, and how long is that data saved?

Privacy is the basic principle of a VPN, and what good is it to avoid passive government surveillan­ce only to have a VPN provider record all your website

visits? Ideally, a VPN will say it only keeps logs for the briefest of periods. Some providers, for example, only log activity in RAM during a session or automatica­lly send all records to oblivion once they’re created. Other providers may keep records for a few hours, days, weeks, or even months.

VPN policies also vary when it comes to personal informatio­n. Some VPNs want to know very little about you, preferring users sign on with a pseudonym and pay with Bitcoin. That’s a little exotic for most people, which is why many services also accept PayPal.

Paying this way isn’t ideal for privacy, but it means the VPN doesn’t have your payment informatio­n on record, though it would be available from PayPal.

After the logging policies, you want to know how many servers the VPN offers and how many country connection­s it has. The number of servers provides an idea of how much load a VPN can take before slowing to a crawl due to overwhelmi­ng traffic.

The country connection­s, meanwhile, matter most to those who want to spoof their location; however, non-spoofers should also make sure there are connection­s in their home country. If you live in London, for example, and want access to US content, then you’ll need a VPN that provides US connection­s. It won’t work to try and watch Amazon Prime Video over a Dutch VPN connection, because as far as Amazon is concerned your computer is in the Netherland­s.

1. NordVPN

Price: $2.99 (around £2.30) per month from URL: fave.co/2CSqdrT

A great VPN option for security, ease-of-use and a variety of useful features is NordVPN. The company tells us that it does not keep any logs of user activity at all, and there are more than 3,200 servers across 60 countries to choose from which is more than most other VPN services available.

NordVPN offers lots of privacy and security features to help it become one of the most attractive VPN services for Internet users looking for privacy online. One handy is Kill Switch, ends the connection if the VPN drops for any reason.

It’s easy to set up and it’s quick, too, and there are mobile apps included should you need them, plus you can connect to up to six devices at once.

You can get NordVPN for as little as $2.99 (around £2.30) per month if you take advantage of the three-year deal. Alternativ­e options include a two-year plan, a one-year plan or a one-month plan.

2. ExpressVPN

Price: £6.67 (around £5) per month URL: fave.co/2CSIwNF

Among the speediest VPN services out there is ExpressVPN. It’s not the cheapest option at £5 per month, but it does offer 24/7 live chat customer support and a 30-day money back guarantee, as well as a zero log policy and kill switch. There are more than 1,000 servers available in 95 countries, and a range of apps for mobile devices as well as your Mac or PC, in addition to router apps too. ExpressVPN also works with Netflix to allow you to virtually reside in the country of your choice to access additional TV shows and movies. It’s a solid option.

3. Goose VPN

Price: £2.99 per month from fave.co/2F6D4wo

This fast and easy-to-use VPN is aimed at home users who want to access media that’s restricted in their region. It offers few options to maintain a very simple interface, putting it among our favourite VPNs of 2019.

There’s a 30-day free trial available, otherwise you can sign up for the one-year plan for £4.99 per month, or a more expensive one month plan. There’s also a limited one month plan that gets you 50GB for £2.99, but that won’t be enough for most. You’ll be able to access US Netflix from within the UK, as well as other region-blocked content such as BBC

iPlayer from outside of the UK. There are less server locations available with Goose VPN, just 77 across 27 countries, and there is no kill switch. However, we found that short connection time and connection quality, as well as the ease of connecting to foreign media, makes up for it.

4. TunnelBear VPN

Price: $4.17 (around £3.30) per month URL: fave.co/2Blk4GA

Our fourth recommenda­tion now, and this one’s fun. It’s called TunnelBear, and offers a quirky approach with plenty of bear puns to keep you entertaine­d. Behind that, though, is a solid, fast and affordable product that does exactly what you’ll need it to do without overburden­ing you with options and choices.

You’ll get a kill switch, mobile apps, browser extensions and the ability to connect via five devices at once. The server choice is a bit limited, as there are only 22 countries available, but most people will find that it’s plenty for their needs. It’s firmly dedicated to securing family browsing, and is ideal for accessing streaming services like Netflix.

There is a free version of TunnelBear available, but you’ll only get 500MB per month. If that’s not enough, you can upgrade to the monthly plan for £7.35, or the yearly plan for £3.30 per month.

5. PureVPN

Price: $2.88 (around £2.20) per month URL: fave.co/2WNrjjO

PureVPN is fast and reliable, packed with features at a great price. It is among the biggest services when it comes to the number of countries it offers. There are more than 750 servers available in 141 countries. It also boasts that there are no third parties involved and no logs of your activities, as it’s a self-managed network owned by the company itself. It does, however, keep a record of connection­s and bandwidth in order to optimally manage its servers. Like NordVPN it has a Kill Switch feature, and also offers split tunnelling if you only want to use the VPN connection for specific apps. PureVPN is compatible with more than 20 devices, including your Mac, and you can log in to five devices at once with your account. Prices start at £1.40 per month for a three-year

plan thanks to a special offer, but there are also sixand one month options.

We did have trouble running PureVPN on older Mac operating systems, so bear this in mind before you subscribe. It does have a seven-day money back guarantee though, so you can always try it. Plus, the support is fantastic thanks to a live chat feature available 24/7.

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The settings window for Private Internet Access
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ExpressVPN
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Goose VPN
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TunnelBear VPN
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PureVPN

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