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Avoid downloading a bad VPN – These are the Warning Signs to Look out for

Ketty Mitchels

The recent growth of VPN technology leaves many of us dumbfounded, as many people become concerned about digital privacy.

As the VPN service market grows to meet this demand, there are now 1,000s of free VPN services promising to keep you safe and secure online, at no extra cost.

This sounds like a real game, almost too good to be true. It usually is. VPNs are expensive and complicated software that requires a great deal of investment to maintain. Also, they need to keep up with the ever-evolving world of internet privacy.

Free VPN services need to cover costs and turn a profit. Instead, they generate revenue from their customers using hidden tricks and tools. These techniques are not only dangerous and dishonest but ultimately betray the principles of VPNs. Read more to know about how to avoid downloading a bad VPN.

As you are about to see, using a free VPN service could make you less safe online, cost you more than you know, and ruin your entire internet experience.

Read more: What has changed in VPN services after COVID-19 impact (2020)

Warning Signs to Look out for

Low-level encryption

VPN tools are all about creating an encrypted tunnel between the user’s computer and the VPN server. By routing the internet data traffic through this tunnel, it obtains a high level of encryption, making it highly unlikely to be readable – or at least that is the plan. 

The problem is that while all VPN services create this encrypted tunnel, the type of encryption and VPN protocols used can vary. The better VPN services offer the state of the art OpenVPN protocol, that is open source, and supports up to 256-bit encryption. An example of this is ExpressVPN, which openly details that the encryption is AES 256-bit, via the OpenVPN protocol. Red flags should go up with any VPN service that does not provide this level of detail on the encryption used prominently on its site. 

 Slow Speeds

As all the data gets routed through the VPN, a robust provider is needed to keep up with your demands. After all, you paid for a certain level of bandwidth from your ISP, and a better VPN should be able to keep up with it, with minimal loss of throughput.

A bad VPN is often oversold, with servers that get overloaded. This then severely limits bandwidth that can be used to translate to slow browsing, and frequent hiccups when trying to enjoy streaming content. 

 Free VPN Services

That expression about “If anything is free, you’re the product,” does apply to free VPN services. It is because it doesn’t cost you a penny apparently, but have you thought how it makes profit and run? 

There have been various examples of VPN services that are downright malware. These free VPN services grab user’s data via their software, routing it back to the business, which can then package it and sell it to interested third-parties. This lack of digital privacy is precisely what a reputable VPN service can secure, so make sure you avoid these insecure VPN services, and go only with reputable ones.

Absent or unclear no logs policy

The key to any VPN service is that it indeed provides privacy. An essential component of this privacy is that it does not log the data. Many VPNs do log the user’s data and keep it for some time, which is quite opposite to the privacy that they purport to offer. After all, who would you be more likely to trust with your data: your Internet Service Provider that you pay a monthly subscription fee and has a motivation to retain you as a customer, or some shady VPN service that will be more than willing to comply with any requests for data and just protect itself?

Therefore, search a reputable VPN (e.g., NordVPN) with a transparent and detailed ‘no-logs’ policy. It should be clearly written that user data is not logged and not kept for any amount of time. Also, it should be easily located on the VPN service’s website. 

The Secure Solution to Access An Unrestricted Internet

Paid VPN services make profits by providing security without selling your personal details to the third parties. A free VPN server may lead to detrimental things like identity theft, while a paid VPN service can (though not all) keep your information private and secure.

So we have gathered some points that you should consider before purchasing one:

#1 NordVPN (3.29$/month)

Number of servers: 3500+ | Server locations: 60+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 6

NordVPN is a Panama based VPN service provider. Hence, it is free of the U.S and the European countries jurisdictions. Due to it, the users can enjoy anonymous networking with its No Log Policy. Double encryption, a variety of protocol support, excellent customer support makes it one of the best VPN in the market. Most noteworthy, the pricing plans are quiet on the nominal side and worth the services provided.

Avail 72% Discount

Get NordVPN

#2 ExpressVPN (8.32$/month)

Number of servers: 1800+ | Server locations: 148 | IP addresses: 30,000 | Maximum devices supported: 3

ExpressVPN has become the market leader in the VPN industry. With its supreme quality VPN performance during past seven years. Therefore, it attracted and retained millions of users and enhanced customer loyalty. All due to services that are beyond comparison. That is the reason it sits at the top position in our VPN table. ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands. Which keeps it away from the Data Retention policies enforced by NSA, GCHQ.

Avail 35% Discount

Get ExpressVPN

#3 Surfshark VPN (2.49$/month)

Number of servers: 500+ | Server locations: 50 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: Unlimited

Surfshark VPN is ahead of the curve in technological advancement. Surfshark VPN will ensure online privacy for your whole family – simple and intuitive on the outside with a robust security mechanism inside.

Avail 81% Discount

Get Surfshark VPN

#4 CyberGhostVPN (2.15$/month)

Number of servers: 6,200+ | Server locations: 87+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 7
CyberGhostVPN was established in 2011 and gained popularity. It is due to its dedication towards providing outstanding and unique security and privacy features. CyberGhostVPN defends privacy as a basic human right, being the first in the industry to publish a transparency report while building new user-oriented crypto-technology for the future.

Avail 83% Discount

Get Ivacy VPN

#5 Private Internet Access (2.19$/month)

Number of servers: 3339+ | Server locations: 36 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5
Private Internet Access service provides you unbeatable internet security and privacy. It is due to its sustainable and specialized security barrier based on several layers. Hence, For an end to end protection with its amazing features. That includes; Anonymous IP, high-grade encryption. That is based on cryptographically secure Blowfish CBC algorithm.

Avail 78% Discount

Get PIA VPN

Conclusion -Avoid Downloading Bad VPN

If you really want better protection online, avoid free VPN services. While you might save a few dollars each month, the risks to your privacy and data are not worth it. In fact, using a free VPN could cost you a lot more than the subscription to a premium provider. 

Aside from the security concerns, free VPNs can turn using the internet into a massive headache, with slow speeds, constant pop-ups, and restricted streaming.

Instead, look at premium VPNs as an investment. You’ll experience faster, more secure connections, completely open internet, greater privacy, and peace of mind.

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