How to choose a VPN?

anonymous vpn
anonymous vpn

Last updated: October 6, 2022

While many people choose to'' use a VPN to take advantage of the many benefits it confers, are they sure they can trust this type of service? Between choosing the country of origin, choosing the location of the server and choosing the protocol, the neophyte has something to get lost ...

What is a VPN first?

For those who are not familiar with the term, a VPN allows you to establish an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server that serves as your relay on the Internet, thus preventing curious big brothers from monitoring your packages. The VPN is currently the only reliable solution to protect your privacy.

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To learn more about how a VPN works, check out this article: VPN - How does it work?

Why use a VPN?

By decide to connect behind the best VPN, you are sure to benefit from many advantages which can however be summed up by the triptych of security, anonymity, protection of exchanges.

By choosing to trust a VPN, you will be able to surf the web, download content and play online without ever being able to be an identity for the simple reason that you will be hidden behind the IP assigned by the VPN and not behind yours itself.

Better, you can very easily access localized content since foreign content platforms will not be able to know from which country you are connecting.

How to choose a VPN?

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All companies that offer VPNs operate under the guise of their legalization. However, in many countries, this obliges all companies to keep data on the Internet so that the authorities can, for a certain period, have access to it in the event of an investigation.

This means that in many countries it is impossible to trust a VPN 100% since the data supposed to remain anonymous can be communicated by name to the authorities.

So choosing a VPN can be difficult. Passing your web traffic through a company's servers involves a certain level of trust. This is why I have selected from this list the best VPN that encrypt your traffic with OpenVPN and L2TP / IP protocols and offer various locations.

The following table lists the 5 best VPNs, and compare them according to different criteria such as:

  • Encryption protocol
  • Logged information
  • The headquarters of the VPN provider
  • Le Bitcoin payment
  • Torrent download authorization (P2P)
  • The type of personal information requested
  • The number of simultaneous connections allowed
  • OpenVPN support
  • The tariff

Sufshark VPN

SurfShark is only three years old and yet it has many attractive advantages. First of all, it is the only one to not impose any limit on the number of devices protected with the same account. Then, all the servers made available are optimized for P2P and streaming with rather comfortable speeds.

It even ranks first in this selection for United States connections with a bandwidth loss of only 8%. We appreciate the MultiHop function for simultaneously using two VPN servers in two different countries.

What can set you back is its slightly confusing interface. But the price; Surfshark really rises to the occasion.

Benefits of Sufshark VPN

  • More than 3200 servers for more than 80000 IP available, spread over 65 countries.
  • Bitcoin payment possible and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Streaming optimization.
  • Unlimited bandwidth & speed.
  • 256-bit AES encryption.
  • Strict no logs policy.
  • P2P allowed.
  • Amazon Fire TV compatibility.
  • CleanWeb ad blocker.
  • Unlimited simultaneous connections
  • An excellent price / quality ratio

Disadvantages of Sufshark VPN

  • Server latency.
  • A little confusing interface.

Download Surfshark VPN

HideMyAss VPN

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According to our tests, HideMyAss VPN has very comfortable connection speeds for downloading and streaming videos.

We hardly feel any slowing down.

The computer software has an interface that is both clear and simple, entirely in French, which is suitable for both novices and more experienced users. However, we regret that the service limits the number of devices connected simultaneously to only five. This is the least generous in this area.

Benefits of HIdeMyass VPN

  • 16 years of experience
  • Very large network: 1070+ servers for 120 available IP addresses, spread over +000 countries.
  • Bitcoin payment possible.
  • OpenVPN, PPTP & L2TP protocol
  • P2P allowed
  • Unlimited bandwidth & speed
  • CBC Blowfish Encryption
  • Satisfied or refunded, 30 days to retract.

Disadvantages of HideMyass VPN

  • Connection and disconnection time and IP used are kept.
  • 2 connections per customer.

PureVPN

Better to be bilingual with PureVPN. This tool is the only one in this selection to present an interface entirely in English. It will therefore be better to master the Shakespeare language to modify the settings. Despite an impressive number of servers available, PureVPN does not offer spectacular connection speeds. They even go well below what their competitors offer.

Bandwidth is sometimes halved.

Which did not prevent us from enjoying video streaming from Netflix and even Amazon Prime Video in the United States with good stability. Finally, PureVPN allows you to protect 10 devices simultaneously with a single account. It is one of the most generous on this ground.

Benefits of PureVPN

  • 10 simultaneous connections
  • More than 6500 servers spread over 140 countries.
  • Bitcoin payment possible.
  • Identifier and IP logs not kept.
  • Jurisdiction: Hong Kong
  • P2P allowed.
  • Dedicated IP
  • Satisfied or refunded, 30 days to retract.
  • OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP / IPsec protocol
  • Unlimited bandwidth & speed
  • 256-bit encryption.

Disadvantages of PureVPN

  • Average performance
  • Poorly translated interface.

Download PureVPN

NordVPN

NordVPN has more than 5500 servers (which it owns) around the world, which helps ensure solid speeds for downloading and streaming.

The software interface is very pleasant to use and shines with its simplicity. This does not prevent it from having more advanced functions such as Split tunneling to organize data traffic with or without a VPN.

To ensure fast connections, NordVPN uses a house protocol called NordLynx. Result: the service shows a loss of only 10% on speeds with servers based across the Atlantic or in France.

Benefits of NordVPN

  • 6 simultaneous connections
  • Jurisdiction: Panama
  • Payment by cryptomonnaies bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash…
  • Ultra fast NordLynx home protocol
  • Torrent and Netflix allowed.
  • More than 5200 servers for 200000 IP addresses available, spread over 59 countries.
  • OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP / IPsec protocol
  • Unlimited bandwidth & speed
  • 256-bit AES encryption
  • Double VPN function
  • Additional layer of security with NAT firewall
  • Powerful dedicated infrastructure

Cons of NordVPN

  • Price a bit high
  • Complex manual configuration in censored countries (China, Russia, etc.)

Download NordVPN

IPVanish VPN

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Created in 2012, the IPVanish VPN is owned by J2 Global, a US company, and therefore under US jurisdiction.

IPVanish offers great value with 10 generous simultaneous connections and an impressive collection of reasonably priced servers.

IPVanish undertakes not to retain any data. According to its website, the only data kept is the email address and payment information, necessary for the VPN to function properly. However, if you are looking for ease of use or a high degree of customization, you will be disappointed. Additionally, the service has a confusing privacy policy and has yet to undergo publicly disclosed audits.

Benefits of IPVanish VPN

  • 15 years of experience
  • 600 servers for 40000 available IP addresses, spread over more than 60 countries.
  • Bitcoin payment possible.
  • P2P allowed
  • Works with Netflix and Prime Video
  • OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP / IPsec protocol
  • 256-bit AES encryption
  • Satisfied or refunded, 7 days to retract.
  • 10 simultaneous connections.
  • Identifier and IP logs not kept.
  • Unlimited bandwidth & speed

Disadvantages of IPVanish VPN

  • No free trial.
  • Jurisdiction: United States
  • A bit dated interface.
  • Average flow rates.

Download IPVanish

How about a free VPN?

If you are currently looking for a VPN to surf or download in peace, you may have noticed that there are Free VPNs and paid VPNs.

Also, is it really worth investing a few dollars in a paid VPN? If some VPNs are chargeable, there are obviously reasons and this is not without consequences for the user.

Indeed, if a VPN is free, it is for sure that you are the product, so it should not be surprised to find that the provider will inject advertisements or resell your contact details, to put it mildly. Granted, there are exceptions like university VPNs (www.vpngate.net) or associative (https://www.securitykiss.com).

It's also good to know that free VPNs get overloaded on a regular basis. In the end, it is therefore better to spend a few euros when choosing your VPN if you use it regularly.