When choosing between protocols to connect to, consider how you are using your VPN. PPTP is known to be fast over wi-fi; however, it is less secure than L2TP and IPSec. So, if security is important to you, then consider using either L2TP or IPSec. If you are connecting to a VPN for work purposes, then your employer will most likely have a preferred protocol. If you are using a hosted VPN, then ensure that you use a protocol which they support.

When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider the kind of security you want. If you want to use a VPN in order to send documents, emails, or browse the web more securely, then you’ll want to sign up with a host that offers an encryption method such as SSL (also called TLS) or IPsec. SSL is the most widely used form of security encryption. Encryption is a method of obscuring data from those who should not see it. Also, try to pick a host which uses OpenVPN rather than “point-to-point tunneling protocol” (PPTP) for encryption. PPTP has had several security vulnerabilities in recent years; whereas OpenVPN is commonly considered the more secure method of encryption.

When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider how much privacy you want. Some hosts may log their users’ activities which may be handed over to the authorities if questions of legality arise. If you would prefer for your browsing or data transfers to be confidential, then consider a VPN provider which does not keep logs on their users.
When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider bandwidth requirements for your VPN. Bandwidth determines how much data can be transferred. High quality video and audio are larger in size and, thus, require more bandwidth than text or images. If you only want to use a VPN for internet browsing or transferring private documents, then most hosts provide enough bandwidth to do just that quickly and easily. However, if you want to stream video or audio, such as watching Netflix or playing online games with your friends, then pick a VPN host that allows for unlimited bandwidth.

When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider whether you will access content outside the country you physically are located in. When you browse the internet, you have an address which shows where you are. This is called an “IP address.” If you try to access content in another country, your IP address may not allow you to do so because there may not be an agreement between that country and yours about the legal rights of the content. However, you can use a VPN host with “exit servers” which will show your IP address as being within that country. Thus, you will be able to access the content in another country by using the exit servers. When picking a VPN host in order to do this, you’ll want to look at the locations of your host’s servers in order to ensure that they have servers in the country where you want to access content.

When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider what platform you will use. Do you want to use mobile devices or your computer? If you travel a lot and the use of mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets is important to you, then ensure that your chosen VPN host supports such a connection or even provides apps for your specific mobile devices.
When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider whether you will need customer service. Read reviews and look at what kind of support the VPN host will provide for customers. Some hosts may only offer phone support while others may also offer chat or email support. It’s important to find a service which offers customer support that you are most comfortable using. You can also search for reviews within a search engine (such as Google) in order to better evaluate the quality of customer support.

When purchasing VPN service from a provider, consider how much you want to pay. Some VPN hosts (such as Open VPN) do offer free services; however, they can be limited in their options. Since there are many competing VPN services, take the time to compare several different hosts by prices and the previously mentioned services they offer. You may be able to get all the services you want and need at a host with a cheaper cost than at another host.

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