At the beginning of 2020s, more and more users start to think about how to protect their personal data. Technology companies come up with various solutions. We may say that technologies for protecting personal data on the Internet are widespread. A VPN is a popular solution to protect your privacy.

VPNs help to hide your IP address and encrypt all traffic. Connecting to a VPN helps unblock content that is not available in your country. Currently, it is easy to buy a VPN, as many companies offer such services.

Many users are wondering how to choose the best VPN service. To make a comparison and choose the best service, you need to know the selection criteria.

In the article, I will list the most important selection criteria. Some of them may seem unimportant to you; it all depends on purposes you want to use the VPN for.

Why do people use VPN services?

·Some people want to change the IP address to unlock inaccessible content in their country. For example, in China, there is strong censorship of the Internet. The government firewall blocks access to sites such as Facebook (News - Alert), Twitter, YouTube for all residents of China.

·Some people want to be anonymous on the Internet. These days Internet service providers record all users’ actions. People need to use a VPN to hide what sites they visit or send emails anonymously.

·Some users want to protect their personal data from interception and hacker attacks. It is especially true when using public Wi-Fi networks in hotels and restaurants.

Selection criteria

VPNs provide complete almost security and anonymity on the Internet. You just need to choose the best VPN service. Let's take a closer look at the selection criteria.

Types of connections – VPN protocols

·PPTP is supported by most operating systems. It is not considered the safest protocol.

·SSTP was developed by Microsoft (News - Alert). This protocol offers decent security. It uses 443 port, and that is why it is hard to block SSTP.

·OpenVPN is a popular open-source protocol. It is widely used and famous for its reliability.

·L2TP over IPSec is a reliable and fast protocol. It is easy to configure such connections.

The best VPN service should provide its customers an opportunity to use as many protocols as possible so that they could prioritize security over speed or vice versa, depending on their needs.

No-logging policy

Most servers around the world run on the Linux operating system. Unlike Windows, Linux operating system allows to completely disable logging. Anonymity disappears when a VPN server keeps logs.

You need to carefully study the website of the company offering VPN services. The company may claim that the logs are not kept, but the service agreement, which you see when registering or buying a VPN, will say that the logs are kept.

Does a VPN try to hide its presence?

For ease of configuration, some VPN services resort to redirecting a connection from a domain to an IP address. In this case, the server address looks like a domain, for example: canadavpn.vpn-website.com.

This is convenient for company system administrators, since when you often change the IP address of the VPN server, the connection still works for all users.

All Internet service providers record user activities on the Internet. If they see that you are connecting to the canadavpn.vpn-website.com domain, this connection directly indicates that you are using a VPN. The connection address to the VPN server should look like an IP address: 17.43.298.132. If you are using an OpenVPN connection, you must also check if the certificate indicates the service domain in it.

Support all operating systems

Before buying a VPN, you should make sure that your computer platform is supported by the VPN service.

Types of issued IP addresses

There are two types of IP addresses issued by VPN services:

·Shared IP – is a situation when VPN provides one common IP address for several clients. As a rule, this IP address is permanent and does not change when reconnecting to the VPN server.

·Dedicated IP– is a situation when each client is given its own unique IP address, which can change when reconnecting.

Is there free test access?

Good services offer free trial access to test the speed and other features. Such access will allow you to configure a VPN connection and understand how it works.

Specialized app

If the company has its own program for VPN connections, it will be easier to quickly configure the connection. As a rule, such programs are necessary when using an OpenVPN connection, since setting up this connection for a beginner may seem a bit complicated.

Payment methods and price

It is better to check if there are convenient payment methods. Currently, most VPN services accept debit and credit cards, cryptocurrencies, PayPal (News - Alert), etc.

If you find the best VPN service for yourself, then the cost of services should not play a significant role. The price should be affordable to you. Reliable companies provide discounts if you pay for a one or two-year subscription plan and so you can save on this.

Technical support

There may happen unpleasant situations when connection errors occur. In this case, technical support of the service will come to the rescue. Make sure you know how to contact support. It is important to have as many contact methods as possible including email, phone, live chat, and a ticket system.