If you care at all about your Internet privacy, you need a virtual private networks (VPN). Thanks to the government giving ISPs a green-eye to snoop, more and more people are willing to use VPNs. However, what they're not willing to do — in a lot of situations at least — is pay for them. Thankfully, there are a host of free VPNs out there, but they have drawbacks, and in general, using a free VPN isn't the smartest security move.
True, most free VPNs do deliver the basics of a private Internet connection. But, some don't, and like any other business, there are some bad ones out there. And, in any case, all the free VPNs come with one or more downsides that may be deal breakers.
One of the most worrying of these is a few free VPN services only offer VPNs with Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP ) security. PPTP "security" has been busted since 2012. It's better than nothing, but if anyone wants to snoop on you they can.
Also, some come with enough ads to make your eyes bleed. You often can't get rid of these ads with AdBlock either.
Now, I don't mind a few ads—it's how many sites keep their servers running. What I do mind is when I'm force-fed pop-up ads and autoplaying audio and video ads. If a free VPN starts blaring a Viagra ad at me, it's history.
Some, like WiFiProtector, even install adware on your PC. I'm cheap, but I'm not that cheap. Others, such as the popular Hotspot Shield, still push ads on you, but they don't drown you with them.
Other free VPN services will sell your information directly to advertisers. Now, they may say, as Onavo does, that they may sell your personal information but in an anonymous fashion, but I'm not sure I trust them. After all, one of the reasons why I'm using a VPN in the first place is to keep companies from selling my information, anonymized or not.
Besides, to get that data in the first place, the VPN must be logging what I'm doing, right? Of course it is, so no, I can't trust a VPN that sells my data. People use a VPN specifically to not have their traffic logged.
Free VPNs also frequently use their "free" services as an incentive to get you to upgrade to its paid service. They believe that if they give you a free taste of their services, you'll be willing to pay for more features.
Wifi Protector is like many VPNs in that the free version is neutered.
There's nothing wrong with that approach, just be sure you know what that could entail. Usually, a free VPN will throttle your bandwidth so you may be able to visit Facebook and read email until the cows come home, but if you try watching Netflix, you're not going to be very happy with its slow speed.
For example, Shellfire offers unlimited VPN use, but it tops out at 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) speeds. Unless you're one of those poor souls stuck with a modem still, you haven't seen Internet speeds that slow this century. Still, if all you want to do is use email, it's fine.
Shellfire's free service tops out at a measley 1Mb/s.
Other free VPNs achieve the same result by offering you a limited amount of bandwidth every month, like your mobile data plan. Many offer only 500 MegaBytes (MB) per month. These include Avira Phantom VPN, TunnelBear, and RocketVPN. Others offer more bandwidth, but none of the free services offer enough to keep a nightly Netflix watcher or BitTorrent downloader happy.
Other free services, such as VPNBook make their free offering less attractive by requiring you to login with a new user ID and password every day.
There are also hidden problems. Most of the "free" services have too many customers. What that means for you is you're going to see very, very slow service. They're probably not all bad, but many of them aren't good, and it's impossible to predict how this will change over time. A service that delivers acceptable quality one month may be flooded the next and your Internet connection will slow to a crawl.
Some companies, such as the Opera Software with its eponymous Web browser, are now offering a free VPN built directly into the browser. That's handy but like the other free VPNs, come with its own concerns as Opera's VPN comes with advertising and sells your anonymized data.
The Opera browser includes a free built-in VPN.
How do you know if a free VPN is right for you? The same way you do any VPN. First, read its fine-print carefully. Just because their ads say they care about your privacy doesn't mean they actually do.
Next, run it, and see what you think. I often find a free VPN will fail the smell test within an hour or two. You have to expect some latency and lower bandwidth with any VPN, but all too often the free ones' speeds are simply abysmal.
Once you found one you like, check it out to see just how secure it really is with IPLeak.net. This website checks see if your VPN is protecting your IP address, Domain Name Server (DNS) settings, and other privacy settings.
IPleak will show you if your connection is completely private or not.
Armed with this information, you can figure out whether you should upgrade to a preferred provider's paid VPN.
Yes, that's right, I can't recommend you stick with a free VPN. Even the best of them will slow down as it grows more popular. Sure, you could conceivably juggle free trial periods of VPNs, but, seriously, life is too short.
Basically my advice is to use free VPNs to find a paid service that works for you. Even the best VPNs don't cost that much if you get a long-term plan, and thanks to you playing around with their free versions, you should know which one is right for you.
I wish you happy, but not free, web browsing.
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