You may have come across a free VPN and wondered ‘’is it really free?’’. If you haven’t spent any of your hard-earned money to purchase a VPN, then how and why are these companies offering you this free service. How do they afford to run these servers without generating cash?
Many of us assume that lots of these services online are free nowadays. Most of us spend lots of time on social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and we don’t have to pay them to use their services. These platforms however generate revenue with companies that advertise on them. Google is another massive tech company that allows users to search without spending a penny on their search engine. Again, they generate their revenue with digital advertising.
So, how do free VPNs operate, and can they be trusted? Most paid VPNs offer new users a free trial to try the product before they purchase the full version. For more information visit Fortune lords.
First of all, let’s take a look at what a VPN does.
What does a VPN do?
When connecting a device to the web you are using your original IP address. Every device connected to the internet has a unique IP address. A VPN will make sure that both your inbound and outbound traffic is safely encrypted.
If you use a VPN, the service will connect the device to a remote server in a location around the world. Quality VPN services have a wide range of servers allowing their users to choose from plenty of different locations.
VPNs were initially designed for large companies to send data and resources throughout the business safely. However, nowadays the average internet user has adopted the service. There has been a major increase in the number of VPN purchases and downloads over the past few years, with people realizing the importance of using one.
Cyberattacks are very common and are on the rise throughout the globe. To help prevent the risk of a cyberattack, a VPN might be just the tool you need for your smart device or computer. Cyber attacks happen every day and you are more likely to become a victim of a cyberattack than to be physically involved in a road accident.
What are the Issues with a Free VPN?
Here is a list of problems that might occur if you decide to run a free VPN:
- Free VPNs tend to be slow. Free VPNs rarely provide their users with much bandwidth. Free VPNs servers find it difficult to handle a lot of people and because so many people use them, the performance of a free VPN can be very sluggish.
- Few servers to choose from. Unlike most paid VPNs, free VPNs rarely offer you a long list of servers to choose from. The country that you would like to pick probably isn’t available.
- The security standard tends to be very low. Even if you use the best VPN service on the internet, you are never guaranteed full security. However, when using a free service, the risk of a cyberattack is much more likely. If you want to use a VPN for security, it might be best to just spend the money. VPN protocols that are still used by some free VPN services have been deprecated and have been replaced. It seems like most paid VPN services have updated all their products to keep up to date with these changes, but experts feel many free VPNs have not. If you use your device to gain access to non HTTPS websites the risk is even greater.
- Sometimes free doesn’t mean free! These free VPN services don’t provide the service for free for their pleasure. They all have a plan on how to generate revenue. Lots use popup advertisements on their program after you have downloaded it, some infect your device with malware, and some even use their product to track your data. Your passwords or other sensitive data like your credit card details might be at risk.
Free VPNs rarely offer their users support. If you have any difficulties with your VPN, even if your device has experienced a cyberattack while using their service, don’t expect much support.
Summary
If you are working online, use your device to connect to public networks, game or gamble online, purchasing a VPN is a superb tool to help you boost your security. These are just some of the advantages of using a VPN. Using a Free VPN service can cause you a lot of headaches, especially if all your personal and private data go missing.