The Best VPN Service To Protect Your Online Privacy (Ultimate Guide 2024)

VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure and encrypted connection between your device and the internet, hiding your IP address and online activities from prying eyes, thus protecting your online privacy and security.

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Looking for the Best VPN (virtual private network) service for protecting Internet Privacy? Here in this post, we discuss how to choose the Best VPN service provider to protect your online privacy. Based on Encryption and Protocols, Logs Policy, Speed, Global Coverage, Cross-Platform Support, Customer Support, and most importantly Cost. Before move forward, for those Who don’t aware of VPN service, it’s typically a paid service that keeps your web browsing secure and private over public Wi-Fi hotspots. In other words:

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the Internet. VPN technology was developed as a way to allow remote users and branch offices to securely access corporate applications and other resources. Along with VPNs can also get past regional restrictions for video (Netflix) and music-streaming sites and help you evade government censorship restrictions.

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The VPN server is operated by a VPN provider, and the connection between your computer (smartphone, tablet, or similar) and the VPN server is encrypted.

  • You still need an ISP to provide your internet connection, and that ISP can still see how much data you consume.
  • But Your ISP cannot see what data you consume, however. This is because it is securely encrypted.
  • As the VPN server acts as a proxy, No one (including your ISP) cannot see which websites you visit on the internet. Your ISP can only see that you have connected to an IP address belonging to a VPN provider. It cannot see which websites you visit after that.

How does VPN work?

The best way to think of a VPN is as a secure tunnel between your PC and the destinations you visit on the internet. Your PC connects to a VPN server, which can be located in the United States or a foreign country like the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, or Thailand. Your web traffic then passes back and forth through that server. The end result, As far as most websites are concerned, you’re browsing from that server’s geographical location, not your actual computer’s location.

And once you’re connected to the VPN and are “inside the tunnel,” it becomes very difficult for anyone else to spy on your web-browsing activity. The only people who will know what you’re up to are you, the VPN provider (usually an HTTPS connection can mitigate this), and the website you’re visiting. For a better understanding, you can see the image below How VPN secures your Data Between you and the internet.

How VPN worksWhen you are connected inside the tunnel, it’s very hard to steal your login credentials or redirect your PC to a phony banking site Along with your internet service provider (ISP). And it’s near impossible to figure out which websites you’re visiting. With this, you can also get the benefits of spoofing your location And access regionally restricted websites and online services such as BBC’s iPlayer or Sling TV. Include Netflix (fighting against VPN) the American version of Netflix when they’re really in Australia or anywhere.

Which VPN Should I Choose, Paid Vs Free?

Still, now I am sure you are clear about VPN (Virtual private network) and how this Service works and Secure your Internet privacy. Now let’s discuss Which VPN service you should choose Free Or paid VPN service.

Different between Free and A paid VPN

Free VPN

For those who think about Free VPNs, There are tons of free options from reputable companies, but these are usually a poor substitute for the paid options. Free services usually allow a limited amount of bandwidth usage per month or offer a slower service.

The most important drawback is the low level of security. Most free VPN services provide only PPTP VPNs, which is insecure. Paid VPN providers allow you to use PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, SSTP and even SSH to tunnel your connections securely.

Free VPN services create to attract a huge number of users, without thinking about the security of their service. Often, if not always, the traffic of users of these services is transmitted in clear form, making it available to everyone.

Any free VPN service is just a cover for a paid and perfectly working project. Therefore, you will always be shown paid VPN advertising. Perhaps even the use of VPN will be limited by time or traffic, motivating you to purchase a paid version of VPN, on which these restrictions will not be. We believe that advertising when using VPN is annoying, so we do not cooperate with advertisers in any way.

And when you go for a paid VPN they primarily take care of your privacy. Where you get high-level security and allow you to use PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, SSTP and even SSH to tunnel your connections securely.

Paid VPN providers normally invest a decent percentage of their profit on bandwidth and servers, so you will get a very good internet speed with unlimited Bandwidth.

Support is one of those things you pay for. When you choose a paid VPN service, you should expect someone to answer your tickets and do his job, while free services are usually provided “as is”.

Choose A Best VPN service for you

Things that matter when choose the Best VPN Service is Encryption and Protocols, Logs Policy, Speed, Global Coverage, Cross-Platform Support, Customer Support and most important is Cost. After reading lots of comments on forums, a number of posts about “Best VPN service for 2024” with user feedback reviews Finally, I End up with ExpressVPN – A Fully featured, privacy-friendly VPN service. Here is what impressed me.

With best-in-class encryption and a strict policy to keep no activity logs and no connection logs, ExpressVPN comes as #1 Trusted leader in VPN with High speed, ultra-security, and ease to use.

ExpressVPN

Number of servers: 1800+ | Server locations: 160 in 96 conuntries | IP addresses: 30,000 | Maximum devices supported: 5

Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN ensures a totally private browsing experience. They keep no logs of your activity and are outside the jurisdiction of major nations. With a full suite of security features including military-grade encryption, perfect forward secrecy, a kill switch, and leak protection, you can be sure that nobody can see what you do online.

ExpressVPN applies strong encryption methods AES-256 the military encryption standard, which can protect your data 360º completely. Multiple protocols including OpenVPN TCP, OpenVPN UDP, SSTP, L2TP/TPsec, and PPTP are provided for you to choose from.

ExpressVPN operates thousands of servers in 160 VPN server locations in 94 countries and offers apps for all devices and platforms, like Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and routers, in addition to browser extensions like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Also, ExpressVPN runs its own Zero-knowledge DNS on every server. That means your personally identifiable data is never stored on any server.

  • Superior performance with excellent speeds and reliability throughout the VPN server network.
  • High-security applications with maximum encryption (passed all privacy/security tests).
  • Excellent offshore jurisdiction and company policies to protect customer data and user privacy (which were recently verified with the server seizure in Turkey).
  • It still works with Netflix and other streaming services.
  • Huge selection of apps that are well-designed and very user-friendly.
  • Top-notch customer service with 24/7 live chat support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Does ExpressVPN work with Netflix?

Yes. ExpressVPN is one of the few VPN providers that continue to work with Netflix, no matter where you’re located in the world. If you get any kind of proxy error with Netflix when you are connected to an ExpressVPN server, just contact ExpressVPN’s chat support and they’ll tell you which server to use instead. Plus, ExpressVPN is the only VPN service that lets customers use SmartDNS to unblock Netflix on

unblock netflex

Also, ExpressVPN a solid choice for torrenting that offer

  • High-performance (premium) server network with exceptionally fast speeds and great reliability.
  • Overseas jurisdiction that is not subject to DMCA requests or copyright violation demands.
  • High-quality applications that will keep your data and anonymity secure while also protecting you against leaks and vulnerabilities (WebRTC).
  • No bandwidth limitations or traffic restrictions whatsoever.

That means using ExpressVPN you can Unblock almost every popular online services

Unblocks popular online services

ExpressVPN No log policy confirmed

ExpressVPN does not possess any customer connection logs that would enable them to know which customer was using the specific IPs cited by the investigators. As the company explains we were unable to see which customers accessed Gmail or Facebook during the time in question, as we do not keep activity logs. ExpressVPN issued a statement on its website, here is a brief excerpt:

We do not collect logs of your activity, including no logging of browsing history, traffic destination, data content, or DNS queries. We also never store connection logs, meaning no logs of your IP address, your outgoing VPN IP address, connection timestamp, or session duration. You can find more information on the ExpressVPN website (see Privacy Policy)

ExpressVPN encryption

ExpressVPN offers a very high level of encryption that is considered unbreakable by current standards. For encryption, ExpressVPN uses an AES 256-bit cipher with a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication. Additionally, ExpressVPN utilizes Perfect Forward Secrecy negotiated through Diffie-Hellman key exchange. If you want more information on ExpressVPN’s encryption implementation, you can find that on their website.

ExpressVPN split tunneling feature

Split tunneling allows you to select which apps will go through the VPN tunnel and which can bypass the VPN to the regular (unencrypted) internet. ExpressVPN offers a split tunneling feature with their applications for Windows, Mac OS, and routers. By default, all traffic and applications are routed through the VPN. But you can manage this In the settings, select three different options:

  • All apps use the VPN
  • Do not allow selected apps to use the VPN
  • Only allow selected apps to use the VPN

If you click the second or third option, a pop-up window appears, allowing you to select the specific apps.

ExpressVPN network lock (kill switch)

ExpressVPN refers to its kill switch as the network lock that keeps your data secure by blocking all traffic if the VPN connection drops. This ensures you are always protected. Once you are reconnected to the VPN server location, Network Lock restores your internet traffic automatically.

ExpressVPN pro and cons

ExpressVPN Alternative

If you are looking for an ExpressVPN Alternative, Then you can go for NordVPN. (Here you can get Save 67% Discount on 2 Years Plan)

Number of servers: 3500+ | Server locations: 60+ | IP addresses : N/A | Maximum devices supported: 6

NordVPN features

Privacy and Logging Policy, Where NordVPN states that they have a strict no logs policy. The kill-switch feature available is basically supposed to protect against revealing your real IP in case the VPN connection drops. It’s very useful in some cases and we understand the need for it. Along with this NordVPN offers some solid features to enhance user privacy and security. Let’s take a look at a few of these features.

NordVPN CyberSec

NordVPN CyberSec is a new security feature that includes a malicious site filter and an advertisement and tracking blocker. It blocks DNS requests based on a real-time blocklist of harmful websites that may host malware. As such, it should shield you against malware, help prevent botnet control, and block many intrusive web ads.

NordVPN kill switch

NordVPN offers two different kinds of kill switches. A kill switch is important because it blocks traffic if the VPN connection drops, which protects you from de-anonymization and your regular traffic being exposed.

In the screenshot below you can see the two different kill switches:

  • Internet Kill Switch – This will block all traffic if the VPN connection drops (recommended).
  • App Kill Switch – This will close applications if the VPN connection drops, but will not block any traffic.

NordVPN kill switch

Double VPN (multi-hop)

Using a multi-hop VPN chain offers many advantages over a standard VPN setup (single server). If a server were to be targeted (monitored), a multi-hop VPN configuration would add further protection by helping to conceal incoming and/or outgoing traffic.

NordVPN currently offers 18 double-hop VPN configurations, which they list on their website. The drawback here is that these are not self-configurable. In other words, you can’t create your own custom multi-hop configuration.

Works Great for Torrenting and Netflix

Since NordVPN has a lot of servers they also work well with Torrenting and bypassing geo-restrictions on certain sites like Netflix. While using VPN together with Netflix it seemed to work: But not all servers are working with Netflix because we all know how Netflix fights against VPN services to crack down on certain IPs that belong to VPNs.

Torrenting is safe and fast too, NordVPN has made special “P2P servers” that are solely meant for keeping your torrenting activities safe and private. You can access the P2P servers via the “especially” servers list on their application.

Nord does operate a large number of individual servers at over 4,000 in Over 60 countries all over the world. So that you will not struggle to find a suitable location. Europe and the Americas are served very well, with the majority of countries covered, including a few options in South America. It’s great to see so many choices in the Asia Pacific region such as Indonesia and Taiwan, as well as several locations in Africa and the Middle East.

With the Android TV app, you can use it with devices such as Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick without any manual configuration. also, use it with a range of other devices by connecting them to a configured router. This includes devices like AppleTV, Xbox360, Roku, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Sony SmartTV, Roku XDS, and many others.

NordVPN offers proxy extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. The add-ons for Chrome and Firefox are incredibly easy to download and add to your browser

Nord VPN offers a decent range of custom apps for various devices including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. With NordVPN’s fully-featured service, double VPN, VPN over Tor, DNS-based malware protection, Smart DNS, and more, all are part of the very reasonably-priced package.

Enjoy 2 years of online security for only $3.79/month!

NordVPN offers three different pricing options. A one-year plan costs $6.99 per month, while a 2-year plan is $3.99 per month. To get these monthly rates, you’ll have to pay for the entire term of service up front ($95.75 for three years). It’s possible to buy into the service one month at a time, but you’ll pay a punishing $12 per month for the privilege. That’s $143.40 per year.

NordVPN Save 68% discount link  Grab a 2-year plan, just $3.79/month! (30-day money-back guarantee) Payment can be made through a number of options including credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin etc.

NordVPN offers one of the most generous refund windows in the VPN industry. With every subscription plan, they give you a 30 day money-back guarantee. If you aren’t completely satisfied with the VPN, simply cancel within 30 days to get a full refund (explained further on their website). Therefore if you purchase a subscription, use it for a few weeks, and then cancel within the 30 day window, you will have technically used a short-term VPN for free.

Nord VPN pros and cons

Currently, ExpressVPN and NordVPN are the Top players on VPN market and both provide almost every feature and security that makes VPN service perfect. The only difference the Quality of the service and features is the small extra cost for ExpressVPN. If you have already tried these services let’s share your feedback on the comments below.

VPN Discounts

Note: Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer (a 30-day money-back guarantee) well CyberGhost offers 45 Days money-back guarantee. That means If you are not satisfied with their service you can ask for a refund within the timeframe.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, where we earn a small commission for every sale which helps us to pay to host, CDN, and Developer charges to light up the site and serve free articles to you.

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Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer
With over 7 years of experience in the IT industry, I have experience in IT support, helpdesk, sysadmin, network admin, and cloud computing. Certified in Microsoft Technologies (MCTS and MCSA) and also Cisco Certified Professional in Routing and Switching.

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