What is a VPN, how it works & why you need one

Since you're here, chances are you've heard of a VPN, or Virtual Private Network. But hearing about it — because you want to watch BBC iPlayer on U.S. soil, or Netflix when traveling abroad, probably isn't enough. If you want to know everything about why a VPN is also great for anonymity, security and your personal online safety - you're in the right place.

A VPN is a clever way of masking your online identity. Usually, when you go online you get connected to a server and given a unique IP address, this identifies where you are logging on from and can store data about you. Since these servers are relatively open, there could be people watching, and potentially, threats that can access your data. This IP address can give away your real world identity, allowing potentially negative entities to track you down. This is especially important when travelling and using open Wi-Fi at airports and hotels that could, potentially, be insecure.

This specific identity also means your location can be determined. So if you're a U.S. citizen abroad that still wants to catch up on your Hulu shows then you might be blocked in a country Hulu isn't accessible from. This, also, is a great use for a VPN which can make you appear to still be on US soil.

So you want to get that identity leak plugged up. That's where a VPN can help. It masks your IP address and location by effectively bouncing your signal through other servers. To any online entity or potential threat, you will appear to be someone else logged on in another location.

That means that when contacting a website, say, you'll be going via the encrypted VPN. Your computer will tell the VPN it wants to access the website, that request will be sent from the VPN secure server and the response will then be forwarded to you. This affords you a buffer layer to keep you safer and more anonymous when online - rather than having all your data collected by every site you visit.

A VPN is a super secure way to go online thanks to the wonder that is encryption. This is a military developed digital security that is used by governments, the banks and security firms the world over. So you can definitely rely on it being secure.

An encryption works by giving both parties, a key. The message is sent in code with one key giving the way to read that code, the other key being used to write the code. If you don't have a key you can't understand the message - even if you do somehow manage to get hold of it. There are different grades of encryption but this will depend on which VPN service you go for, with some more complex than others.

All that means your network is pretty much hack proof and all your browsing information is encrypted in transit making it unreadable anyway.

Lots of VPN services are great for accessing geo restricted content when you'd otherwise be denied. For the UK's BBC iPlayer while in the U.S., or U.S. Netflix and Hulu while in Europe, a VPN will get you in.

If you're on vacation in France, say, and want to watch the latest Star Trek on Netflix then you'll be blocked as Netflix will see you're not in the U.S. Fire up your VPN service, select a U.S. server, then go back into Netflix. Now Netflix will think you're back home and give you access to all your content once again.

Of course some people also use a VPN to access international Netflix content outside of their country but we're not encouraging or condoning that. We're just pointing out that is something a VPN can do and something some people choose to use it for.

Sharing P2P content, or torrenting, may be illegal in some cases, but not all. What you choose to share is down to you. But should you wish to do so with anonymity and a layer or security, then a VPN can provide that.

It's worth nothing that not all VPN services will support torrents and some are faster than others, so it's worth reading into this if you're getting a VPN specifically for P2P content.

A VPN service's speed varies widely. This is due to two main factors, location and servers. So one VPN service could be a lot faster than another for you because that one may have more servers, or better connections between servers, allowing for faster data sharing. The servers themselves could be faster on one VPN over another also.

Some VPN services are really fast for local access, but then slow down a lot once you change your location to somewhere far away. Others offer a more consistent speed no matter where you are. As you might imagine you usually get what you pay for.

The best VPN service for you will depend on what you need. But for an overall top rated service we vouch for ExpressVPN as it's well priced - higher than most, sure - but it offers a solid all-round setup. You get a wide number of internationally placed servers, high-grade encryption security and an excellent 24/7 live chat support. Also, the clients - aka apps - work really work across devices including iOS, Android, Mac and Windows with a super simple to user interface and added security of a kill switch and more. All that can be used across five devices at the same time.

If you want the cheapest option, then there are free services but these generally limit you on data. HotSpot Shield Free VPN is a great option as it gives you plenty for free and then you can upgrade to the Premium version if you like it and want more. You are limited to 500MB of data allowance per day on the free version, but at 15GB per month that's a lot for most people.

If absolute security is your main requisite then Surfshark is a good choice as it uses a private DNS, double VPN hop and AES-256 encryption to keep your identity and location totally hidden.

As you've probably worked out, VPN services vary and so do their prices. They start at free, with limits on things like data, but then go up to over $100 per year. The average monthly price, if you pay month to month and don't commit to longer is about $10 per month.

If you go for a year then it'll work out nearer to $5 per month, go for two years and it'll drop to lower and so on. So it really depends on how you want to pay.

Lots of services offer a seven day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, generally, you'll be able to try before you really buy anything - which makes that commitment to a longer set of payments - and saving money - easier to do comfortably.