VPNs (virtual private networks) are all the rage these days among even casual computer users. You might be forgiven for thinking that EVERY website that you visit is an advertising front for a VPN service of some kind – including this one, of course. However, VPNs are in fact an extremely useful tool. Today I’m going to walk you through the best VPNs that you can get for personal and home use. (Full disclosure: this article contains affiliate links.)

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What a VPN Does and Does Not Do

First, a word of caution. If you go by the advertising, you might end up thinking that using a VPN makes you completely invisible on the internet. This is NONSENSE. Unfortunately, most VPN companies are pretty good at marketing such misinformation. As a result, too many people buy VPNs for the wrong reasons.

When you connect to the internet, you send requests through your service provider to a server. That server recognises your IP address and logs it. That address is a fingerprint. It can be traced right back to your computer. Clearly, this is less than ideal if you want to keep your web browsing history hidden from your service provider or others. Maybe you want to prevent your boss or your family from knowing what you were browsing as well – for entirely legit reasons.

When you login through a VPN, on the other hand, you first login to someone else’s server. That server’s IP address then shows up on other servers that you visit.

If I were to use a highly relevant metaphor for 2020, using a VPN is a bit like wearing a mask and gloves. If you make contact with someone else, that person’s germs stick to your PPE, not to you. But that does not mean that you are completely protected.

As a result, using a VPN does not guarantee anonymity. Sites, governments, and sufficiently motivated hackers can still track you. If you intend to use a VPN to conduct illegal or questionable activities, then this is the wrong tool. (And I have no interest in helping you anyway.) But if you want to increase your personal security and privacy for performing simple, legitimate activities, and you want to avoid being tracked and spied upon, then you need to et yourself a VPN.

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Understanding a VPN’s Purpose

VPNs ARE NOT:

• A perfect self-contained security solution;
• Capable of completely hiding your identity;
• Going to make you totally invisible;
• Able to prevent governments and spy agencies from tracking you;

VPNs ARE, however:

• Good for masking sensitive personal data in public places;
• Useful for bypassing internet censorship in various countries;
• Helpful when accessing multi-locale streaming services like Netflix or Hulu;
• Great for hiding your identity online from non-government third parties;

As that video above points out, there are several points to consider when choosing a VPN client:

1. Legal location: European privacy protection laws are considerably stronger than American ones, in general. As a result, VPN companies legally headquartered or based in Europe have a much stronger privacy policy. Many VPN providers are headquartered in South America, Europe, or the British Virgin Island (BVI), because these jurisdictions have very strong privacy laws. As a general rule, you want to AVOID VPN providers headquartered in the USA.
2. Number of servers available: Most VPN clients actually don’t have many servers available for you to use. Their masking IPs can therefore be easily blocked in certain countries like the UAE and China. Choose a VPN provider with a lot of available servers.
3. Reputation and Logging Policy: As the video above pointed out, hackers infiltrated NordVPN, one of the biggest names in the business, back in 2018. Now, technically, this wasn’t their fault. They rented a third-party server that was not under their control and was not secure. None of this changes the enormous reputational damage that they suffered. If you’re going to go with a VPN, get one from a solid, reputable company.

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Three Solid VPN Clients

Now that you understand when you should and should not use a VPN, let’s get straight down to business. If you want to use a VPN for legitimate surfing and browsing, there are many choices available for you. Here are three great options that I can personally recommend.

Goose VPN

If you just want a simple, effective, straightforward VPN that pretty much does everything you need, Goose VPN is always a solid choice. Goose VPN offers a number of excellent features:

• Headquartered in the Netherlands – see the point about privacy laws above;
• Unlimited devices – that means you can use Goose VPN on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, smart TV, and anywhere else;
• Works on ALL platforms – compatible with Apple’s OS X and iOS, Android, Android TV, Chrome OS, Linux, Windows, etc;
• Specialised regional servers for streaming – this is especially useful for streaming junkies who just want to watch the latest shows from different parts of the world at high speed;

This VPN service is best for heavy users of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. However, Goose VPN has a fairly limited number of servers compared to other clients in the same price range. If you spend a lot of time in places with restricted access to certain sites, then you will need a broader range of servers. This is particularly true if you spend a lot of time in China or the UAE. The Great Firewall of China is very, very good at blocking VPNs these days. Look elsewhere if this describes you.

Otherwise, if all you want is a simple VPN that “just works”, then Goose VPN definitely one of the best VPNs for home and personal use out there.

Now, let’s look at a feature-rich VPN with amazing value for money:

Surfshark

In my honest opinion, Surfshark is definitely one of the best commercial VPN providers out there. You get tremendous value in a single Surfshark account:

• EXCEPTIONAL value for money – no other major VPN provider offers the same level of services as Surfshark does for the same price;
• UNLIMITED devices – Surfshark works on PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, and everywhere else, including gaming consoles, and even can be integrated into web browsers like Chrome and Firefox via free extensions;
• Huge server network – Surfshark has over 1,700 servers in over 110 locations across 66 countries, and is constantly expanding its network;
• Very strong array of privacy tools – with built-in tools to prevent malware, tracking, and ads, along with plenty of other innovations, Surfshark is dedicated to protecting your privacy to the greatest extent possible;

The only thing that I don’t like about Surfshark is that its array of features can be a bit bewildering for new users. But most of the good stuff happens behind the scenes. Everything that you actually need is right there up front.

The simple fact is that Surfshark is one of the very best VPNs for home and personal use. You simply cannot do better for the price.

But we can’t leave off without reviewing possibly the best VPN out there:

NordVPN

Now, despite the scandal surrounding NordVPN’s hacking controversy above, this remains THE granddaddy of VPN services. NordVPN is simply unmatched in terms of speed, power, network distribution, and user-friendliness. I use NordVPN myself and I think it’s simply superb. This feature-rich VPN client offers:

• Cross-platform integration – you can use NordVPN on iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux;
• Gigantic range of servers – NordVPN has over 5,500 servers in 55 countries worldwide, which makes this the best VPN to use for surfing in places like China and the UAE;
• Can be installed on your router – like Surfshark, NordVPN can be installed on most modern routers, thereby allowing you to bypass the 6-device installation limit of the service;
• Simple, easy-to-use interface on most devices – on anything except Linux, NordVPN’s interface is very easy to setup, use, and maintain;
• VPN with TOR – I’ll get into The Onion Router below, but NordVPN allows you to combine the best features of a VPN with the power of TOR to greatly improve your security online;

The major downside of NordVPN – and it IS a major downside – is the fact that you can only use 6 devices at a time. Installing NordVPN on your router does mitigate this problem considerably. However, this option makes VPN maintenance and access considerably more challenging.

Also, NordVPN on Linux is driven entirely by the command line. There is no GUI client for it yet. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest and won’t be an issue for most Linux users.

Choosing between Surfshark and NordVPN is not easy. If you want unlimited devices more than massive choice of servers, choose the former. If you value speed and flexibility more, choose the latter. In the end, NordVPN really is one of the best VPNs out there for home and personal use.

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The Holy Grail of True Privacy

Let me add a few words here about The Onion Router (TOR) network. This is very different from a standard VPN. With a simple VPN, you connect through their server to the outside internet. Your VPN provider has access to all of your personal information and browsing history. They are the major source of vulnerability.

With TOR, however, you connect through three sequential randomised points. Your signal bounces off three different servers. Each layer of the connection only knows the information provided by the previous one. As a result, your presence is seriously hidden.

That is why TOR is much more effective, and considerably safer, than a traditional VPN service. And, better yet, TOR is FREE:

The major problem with TOR is lack of speed. Bouncing your signal around like that does reduce your browsing speed considerably. This is unavoidable. If you truly are interested in privacy and security, then get TOR AND a VPN provider. One or the other is insufficient by itself.

Now, perhaps you don’t trust a VPN provider to mess with the open-source TOR network itself. That is perfectly understandable. Allowing a third party to do the TOR side of things for you is generally asking for trouble. If you prefer, you can invert the solution by downloading the TOR browser – it’s FREE – and then connecting over a VPN like Goose, Surfshark, or NordVPN. When you pair TOR with the best VPNs for home and personal use, your privacy is almost completely guarded and your web traffic is pretty much entirely (though not absolutely) obscured. Multiple layers of protection and trust will give you the confidence to do what you want, when you want, how you want.

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Conclusion

Your privacy is YOUR responsibility. If the notion of being tracked by the FBI or CIA creeps you out – and it should – then you need to get a VPN. This does not guarantee your anonymity or privacy, though. You will need multiple layers of security and anonymity. You can start by getting one of the best VPNs for home and personal use. Incorporate a VPN into your infrastructure today and increase your privacy, security, and peace of mind.

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