How we take a look at VPNs

VPNs, or digital personal networks, are all over the place. When you’ve spent any time in any respect on YouTube, chances are high you’ve seen an advert promoting VPNs — there have been literally hundreds and thousands of them.

We take a look at and evaluate VPNs so you do not have to — however what even is a VPN? The pitch is pretty easy: a VPN can masks your IP deal with and the id of your gadget by routing your site visitors via a distant server. Websites and providers will see a distinct IP deal with to your individual, and your web service supplier will solely be capable to see that you just’re related to a VPN server, reasonably than what websites you’re visiting. Meaning a VPN could be an vital instrument to maintain your knowledge personal and safe, particularly if you should connect with an unsecured community. When you’re on public WiFi, for instance, you may’t ensure what they’re monitoring whilst you’re browsing the web. With a VPN, there’s a further layer of privateness — so long as you be certain the VPN supplier could be trusted. However a VPN shouldn’t be the top of your safety journey. Complicated passwords, multifactor authentication and different safety fundamentals ought to be method larger on your checklist.

One other generally marketed characteristic of VPNs is evading geoblocking strategies that corporations use to forestall you from accessing sure content material. Since you’re connecting to a distant server, a VPN can successfully change your location, permitting you to observe one other nation’s Netflix content material or, say, watch Physician Who on the UK-only BBC iPlayer. When you’re within the EU, it could possibly can help you entry websites which are in any other case blocked because of the area’s strict knowledge safety rules. Previously, VPNs have even been used to skirt political firewalls put as much as censor on-line entry.

With many VPN makers making sweeping claims about military-grade encryption, digital invisibility and lightning-fast speeds, it’s robust to know what’s true and what’s advertising hype. That’s why Engadget began evaluating VPNs in 2023, numerous components reminiscent of safety, velocity, latency, utilization limits and value. And whereas we do not count on to ramp as much as extra VPN testing till 2025, our best VPNs guide will proceed to be the house base of our protection. Within the meantime, that is our present VPN testing methodology.

Background checks

Earlier than we set up or join a service, our work begins by investigating every product’s lineage. We reference privateness insurance policies, transparency studies and safety audits which are publicly out there, and observe the safety specs of every service. We additionally look into every firm’s historical past of safety incidents like knowledge breaches. We depend on some pre-existing tutorial work from our bodies like Shopper Studies, VPNalyzer and others when wanting into safety specs.

Setup

The following step in our evaluate course of entails an in depth have a look at what it’s wish to get arrange on the VPN. This entails wanting on the varied platforms every VPN helps, from sure internet browsers to Sensible TVs, to higher perceive how it may be used. We additionally look to see simply how simple it’s to get began on a brand new VPN. Some will routinely connect with a safe server each time you utilize your gadget, whereas others make you leap via hoops to remain signed in. We search to grasp how person pleasant and intuitive these VPNs could be.

Utilization limits

Whereas many VPN suppliers promise that their service works throughout each gadget on a regular basis, there may be usually small print to contemplate. We scan the phrases of service for every of the corporate’s plans to grasp what they’re providing. Is there a restrict to the variety of gadgets a person can have related directly? Is there a “honest use” restrict that kicks in after a specific amount of site visitors? Are superior options multi-hop connections locked to solely the priciest plans? We examine all of this stuff so that you don’t need to. We additionally conduct lots of our extra particular assessments on the identical time, which permits us to confirm corporations’ claims about simultaneous gadget use.

Pace and latency

Step one in testing velocity and latency is to determine the baseline of the connection earlier than connecting to a VPN. We then use the “fast join” characteristic on VPN apps to hook up with the “quickest” supplier out there when testing web velocity. As soon as related, we run web velocity assessments by Ookla and ping assessments with meter.web. When relaying these outcomes, we’ll observe the common velocity and ping throughout these outcomes, in addition to the distinction between that common and our baseline when not related to a VPN.

Geoblocking

We take a look at all VPNs from inside the US. To test {that a} service is ready to successfully keep away from geoblocking, we connect with a Canada-based server and try to entry content material on Netflix that’s solely out there to customers in that nation. We then connect with a Hong Kong-based server to aim to observe a information livestream on a YouTube channel that’s solely out there to customers in that area. Lastly, we conduct a gaming take a look at by enjoying on servers in the UK. We’re seeking to see not provided that we are able to entry the identical content material from all these servers, but in addition to check for lag or some other complications that you could possibly run into when utilizing one thing.

Checking for leaks

A DNS leak occurs when your gadget sends an unencrypted DNS question exterior of your VPN service’s encrypted tunnel to an ISP’s DNS servers. This successfully nullifies using a VPN within the first place by permitting third events to see and probably observe your shopping exercise and IP deal with.

A WebRTC leak is a matter that may happen in trendy internet browsers that may equally expose your private IP deal with to a web site you’re on. Whilst you can keep away from this by configuring your browser to not ship such knowledge, a VPN ought to be capable to stop this from taking place.

To test for each of those points, we use publicly out there instruments reminiscent of NordVPN’s IP deal with lookup instrument and ExpressVPN’s leak assessments earlier than and after connecting to a VPN and ensure neither fault is going on.