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VPN.

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  • 01-04-2024 11:48am
    #1
    Jay Dee
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I am looking into getting a VPN for my Desktop.

    Some are free…

    Some are not, and some of these are cheap.

    Can I get a VPN and only use it on selected operations ?.

    ie Can I select a VPN for use today but not tomorrow ?

    Or is this not possible… I ask because the main criticism of free VPN seems to be speed.

    Any opinion is welcome…

    Thanks

    Jay



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    #2
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,333 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    We need to distinguish between the software and the service. OpenVPN, for example, is open source software (i.e. source code is available) that many use to provide a service… both paid and free.

    Ultimately a VPN comes down to an encrypted connection between your network and some other network. In this case the provider of the server(s) on the other end is paying money to maintain an internet connection and route packets. It's hard to think why & how they would do this for free, perhaps it is marketing for an enhanced paid service. It's not like sharing source code you had to write for yourself anyway!

    Can I get a VPN and only use it on selected operations ?.

    Working from Home for example, most probably have a VPN connection to their company's network. Any network traffic between the home computer and the office network resources should go through the VPN, but any other access need not, though it might, go through the VPN. This is a matter of configuration. The "Network & Broadband" forum might be a better place to ask how to do this!

    Can I select a VPN for use today but not tomorrow ?

    On your own desktop, you can just switch it on and off as needed.

    I ask because the main criticism of free VPN seems to be speed.

    Like I said above, I would be skeptical of free VPN - it is costing somebody!

    I would also be anxious about the real security. If you simply wanted to use it to trick streaming services using geo-location to restrict access then I guess security is not an issue. But if security is at all part of the reason why I was using it I would want to know more about who is providing the service and how they can provide it free.



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