How we check VPNs

VPNs, or digital personal networks, are in every single place. In the event 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 check 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 system by routing your visitors by a distant server. Websites and providers will see a unique IP deal with to your individual, and your web service supplier will solely have the ability to see that you just’re linked to a VPN server, fairly than what websites you’re visiting. Which means a VPN may be an necessary device to maintain your knowledge personal and safe, particularly if you’ll want to connect with an unsecured community. In the event you’re on public WiFi, for instance, you possibly can’t make sure what they’re monitoring when you’re browsing the web. With a VPN, there’s a further layer of privateness — so long as you make certain the VPN supplier may be trusted. However a VPN shouldn’t be the tip of your safety journey. Complicated passwords, multifactor authentication and different safety fundamentals ought to be manner increased on your checklist.

One other generally marketed function of VPNs is evading geoblocking strategies that corporations use to stop you from accessing sure content material. Since you’re connecting to a distant server, a VPN can successfully change your location, permitting you to look at one other nation’s Netflix content material or, say, watch Physician Who on the UK-only BBC iPlayer. In the event you’re within the EU, it could can help you entry websites which might be in any other case blocked because of the area’s strict knowledge safety laws. Up to now, 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 and marketing hype. That’s why Engadget began evaluating VPNs in 2023, numerous elements corresponding to safety, velocity, latency, utilization limits and value. And whereas we do not anticipate 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 stories and safety audits which might be publicly obtainable, 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 educational work from our bodies like Shopper Reviews, VPNalyzer and others when trying into safety specs.

Setup

The following step in our evaluate course of entails an in depth have a look at what it’s prefer to get arrange on the VPN. This entails trying on the varied platforms every VPN helps, from sure net browsers to Good TVs, to raised 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 robotically connect with a safe server each time you utilize your system, whereas others make you leap by hoops to remain signed in. We search to know how consumer pleasant and intuitive these VPNs may be.

Utilization limits

Whereas many VPN suppliers promise that their service works throughout each system on a regular basis, there’s typically small print to contemplate. We scan the phrases of service for every of the corporate’s plans to know what they’re providing. Is there a restrict to the variety of gadgets a consumer can have linked without delay? Is there a “honest use” restrict that kicks in after a certain quantity of visitors? Are superior options multi-hop connections locked to solely the priciest plans? We examine all of these items so that you don’t need to. We additionally conduct a lot of our extra particular exams on the similar time, which permits us to confirm corporations’ claims about simultaneous system use.

Velocity 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” function on VPN apps to connect with the “quickest” supplier obtainable when testing web velocity. As soon as linked, we run web velocity exams by Ookla and ping exams with meter.web. When relaying these outcomes, we are going to observe the common velocity and ping throughout these outcomes, in addition to the distinction between that common and our baseline when not linked to a VPN.

Geoblocking

We check 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 obtainable to customers in that nation. We then connect with a Hong Kong-based server to aim to look at a information livestream on a YouTube channel that’s solely obtainable to customers in that area. Lastly, we conduct a gaming check by taking part in on servers in the UK. We’re seeking to see not provided that we will entry the identical content material from all these servers, but additionally to check for lag or every other complications that you could possibly run into when utilizing one thing.

Checking for leaks

A DNS leak occurs when your system 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 searching exercise and IP deal with.

A WebRTC leak is a matter that may happen in trendy net browsers that may equally expose your private IP deal with to a web site you’re on. When you can keep away from this by configuring your browser to not ship such knowledge, a VPN ought to have the ability to stop this from occurring.

To test for each of those points, we use publicly obtainable instruments corresponding to NordVPN’s IP deal with lookup device and ExpressVPN’s leak exams earlier than and after connecting to a VPN and ensure neither fault is happening.