Protecting these rights is important. Just remember that anything considered illegal is still illegal, regardless of a VPN! This means you might need to be ready to jump from one server to another to access all your favorite events. However, the number of countries supported by each VPN varies from one provider to the next. With streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus , and Amazon Prime , the choice of movies and TV shows to watch from the comfort of your couch is growing every day.
The website takes one look at your IP address and shows you the door. To circumvent this, we recommend the following countries for streaming:. However, the most popular region-locked programs tend to be those limited to viewers in the US. This is why people in other countries often find themselves wondering how to unblock American Netflix. CyberGhost is our top pick for unblocking streams, particularly because this VPN works with American Netflix and other streaming services.
You also need to pay attention to your ping. Ideally, you want your latency to be below 50ms. So, choose a VPN server located close to the same place as the game server.
Here are the server locations for some of the most popular online games, like Minecraft :. In the realm of competitive gaming, VPNs become even more important. With a VPN, you get things like improved security, anonymity, and greater online freedom as part of the package.
Deciding on the best VPN server location really comes into the equation when trying to get the fastest speeds or unblocking region-locked content online. Check out the frequently asked questions below to find answers. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave a comment for us. You can see the result of our speed test in the full article. Recently, Iceland was named as the best country for online freedom and has the lowest content limitations , user rights violations, and barriers to accessing content.
There are many great VPNs for unblocking sports or other streaming services. A commercial virtual private network is technology that allows you to create a private connection over a less private network by creating an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the internet.
You can install a VPN just like you would any other app or program on your smartphone or computer. A VPN can let you get around censorship in your country or access geo-restricted media content from another country -- and prevents your internet service provider from being able to intrude on your privacy by snooping on your web browsing.
VPNs do this by allowing you to appear as though you're connecting from a different location or country. A VPN is great for anyone using public, unprotected Wi-Fi, such as what's offered in airports, bars or coffee shops.
Your VPN protects your sensitive information -- from your work projects to bank account login information -- from being seen by malicious actors who trawl public Wi-Fi networks. When you browse the internet while on a VPN, your computer will contact the website through your VPN's encrypted connection. The VPN will then forward the request for you and forward the response from the website back through its secure connection. For more beginner-focused VPN help, we've demystified some of the jargon in our guide to all the VPN terms you need to know.
People who access the internet from a computer, tablet or smartphone will benefit from VPN usage. A VPN service will almost always boost your privacy by encrypting your online activity. Communications that happen between the VPN server and your device are encrypted, so an internet service provider or someone on your Wi-Fi network spying on you wouldn't know which webpages you access.
They also won't be able to see private information like passwords, usernames and bank or shopping details and so on. Anyone who wants to protect their privacy and security online should use a VPN. Let's look at each of our VPN vendors below in more depth. Keep in mind that this is an evolving list: It's constantly being updated.
We're actively working on more VPN testing and research, so expect this guide to change throughout the year as our VPN use continues and we put each option through its paces. The list below presents our favorites in an overall ranking; if you want to see each top VPN judged by more specific criteria, check out the links below.
You'll mostly find the same names you see here, but we'll call out when and where specific traits make for a better choice in a more narrow evaluation. The VPN provider tells us its network is powered by TrustedServer technology, which ExpressVPN built to ensure that there are never any logs of users' online activities. In the privacy world, ExpressVPN has a strong track record, having experienced a server seizure by authorities which proved its zero-log policy true at the time.
Unlike the others, though, ExpressVPN gained points from us for its support of Bitcoin as a payment method -- something not all of our favorites offer, but which adds an additional layer of privacy during checkout. Read our ExpressVPN review. While Surfshark's network is smaller than some, the VPN service makes it up on features and speed. Let's start off with the biggest win it offers: unlimited device support.
If you want to run your entire home or office on Surfshark's VPN, you don't have to worry about how many devices you have on or connected. It also offers antimalware, ad-blocking and tracker-blocking as part of its software.
And it's fast. Surfshark received generally high marks when its Chrome and Firefox extensions were audited for privacy by German security firm Cure 53 PDF link of full report -- though that audit was commissioned by Surfshark. Additional devices such as game consoles can be configured for Surfshark via DNS settings. We particularly like the feature that allows you to whitelist certain apps and websites to automatically bypass the VPN.
For some business uses, this can be critically important. Surfshark also offers three special modes designed for those who want to get around restrictions and more carefully hide their online footsteps. Multihop jumps your connection through multiple countries to hide your trail. Finally, NoBorders Mode "allows [you] to successfully use Surfshark in restrictive regions.
Doing any of these three things could be illegal in your country and could result in severe penalties. Unlike many of the other VPN providers, Surfshark doesn't offer a one-year plan. Definitely take advantage of its generous day trial to decide if you like this service and if you choose the two-year plan, maybe set a reminder in 23 months to see if you can talk it into a continued discount rate. Read our Surfshark VPN review. It offers a generous simultaneous connection count, with six simultaneous connections through its network, where nearly all other providers offer five or fewer.
We detected no privacy leaks during our tests. We found NordVPN's speeds were reliably fast. There were never any sudden dips or service interruptions, and where we expected the VPN to underperform, it proved itself up to the task. But it does have a full day refund policy.
While NordVPN has lived on this list for a long time, we moved it to the penalty box in October to re-evaluate our recommendation after a report emerged that one of its rented servers was accessed without authorization in Nord's actions following the discovery included -- eventually -- multiple security audits, a bug bounty program and heavier investments in server security.
While we'd have preferred it if Nord had self-disclosed the issue much earlier, the fact that the breach was limited in nature and involved no user-identifying information served to further verify that NordVPN keeps no logs of user activity. As a result, Nord remains on this list as a recommended vendor. Read our NordVPN review. When we speed-tested ProtonVPN, we saw an impressively small 9. Even more impressive is Proton's ability to reach those speeds despite a relatively small fleet of 1, servers in 55 countries.
Along with its options to send your traffic through a secure bunker of private servers, we love ProtonVPN's transparency policies: It's completely open-source with routinely published audits , and includes a built-in route to VPN into Tor servers.
On price, we'd like to see ProtonVPN come down a bit. Read our ProtonVPN review. A big win for IPVanish is its fun, configurable interface, which makes it an ideal client for those who are interested in learning how to understand what a VPN does under the hood. Its multiplatform flexibility is also ideal for people focused on finding a Netflix-friendly VPN. We're a little disappointed that it only allows a seven-day trial, rather than a full 30 days, but it does offer a full money-back guarantee.
That said, the company gets kudos for its recent increase from 10 to now-unlimited simultaneous connections. We also liked its connection kill-switch feature, a must for anyone serious about remaining anonymous while surfing. Read our IPVanish review. Not every VPN can be a favorite. These are ones we reviewed, but they're not full-throated recommendations for one reason or another, including limited features and concerns over adequately hiding your identity.
Hotspot Shield VPN's TLS-based Hydra Catapult protocol, US jurisdiction, bit AES encryption support and large percentage of virtual servers might strip away our trust in its ability to provide more privacy protections than its competitors -- but those are all key components to its ability to achieve the blazing speeds it delivered during its most recent speed tests. As of May , it's the second-fastest VPN I've tested , effortlessly delivers smooth-streaming media and can dance between server connections without missing a beat, no matter how many interruptions you throw at it.
We're not excited about Hotspot's privacy and security, though. Since the services uses a closed-source proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol , instead of the more transparent open-source OpenVPN protocol, we'd like to see Hotspot give the public more third-party audits -- a necessary step to bring Hotspot up to speed with routinely audited VPNs like TunnelBear.
Hotspot acknowledged the issue at the time and aimed to improve the product. We're also not thrilled about the amount of user data Hotspot collects, and its privacy policy.
With its premium product, it gathers and retains much more information about users than most other VPNs. And if you're using the free version of its product, it shares that information -- along with even more finite data, including your MAC address and specific phone identifier -- with advertising companies. While its interface is user-friendly and its speeds are thrilling, spending time with Hotspot is going to leave your wallet a little lighter than you might prefer.
It starts well right from the off, as ExpressVPN gives you the choice of over 3, servers in locations across 94 countries. But its very own open-sourced Lightway protocol is now fully available on all apps and has increased speed and reliability even further.
We love just how easy to use this service is. That might seem obvious, but not every VPN provider out there has worked out how to make its tools intuitive, regardless of what device you're using it on. From desktop and mobile, to TV streamers and browser extensions, ExpressVPN is a doddle to set up and operate for both pros and inexperienced users. ExpressVPN unlocks them all admirably, and has really risen to the challenge laid down by Netflix in its ongoing mission to stop VPN use altogether.
ExpressVPN is fast. Really fast, with fantastic connection speeds across servers in multiple countries. And that's even when we're using the default OpenVPN protocol in our tests - they get even quicker with the aforementioned Lightway option turned on.
In terms of additional features, ExpressVPN goes above and beyond. The support website is stuffed with detailed guides and tutorials to get you up and running.
It really works, too - we consistently get helpful responses from a knowledgeable support agent within a couple of minutes of posting our questions. Frankly, we don't mask the fact of how highly we rate ExpressVPN. It's very simple That said, it would be remiss of us not to talk about ExpressVPN's rather 'exciting' week in August First, it announced that it had been acquired by Kape Technologies , the company that owns CyberGhost and PIA below and has a somewhat controversial history.
Then a couple of days later it was revealed that its CIO had been fined for previous hacking allegations. TechRadar's view is that neither incident feels particularly major - although we understand why they rattled a few cages in the VPN world - and we don't see any current reason to stop recommending this provider.
Give it a try with a day money back guarantee. It excels in pretty much every area that you'd wish to care about when choosing your new service and is only a shade behind ExpressVPN in our scoring. For starters, the levels of security NordVPN has to offer have been impressing us for some time now. Offering AES as standard, you also have the option to turn on its Double VPN system where all your internet traffic is encrypted not once, but twice.
Handy to know where your internet anonymity is paramount like when you're on public Wi-Fi or, perhaps, torrenting. Like its main competitor above, other features include strong DNS leak protection, kill switches application-specific and system wide , proxy extensions for Chrome and Firefox browsers, and payment options that include Bitcoin, PayPal and credit cards. And Nord actually bests ExpressVPN on pure server count, cranking things up to an eye-watering 5, in 60 countries , while also allowing for one more simultaneous connection at six.
The provider's custom NordLynx protocol has certainly been an eye-catching development in the last year or so. It has helped to make Nord's connection speeds some of the fastest we've recorded and more reliable, even from servers that are further afield. We also admire Nord's dedication to putting the tarnishing news of historic data breaches behind it. It now brings in PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a thorough audit of its no-logging policy every year.
But it hasn't reacted as quickly to other VPNs in the fight to keep accessing worldwide Netflix catalogs. Hopefully this is just temporary and Nord will be firing on all cylinders again soon. Not only are NordVPN's troubleshooting articles plentiful, these tutorials are also really useful. If we have one other quibble, it would be with the user experience that NordVPN supplies. Just little things like the destination cities not being listed in alphabetical order or searching through menus for specialist task functions left us wishing for tweaks.
That's especially the case when it comes to its otherwise effective mobile apps. But, these are pretty minor minus points and, as with any VPN reviews you'll find on the internet, we understand that this ultimately comes down to personal preference.
NordVPN has a few options available included monthly subscriptions and an excellent value two-year special offer. If you want to give the service a whirl before you commit, NordVPN provides a day money back guarantee. We understand that the prices available for Surfshark are the factor that will stand out most when you're considering a new VPN, but there's way more to like about Surfshark than mere dollars and cents. When you first head to its website, Surfshark's laid-back and playful branding takes software that may be a bit intimidating to newcomers and makes it really accessible and user-friendly.
So if you're somebody who is easily bamboozled and, ultimately, put off by complicated menus and myriad options, Surfshark - like ExpressVPN above - could be the ideal VPN for you. It keeps its interface completely stripped back and free from complication. All you'll really see are options for 'Quick connect' and 'All locations', accompanied by a Settings icon, and nothing else at all really. Whether that level of detail or lack thereof is a boon or a drawback entirely depends on your perspective.
That said, when it comes to keeping you and your online identity secure, Surfshark is all business. That's a marked difference from the VPN services sitting above in this guide. And that's for unlimited connections, too. And theoretically you could even let friends and family members use your sub, too. Surfshark offers a day money back guarantee, giving you plenty of time to give it a try before committing for a longer period. So where does it lose marks?
Not too many places, but competition is tough these days - especially when Express and Nord have managed to improve their server speeds so substantially, while Surfshark's have remained merely 'good'. And, thorough as our testers are, we have noticed the odd issue with Surfshark's kill switch.
The result is far from lethal, but it doesn't quite reach the levels of perfection that Express has attained. But it always feels like this company is trying to raise its game, and in May it let independent security consultants Cure53 complete a security assessment to "to thoroughly examine and evaluate the security posture exposed by the Surfshark server" - it ultimately confirmed that there was "a very solid security premise at Surfshark".
It may not be quite the fastest VPN, or the cheapest, or the most powerful, but Private Internet Access often stylized as simply PIA is still a likeable VPN provider with more than enough features to justify a place on your shortlist. The latest count we're told is more like 10,, which still puts it way ahead of the rest when it comes to pure server numbers.
That sure sounds impressive, but it wouldn't be worth a thing without quality VPN clients and a wealth of security smarts. Thankfully, PIA offers a healthy mix of privacy features and security protocols including WireGuard - this extends to its first rate Chrome extension, which adds in the option to block location access, third-party cookies, website referrers and more.
That's not just us saying that either, as the user reviews on the App Store and Play Store are generally really positive. And there's support here for up to 10 simultaneous connections, so it's easy to cover pretty much all of your devices on one reasonable subscription.
Since our last round of testing, it has added SmartDNS to its features list - another string to its bow in helping you watch region-restricted content. It isn't the slowest around and won't significantly hold you up for most 'normal' web activity. But PIA still does plenty to stand out from the crowd and the pricing beats a lot of the competition - often throwing in free extra months or additional security licences when you sign up for more than a year.
Over the last months and years, Proton has been a VPN provider on a mission. Its server network has shot from a few hundred to nearly 2, still less than most, but heading in the right direction and it has made notable improvements to its clients and apps, adding new features and support.
The most significant of those in was WireGuard , which has now been fully rolled out. That bodes well for Proton's future proofing. But even if it hadn't, our speed testing witnessed some of the most eye-catching OpenVPN speeds around. In short, you don't have to worry about waiting to be connected if you're in a hurry to turn on ProtonVPN, and then afterwards you can just leave it working in the background knowing it won't slow down your internet connection.
Proton has really improved its streaming skills, too, becoming a reliable provider for getting around geo-restrictions when you're abroad. It breezed past BBC iPlayer, aces Amazon Prime Video and netted us access to foreign Netflix catalogs without much trouble at all - that's in a year where more reputable providers ahem, NordVPN have encountered problems. Although it should be noted that this is only the case if you have a Plus subscription - you won't get this kind of quality from its free or Basic tiers.
The very fact that Proton is based in Switzerland, instantly makes you just feel safer. And that's only enhanced by terrific kill switches, the opportunity to pay by Bitcoin and solid P2P support for torrenting.
There's still room for some improvement, of course. We'd love to see Proton take a leaf out of Surfshark's book and make the apps and clients feel a bit friendlier and less technical.
Feels like poor form, although at least Proton has a very useful free VPN if you do want to give it a try without any cost whatsoever. This is a powerful and trustworthy service, though, and if that's your top priority, we'd recommend you take a look. VPN service CyberGhost has been a firm favorite of ours for some time now, and it's no surprise that it has a user base of over ten million subscribers. The company covers the basics well, with more than 7, servers spread across odd countries, apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, torrents allowed and speedy live chat support.
CyberGhost shines no matter what device you're planning to use it on. Beneath its clean, easy to follow interface lies a sea of fantastic features and functionality. It will quickly connect you to the right server for you if you're specifically looking to stream or torrent, for example. And extra touches like its Smart Rules panel shows that the engineers at CyberGhost have really put some thought into the user experience. It allows you to automatically connect to your preferred server launch a particular app such as your default browser in incognito mode when you boot up your computer.
A genuinely useful added bonus. We need to spend just a bit of time mentioning the speeds CyberGhost demonstrated in our most recent tests. Website unblocking has historically been another strong suit of CyberGhost's, and we're glad to report that it has upped its game again in our streaming tests. To break into the hallowed top five, we'd like to see CyberGhost clean up a few of the rough edges we witnessed.
Not having an audit or a great support site really does matter, the Windows app keeps shtum when it disconnects, and it irritates us that once you've registered your seven devices, you then have to deregister one before you're able to use CyberGhost on another computer, phone or other gadget.
With a meaty day money back guarantee and fair pricing especially if you're willing to commit , CyberGhost is still well worth a closer look. With parent company Kape showing more and more ambition in this cybersecurity field we mentioned its purchase of ExpressVPN above , you're in the hands an organization that continually seeks to push the envelope.
It's yet more evidence that taking the plunge and paying just a few dollars a month gets you a far superior VPN experience - especially when you read more below about its exclusive pricing just for TechRadar readers. Performance has been a major selling point for a few years now, with Hotspot Shield's proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol helping to deliver some of the fastest and most consistent download speeds around.
That said, it has rather 'stood still' in this regard of late, and services with WireGuard or that have their own proprietary protocols like ExpressVPN's Lightway or Nord's NordLynx have now overtaken Hotspot when it comes to outright speed. As well as being able to run the service on devices where you can use its native Windows, Mac, Android or iOS apps, Hotspot has added functionality to support use on routers, Linux and TV streamers, too.
A SmartVPN feature - that let's you select websites on which the VPN will be bypassed - is another welcome addition, especially if you only really wanted to keep your VPN on when shopping, banking, streaming, etc.
If you really just want a VPN to help you stream more varied content, Hotspot unblocks most of the major streaming services. To springboard back up to the top of this chart, we'd like to see Hotspot uses bring in some independent auditors to verify its logging practices. Especially as the provider does admit to logging VPN sessions, bandwidth, domains accessed and IP addresses.
All of these are reasoned out on Hotspot's website, but we'd welcome an auditor's view on things. There's also room for improvement on its iOS app, which just doesn't quite match the high quality desktop or Android experience.
But subscribe for more than just a month at a time, and Hotspot Shield becomes one of the best priced premium VPNs on the market.
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