VPN's - Virtual Private Networks. Info on setting up, pros, cons?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Who has some knowledge and practical experience with VPN's?

It seems like something I would like on my laptop and/or cellphone, but I know little about them at this time.

Is there one brand/vendor that is superior to another?

Any and all information on VPN's would be appreciated. strogg - Are you reading this? :-)

Thanks in advance.

SIA

[Skooter]

It would be easier to answer if we knew what exactly are you trying to accomplish? There are many different options…. Too many to list.

[JakeTheSnake]

Depends on what you’re looking for, I use PIA for accessing the internet when home, and set up a VPN server on my dedicated security cam NVR PC to access my cameras when away, using OpenVPN.

https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/vpn-prime ... obs.14601/

[The Annoyed Man]

I started using NordVPN a few months ago. It’s pretty easy to set up and use. I have it installed on my laptop and my iPad and iPhone.

[bblhd672]

It would be easier to answer if we knew what exactly are you trying to accomplish? There are many different options…. Too many to list.

Different uses, different options, both hardware and software. I use a hardware based VPN to connect my company laptop to the company’s network in St. Louis to provide me all the same resources as if I was actually in the office. If you are more interested in online privacy you will want a VPN provider and a software client. As Andy said the VPN provider preferred would not keep any logs of your connections.

[RoyGBiv]

Generally, I don't worry too much about VPN at home. If I want to search the web anonymously I use startpage.com and can surf to many of the links anonymously from startpage. Those that do not allow anonymous browsing are clearly noted.

Same for using data on my mobile, generally. If I'm connected to one of the major carriers in the US, I'm usually browsing without VPN and using startpage for anything anonymous.

On the road, especially OCONUS, I use ExpressVPN on both my phone and laptop. Hotels? Public Wifi? ALWAYS use VPN if I'm on public WiFi.

One small downside, I've been blocked by online forums occasionally when using VPN. Even when connected to a Dallas server, I've gotten a "permanently banned" message from this forum. Not always. Probably a troublesome block of IP's that are in some spam list somewhere.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Thank you all for the comments thus far.

I have assumed that the use of a VPN is as easy as AndyC has noted.

What am I trying to accomplish with a VPN? Well, I would expect a VPN to encrypt anything I do, whether I am on my cell, my laptop working off my home router, or streaming the Internet on the laptop when I am away from home.

Research by myself will continue, as it seems like a VPN is the main item needed to prevent hacking.

Don't ask me how, but some criminal hacked my cellphone account at my provider's website and tried to charge a new Samsung S9 to my account. Verizon called me right away and we got that stopped, but Verizon also told me that they would call me back on a date/time certain with the address to which the bogus phone order was to be shipped, and maybe how they hacked me.

Their security team never called me back, so now I have to chase them to determine what's going on.

SIA