How we check VPNs

VPNs, or digital personal networks, are all over the place. If you happen to’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 overview 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 identification of your gadget by routing your visitors by a distant server. Websites and providers will see a distinct IP deal with to your personal, and your web service supplier will solely be capable to see that you simply’re linked to a VPN server, reasonably than what websites you’re visiting. Meaning a VPN could be an vital software to maintain your information personal and safe, particularly if that you must connect with an unsecured community. If you happen to’re on public WiFi, for instance, you possibly can’t make sure what they’re monitoring whilst you’re browsing the web. With a VPN, there’s an extra layer of privateness — so long as you ensure that 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 must be manner larger on your checklist.

One other generally marketed characteristic of VPNs is evading geoblocking methods 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 observe one other nation’s Netflix content material or, say, watch Physician Who on the UK-only BBC iPlayer. If you happen to’re within the EU, it may can help you entry websites which can be in any other case blocked because of the area’s strict information 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 powerful to know what’s true and what’s advertising hype. That’s why Engadget began evaluating VPNs in 2023, taking a look at quite a few components similar to safety, pace, latency, utilization limits and worth. 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 can be publicly out there, and word the safety specs of every service. We additionally look into every firm’s historical past of safety incidents like information breaches. We depend on some pre-existing educational work from our bodies like Shopper Studies, VPNalyzer and others when wanting into safety specs.

Setup

The subsequent step in our overview course of entails a detailed take 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 net browsers to Good TVs, to raised perceive how it may be used. We additionally look to see simply how straightforward it’s to get began on a brand new VPN. Some will robotically connect with a safe server each time you employ your gadget, whereas others make you bounce by hoops to remain signed in. We search to know 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’s usually 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 person can have linked directly? Is there a “truthful 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 must. We additionally conduct lots of our extra particular checks on the identical time, which permits us to confirm corporations’ claims about simultaneous gadget use.

Pace and latency

Step one in testing pace and latency is to establish the baseline of the connection earlier than connecting to a VPN. We then use the “fast join” characteristic on VPN apps to connect with the “quickest” supplier out there when testing web pace. As soon as linked, we run web pace checks by Ookla and ping checks with meter.web. When relaying these outcomes, we’ll word the typical pace 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 verify {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 check by enjoying 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 some other complications that you would 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 the usage of 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 fashionable net browsers that may equally expose your private IP deal with to an internet site you’re on. When you can keep away from this by configuring your browser to not ship such information, a VPN ought to be capable to stop this from taking place.

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