It is likely that, on some occasion, you have come across the acronym ‘VPN’. Its meaning is ‘Virtual Private Network’ or, in Spanish, ‘Virtual Private Network’; an apt name for a technology that is fundamentally about creating a ‘mini-internet within the Internet’ that directly connects two or more devices, even though they are not physically connected to each other.
Plus, it does so by encrypting the data that those devices exchange through the network, thus preventing them from being intercepted. Add to that hide your IP address —websites you try to connect to will receive the request from the VPN server, not your computer—and you’ll know why those who value the privacy and security of their connection often use this tool.
Eye, it is not that it guarantees absolute anonymity: Your Internet provider will be able to know that you are connected to that VPN, but they will certainly not be able to know where you connect to or what you do from it.
In addition, our Internet provider cannot access our communications, but the VPN server itself could do it if it turned out to be malicious: this is why it is so important to use a reliable VPN service
How to improve INTERNET SECURITY: VPN, DNS and pages with HTTPS
That’s how it works:
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When we connect to a VPN service, the connection is established between a client software and an online VPN server. For this, several protocols can be used. tunneling that vary from each other in aspects such as stability or connection speed.
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Once the connection is established (usually after authentication), the server applies an encryption protocol to all data packets exchanged with the client.
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said packages are embedded in other external packets in a process known as encapsulation, to strengthen data security. These encapsulated packets are the ones that travel through the VPN ‘tunnel’ and are only ‘unpacked’ at each of the receiving ends of the connection.
Background…
The origin of VPN technology dates back to 1996, when a Microsoft employee, Gurdeep Singh-Pall, developed the first tunneling protocol, PPTP (acronym for ‘peer-to-peer tunneling protocol’). At first, the use of this technology was focused solely on corporate environments, in need of additional security measures given the need to open up to the newly created Internet.
However, with the rise of both cyberattacks and cybersurveillance systems since the beginning of this century, more and more people became aware of the advantages of its use for individual users. Later, between 2016 and 2018, the number of VPN users around the world quadrupled, according to the GlobalWebIndex. But what is this technology used for?
Why do I need a VPN?
- Because you regularly use public WiFi networks: This kind of Wi-Fi networks (common in hotels, airports, cafeterias and public transport) are insecure by definition, and expose whoever connects to them to the possibility that there is a cyber attacker ‘listening’ (using packet analysis techniques) or manipulating (through an attack man-in-the-middle) your communications. None of this is possible if web traffic remains tunneled and encrypted thanks to a VPN.
- Because you want to access censored and/or geographically restricted content: Usually the authorities, motivated by regulations on national security, copyright protection or similar, are able to prevent us from accessing certain pages and online services, and in other cases it is said services that want to restrict access to connections from certain countries. But, when we connect through a virtual private network, the connection to the web server is made from an IP of the country where the VPN server is located, so blocking by geographical criteria loses all effectiveness.
- Because you work remotely: Many companies already require the use of VPN services when giving employees connecting from outside the company access to their corporate network. A connection without VPN encryption would be vulnerable to credential theft, which could jeopardize the security of the entire company (and the confidentiality of your data).
- If you are a streamer and/or gamer: We have already said that a VPN hides which IP address we are using. And what people do not know, they cannot attack: both the world of video games and streaming can be very competitive when there is money involved, and it is not uncommon for DDoS attacks to be carried out with the specific purpose of doing drop a connection during a broadcast or match.
What is the best free VPN?
While using paid VPN apps is often considered the best solution, there are several well-known and reliable free VPN serviceseven if normally some of the characteristics of the service they provide is inferior to those of the first (can impose limitations in speed, amount of data, number/variety of locations available, etc.).
You may check which one best suits your needs accessing our recent article ‘Free VPN: which ones you can trust and which ones you can’t‘.
How can I connect to a VPN?
In case you want use a third-party VPN service, you just have to install its corresponding application in Windows, open it and press the mandatory ‘Connect’ button (in case it doesn’t do it automatically). Of course, it may ask you to configure some option before (it depends on each app, and there are dozens and dozens).
There is also a ‘Add VPN’ button in ‘Windows Settings > Network and Internet > VPN‘, but we will only need to resort to that section if it gives us create our own VPN. If you are interested, read on…
How to create a VPN?
Although there are many third-party VPN services, you do not need to use any of them to connect through a VPN connection: you can create your own virtual home network. Windows, without going any further, makes it easy for us (well, let’s leave it at ‘allows’) to do that task. Of course, that network will not help us to pass off your IP as foreignbecause you will also be connecting from Spain, but yes it can protect your privacytunneling your data and masking the IP of your router when you connect.
To create it, simply access ‘Network and Internet’ within Windows Settings. In Windows 10 we must press ‘Status > Change Adapter Options‘, Meanwhile in Windows 11 we’ll go to ‘Advanced network settings > More network adapter options‘. In both cases, the same window of the old ‘Control Panel’ will open, one that will show us the connections that we have created. Over there, we will press F10 to show a hidden menu with more options, which will allow us to click ‘File > New Incoming Connection‘.
Doing so will bring up a window titled “Who can connect to this computer?” and a list of user accounts; below, we will have an ‘Add someone’ button that will allow us to create a user account and set their password. Do it: the data you establish will be what will allow us to create the VPN connection later.
Once created, you will go to a screen in which Windows will ask how this user is going to connect to your network: you must select the option ‘Through the Internet’. A) Yes, the username you have created will be to connect to the network forming a VPN. After clicking on ‘Next’, we will go to another screen that will show us network protocols. Here, you have to select the ‘Internet Protocol version 4’ option and click on ‘Properties’.
The objective? Prevent the new connection from using our default IP, and change it to a new range of IPs that are within your IP address. Don’t worry, we’ll explain it to you. First, select the ‘Specify IP addresses’ option. Now go to ‘Start > Run’ and open an application called ‘ipconfig’: a terminal window will open showing various IP addresses; point the ‘Default gateway’ (the IP of your router) and go back to where we were to write the same first three series of numbers… but then change the last number indicating a range of IPs as wide as IPs you want to assign to your VPN.
Once the range of IPs has been written, click on ‘OK’, and you will return to the network software screen. Here you will have finished configuring everything, so all you have to do is click on the ‘Allow access’ button, and Windows will proceed to create your VPN server. After that, you must enter the configuration of your router to open port 1723 creating a new ‘manual rule’; It will ask you for your PC’s IP address (not your router’s), so you must open ‘ipconfig’ again and write down the ‘IPv4 Address’ data.
When you’re done there, you should access ‘Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall > Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall‘. There, click on the ‘Change settings’ button and we will agree to give admin permissions. Here, you have to check the Private and Public boxes of the Routing and remote access option, which appears in the list.
Now, reopen ‘ipconfig’ and note the new ‘IPv4 Address’, go to ‘Settings > Network and Internet > VPN‘ Y, after clicking the ‘Add VPN’ button, indicates this new IP address. In the new window that opens, choose ‘Windows’ as ‘VPN Provider’, in ‘Server name or address’, the first ‘IPv4 Address’ that came out and finally write the username and password that you created at the beginning of this process. Done, you already have your VPN connection up and running!
A VPN we recommend
NordVPN is one of the leaders in the VPN industry; Numerous VPN review websites today point it out as the best option on the market. It is also one of the veterans of the sector: it launched its service 10 years ago now, when it had only 6 servers (today it has 5,200, spread over 59 countries). But our reasons for recommending it are other:
- PrivacyNote: NordVPN is based in Panama, a country with a reputation (and laws to back it up) for protecting corporate privacy. In addition, their servers lack disk drives, making virtual RAM storagewhich prevents them from collecting browsing data from their users and guarantees the privacy of our browsing.
- Speed: In addition, the latest VPN service speed comparison published by AVTest placed NordVPN’s download speed far (far) above that of its main rivalsyou will hardly notice that you are using a VPN while browsing.
Image | comparitech.com