Those in the know, please tell me the plus and minus of VPN tunnels.
Why would i need one or why not ?
thanks
If you don’t know if you need a VPN tunnel, then you don’t need a VPN tunnel.
Maybe provide some details what problem you’re trying to solve.
A VPN tunnel encrypts network traffic between two endpoints. You use them to transfer data over networks that are potentially vulnerable to eavesdropping (public networks, private networks where you don’t want other users on that private network to potentially see your data). It encrypts traffic so the traffic cannot be read or tampered with by unauthorized parties while in transit. There is overhead to do the encryption, so overall network performance can be negatively impacted, depending upon the level of encryption chosen.
In addition to what Caldazar said, a VPN can also make you appear to come from a different part of the world, as seen by the servers you visit. For example, if you lived in Europe but visited a webserver in the US via a US-based VPN proxy, then from the webserver’s point of view you would be visiting from the US.
Since some companies may have configured their systems to refuse to serve you certain content depending on your location, you may find this advantageous. I cannot advise you on the legalities of this, as I am not a lawyer.
Should you decide to use a VPN, it’s worth noting that there are several free ones available. However, it is greatly recommended that you not send any personal information over them as the “hosts” are typically other people running the same free service and you don’t know if they will intercept your information. Furthermore, one of the better known ones, Hola, was caught selling its users bandwidth for botnets.
If you just wanted to use a public, albeit region-specific, service then maybe a free VPN would work for you. If you were going to use Paypal or something while connected, I wouldn’t recommend it. There are also paid VPN services that at least have a business reputation to protect (though I’d still disconnect and change my passwords afterward).
Strictly speaking, a VPN tunnel encrypts traffic while a Proxy submits requests on behalf of a client machine. The two technologies can be combined to create a VPN-based proxy, but VPNs and Proxies are distinct technologies.
They are useful if you live in a country where internet is restricted.
Also, the V in VPN stands for ‘virtual’. It means, simplified, that the site/computer that you’re connected to could be across town or on the other side of the globe, but as far as your OS is concerned it is part of your local network (this is also why it’s referred to as ‘tunneling’). As others have said though, its speed will still vary depending on distance and routing.
If you want a boat load of good information then you have to read TorrentFreak.
I was astonsihed by the number of ways VPNs fail you and expose you. So if you’re absolutely serious about privacy, then go to the site and look on the right hand side and make SURE to read the comments, where they give you the real low down on how and why VPNs can fail to keep you secure.
Everything from VPNs not reconnecting properly when the connection dies, from those who keep logs and will turn you in, despite saying they won’t, to those who throttle, and a whole host of issues.
Also did they ever fix the VPN issue in Chrome which can expose your real IP address? I know it was fixed in Firefox. They supposedly had an extension in Chrome, but that was later shown not to work.
A VPN connection is like a virtual router connection. You run a VPN program or configuration on your PC or router. It connects with the other end and they exchange data as if the two endpoints were physically wired directly to each other.
Hence -
“V” - virtual - it looks like a physically wired direct connection between A and B, but it’s not; it’s all done in software and the data goes through the internet from A to B.
“P” -Private - the two ends encrypt data and so nobody in between can read the data going back and forth (theoretically)
“N” - network - you are connected to the other end as if you were part of their network, and vice versa. Anything you could do between two connected networks you can do between these two points on the internet.
Businesses use VPN’s to make it look like branch plants are directly wired into the main office network, etc. The VPN takes care of the transport and encryption of data between the endpoints, so the IT department only has to worry about the configuration of devices on the internal networks.
Unlike businesses connecting two locations, consumer VPN’s connect the client to the internet, but at a different IP address than their home router and home internet service. Private users use them for privacy. VPN commercial resellers (and some freebie versions) basically allow you to connect from your end to their VPN service and then to the internet. Your internet browsing then appears to be coming from the VPN company’s IP rather than the one for your router. This may be for privacy, or so you can see content only available there (i.e. Canadian connects to VPN, appears from IP address to be browsing from the USA, can see Comedy Central clips “not available in Canada”) Some bigger VPN sellers have multiple outlet addresses in multiple countries.
there is a potential for abuse - users think they can’t be identified and do unsavory things. However, the VPN provided may or may not collect logs of who was connected and from where, so law enforcement may find you anyway. Some websites use blacklists try to collect known VPN addresses and block them just on principle. but generally, VPN’s are good.
(Netflix, for example, determines which programs you can see by which country your IP address is from.)
As well as enabling employees to work from home on whatever computer the employee likes to work on. (Yes, I realize there are still issues with letting the employee use whatever his little heart desires, but that is the concept). I was never consistently a work-from-home employee (to be brutally honest, I wouldn’t have the self-discipline), but I had jobs with two different employers that had VPN setups so that I could do that intermittently. When I was “VPNed in” it looked like I was on a computer directly connected to their internal networks.
Also, employees who travel need a VPN to access the corporate network over the public internet.
Yes, that’s with one end of the VPN running on your workstation. Thus your workstation/laptop connects to the business’s firewall from your hotel room, and appears to be plugged into the office network. This allow you to work the same a if you were in the office.