And if so, which one / what features?
(I found a thread on this topic from 2018, but reasoned that thinking might have changed somewhat since then.)
Note that I don’t do anything remotely illegal or even marginally sketchy online - nor do I anticipate any future interest in such. I do travel a bit, and not infrequently need to connect in public places.
VPNs and encrypting your communications is not illegal. On the contrary, if you need to access a bunch of servers and machines in your office then there is no reason to leave them wide open to the Internet or to expose your communications.
Now whether the best solution for you would be a software-defined networking product or a VPN that sends all traffic over a single network link (eg to connect two networks) or even a simple Internet proxy (eg to deal with geo-blocking and data profiling) depends on what you want to do.
If you just need to connect to the Internet from cafes and hotels then a service that offers an encrypted VPN tunnel should be sufficient
I don’t think they thought using a VPN was illegal. They thought that using a VPN might be a solution to hide yourself if you are doing something illegal.
If you read the terms of any VPN or VPS or hosting or any kind of internet service, they always say you can do anything you want provided that it does not violate local laws. They most definitely do not take responsibility for “hiding your illegal activities”. What they do offer are privacy features like routing your traffic through servers in a country with strong privacy laws so no data retention or activity/traffic logging, etc.
The Opera web browser has a free built-in VPN. Might be worth trying to understanding VPN functionality before spending money on a stand-alone VPN.
Yes. I assume VPNs are fully legal, but to some extent appeal to those who wish to hide what they’re up to.
I don’t do anything that really needs to be hidden - but I think there’s something to be said for not making online activity easily trackable.
Here you go: PC Magazine’s the best VPN services of 2022
I didn’t say they did or that I thought they did. I was saying that was my interpretation of what OP said/meant, and that you apparently mistook their meaning.
Protecting privacy is important, or should be, to everyone. I’m getting one myself as soon as the new Ipad Pro 2022 comes out. Haven’t decided which one so that’s why your question drew me in.
If OP does decide to get a VPN service, I can recommend NordVPN. It’s described on that review as a “premium” VPN service - but that’s only by the silly expectations we have of paying nothing for technology. I think my last renewal was under $3 per month. Don’t be tempted by anything cheaper, especially if you plan to use any international servers, because you will only get what you pay for with free or dirt cheap services - a million other cheapskates will be trying to access the same limited number of servers.
On the couple of occasions in the 5 years I’ve used them that something was not behaving as expected, I was in contact with support within minutes.
I’m intrigued by the internet proxy solution. Recently, I was in Europe and discovered that my ISP (my cable company) has instituted a policy that doesn’t allow emails sent from my account from a foreign IP (I could still receive emails, just couldn’t send them). I spent about 2 hours fighting jet lag and tech support, finally one of the tech support people said “You just need to get a VPN”. I took that to mean use a VPN to send my email from a US-based IP address.
I haven’t gotten around to installing a VPN on my laptop, mainly laziness and some worry about performance degradation while using the VPN, potential compatibility issues (there are always compatibility issues in my experience).
I’m thinking maybe a proxy server is better? I don’t really have any need for a VPN for anything other than spoofing my ISP into believing I should be allowed to reply to emails I receive while traveling, so the simplest solution may be best.
I discovered that I could not access one of my utility company websites from a foreign IP address to pay my utility bill online. I find the IT thought process behind this quite baffling. “We supply electricity in New Mexico, so we can’t imagine why would someone in South Africa would ever need to access our website.” It’s probably no coincidence that it’s a monopoly service that will not lose my business.
Consumer type VPN connections (unlike some enterprise types) do not need to be on all the time, although many support a kill switch that prevents connections when the VPN is off.
I use NordVPN on my laptop, iPhone, and iPad only when I need it. When it is off, there are no compatibility or slowdown concerns.
Well, I’ve heard that’s the latest scam. Someone in Nigeria spoofs your identity and pays your utility bill…
It’s diabolical. 
The VPN service should allow you to set up an encrypted VPN tunnel to the server of your choice, which will act as a proxy for your Internet traffic. Even a free-tier service like ProtonVPN Free should have servers in the United States, but if you need unlimited bandwidth (which you do not just to send a couple of emails) then paying something might be indicated.
If you have a machine in the US at home or work that is online all the time, you could also set up a proxy through it by yourself.
Thanks!
I’d go with the homebrew, but a power outage, however brief would bollix that (and not worth the price of a UPS versus a free VPN service).
I was going to start a similar thread, so I’ll just ask here since it’s handy.
What does a VPN do for me? Is it just so your real IP address is unknown to web sites or is there more to it? If you use one, can you explain what you use it for? Does that average person that just surfs the web and pays bills online really need one? If I start using one now, will sites like my banks or utility companies think it’s not me and need two step verification?
In simple terms, it gives you a secure, private connection to whatever it is you want to access. When you go to the straightdope.com. Your internet provider knows that you went there. If you are using public WiFi, it is also possible that whoever manages the WiFi knows so as well (depending on how they log it). If you have a VPN, then you connect to it first securely and then to the straight dope. Now none of those providing the internet access know you are going to the site.
The secure part is also important because your communications to the vpn server are encrypted, so what is sent theoretically can’t be snooped. If you use any public wifi spots, it is a good idea to use a VPN because you don’t know what safeguards, if any the provider is using.
I use one of the ones other people recommended NordVPN on a daily basis, and I also use a portable router that I connect to public WiFi, turn the VPN on the router and then connect my devices to it. For me the mini router is not so much of a security thing but more of a convenience thing. I don’t have to have the public WiFi information on each device, just the router.
This is going to depend on the bank or utility. I have run into problems with only one bank site that when I am using a vpn. Also, as others pointed out above, there have been some utilities that I have had to use a VPN while overseas to access it because it only allowed connections from within their own country.
//i\\
It’s really slow though. At least it was when I was using it to understand more about groups like Proud Boys and QAnon after the Jan. 6, riots, and I didn’t want to get on any unwanted lists, or start seeing banner ads for QAnon t-shirts. I’d open a private window in Opera, use duckduckgo.com as a search engine (they supposedly don’t track you) and the Opera VPN.
I think all VPNs slow down your internet speed to some extent, but some are faster than others. I guess you get what you pay for with Opera’s free VPN.
I don’t know if your experiences are the same, but mine has been that such websites never let on why they’re not working. So you’re left to gradually intuit that the foreign IP is the problem.