Can anyone recommend a good VPN?

[Dino]

I'm on my laptop all day every day and I'd like to be a bit better protected. Is anyone running a VPN and understands the lingo? I have zero experience with them and I'm not sure which one to go with. The free ones are not going to work as they limit data download but I'd like to know what exactly I'd be paying for.

[funknut]

I do data security in many forms all-day, every day for work, but in all honesty if I were looking for a consumer VPN solution I'd start with a site like PCMag or Gizmodo to do my initial research.  Most VPN services are designed around 3 features:

1) Privacy/anonymity
2) Confidentiality (encrypted data)
3) Location independence, which is basically the ability to stream any content from wherever you are (lots of content is location-restricted)

Many VPN services are focused on (1) to enable sharing copyrighted content like torrents, but there are plenty that are good all-purpose services.

Other VPN services frown on file sharing and send you a nastygram and or suspend your service if they find you are sharing illegally.

If you're just looking for privacy and confidentiality, most of the available VPN services will work for you.

The links I found below seem pretty comprehensive and up to date.

Good luck!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403388,00.asp

http://lifehacker.com/5935863/five-best-vpn-service-providers

https://www.lifewire.com/best-vpn-service-providers-4061659

[Dino]

Thanks funknut!   

[Troy]

But don't try to log in here while on it or you'll likely end up getting banned (automatically). It's amazing how many attacks come from places that hide your info...

Troy

[Dino]

Oh good to know! I never thought of that.