What is a VPN?
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a well-known abbreviation among regular Internet users. Initially, VPNs were used in enterprises to connect networks securely. Currently, VPN is used by the industrial IoT industry to encrypt data transmission environments. For example, industrial routers generally have VPN private network transmission functions. A VPN protects users’ privacy and prevents ISPs and government agencies from tracking their online activities, such as those who attempt to capture the transactions of users performing illegal file sharing of movies, music albums, torrenting and even attempts to access geo-restricted content, Hulu and Other streaming services.
As Internet security threats increase exponentially, the risks are the same no matter which device you use (whether it’s a PC, MAC, tablet, iPhone, Android device or smartphone). Each of these devices can be tracked and their exact location known with little effort.
Access the internet without a VPN
The figure below shows a typical user accessing the Internet without a VPN. A user’s IP address is assigned by the ISP and is visible to the Internet. ISPs and anyone monitoring a user’s IP address can fully see any online resource the user visits:
Of course, resources such as Internet Banking generally encrypt data transmitted between the client and server, but the source (user IP) and destination (server IP) of the traffic are still fully visible. Likewise, other activities such as torrent downloads can also be fully traced back to the user.
It should also be noted that ISPs always keep log files of their users’ IP addresses. This indicates to some extent that ISPs have thorough knowledge of the IP addresses assigned to each user. By law, the logs will be stored for several years and can be used as evidence in lawsuits or inquiries. This applies to both home and mobile users.
VPN Service Provider Shared IP VS Dedicated IP
When you connect to a VPN service provider, you are usually assigned a shared IP address, that is, an IP address that many users use together. While using a shared IP address may not sound ideal, it actually does increase anonymity compared to using a dedicated IP address that is only assigned to your VPN account.
When accessing an IP-restricted server or website, a dedicated IP address is generally required. Running a website or FTP server outside of a VPN service provider is also a reason to use a dedicated IP address.
For most VPN users who perform temporary web browsing, downloading, file sharing and require anonymous browsing capabilities, sharing IP addresses is considered a safe option.
The impact of a VPN on your mobile device’s speed, battery, or computer
Quality of VPN client software
Just like any software, a well-designed VPN application can run without problems and limit its use of system resources. There are some VPN providers that offer very cheap subscriptions, however, their VPN client software may be buggy, resulting in frequent crashes or taking a long time to respond to user operations.
VPN encryption algorithm
Your VPN client offers many VPN encryption options, each of which will provide you with different levels of security. Higher levels of encryption (such as L2/IPSec) mean better security, however, due to the complexity of strong encryption protocols, you will be required to work harder to encrypt and decrypt traffic, which will then tax the device’s CPU. of loss.
On the other hand, choosing a weaker encryption protocol (such as PPTP) means that the CPU requirements will be reduced, but so will the security provided.
Newer protocols, like OpenVPN, combine the best of both worlds and provide fast, secure VPN service at minimal cost to your CPU. It is generally recommended to use OpenVPN.
VPN protocol
As mentioned earlier, VPNs use different encryption protocols to protect the connection between the end user and the VPN server. Choosing the best VPN protocol is important, so let’s discover the most commonly supported encryption protocols used by VPN providers:
● PPTP-Point-to-Point Tunnel Protocol. The old lightweight VPN protocols are still popular, but they are not very secure. Ideal for streaming and basic VPN needs, but not for torrenting.
● L2TP/IPSec – Layer 2 native protocol and IP security. The development of PPTP has provided better security and encryption, but at the expense of speed.
● SSTP – Secure Socket Tunnel Protocol. Microsoft’s sensitive encryption based on SSL. Good alternative to L2TP/IPSec, but not as good as OpenVPN.
● OpenVPN – a newer open source VPN protocol with excellent security, flexibility and compatibility. Supported by router firmware (such as DD-WRT, Tomato, etc.).
● More servers means better distribution of VPN users. This somewhat bodes well for faster server speeds and fewer users per VPN server.
● Higher service availability. If one or more servers go down, you will have many other servers to connect to, thus limiting the impact on your VPN service.
● Access geo-restricted content in every country that has a VPN server for you to connect to.
● Ability to connect to VPN servers close to the source you are trying to access, thus providing better download/upload speeds.
Users should be aware that not all encryption protocols provide the same level of security and performance. For example, PPTP is an older VPN protocol that does not actually encrypt information, but merely encapsulates the user’s data. Think of it as placing a letter (data) inside a specification envelope. Envelopes are lightweight so you can carry more envelopes in a given time period (high functionality/throughput). Although PPTP offers less security, it is popular because not many people understand the level of security it offers and because it has successfully penetrated the market over the past 15 years and is still supported by newer VPN devices and servers. It is still widely used today.
L2TP/IPSec, on the other hand, is an evolution of PPTP and was introduced as another more secure VPN protocol. It offers significantly higher security, but the protocol is slower, which to some extent portends its greater expense.
SSTP is a Microsoft proprietary protocol found on all Windows operating systems since Windows Vista Service Pack 1. SSTP is preferable to PPTP and L2TP because it can pass through most firewalls without problems (requires TCP port 443), while PPTP and L2TP/IPSec may not pass through firewalls because they use uncommon ones that are usually blocked by corporate or guest networks. TCP/UDP port.
Ultimately, OpenVPN is the preferred VPN protocol by far. This is an open source (free distribution) newer technology supported by almost all devices and VPN service providers. It’s flexible, offers excellent security, has moderate CPU requirements, and can run in almost any environment that can get through a firewall without issue.
Additionally, our company’s routers support OpenVPN, allowing users to connect to their VPN provider at the router level without using any VPN client software on the device connected to their home or business network.
Using the correct VPN encryption protocol is important as it will greatly impact the security provided as well as your upload/download speeds.Keywords: Ethernet IO control