What is a VPN?

Virtual Private Networks(VPN) Explained

Time to party?

Remember the days before cell phones when VPN was not even a term? I know some of you do. If you had car trouble, you might be truly stranded for days!

Hopefully, you would have a dime in your pocket once you walked to the nearest payphone. Now reach back even further in time. A few of you might remember party lines. As many as 20 homes shared the same phone line! Can you imagine? People actually could, and sometimes did, listen in on others’ calls. Talk about a lack of privacy!

What can I do?

People are increasingly concerned about internet privacy, with concerns fueled by escalating rates of identity theft and scandalous secrets leaked for the world to see. Unfortunately, the internet is today’s ‘party line,’ and you really don’t know who could be “listening in” while you’re online.

Additionally, you may want to conceal your location. For instance, internet providers sometimes throttle (slow) your connection if they are concerned that you are using too much bandwidth. One way to circumvent this is to hide your location. Government agencies, businesses, and a rapidly growing portion of the public have turned to virtual private networks to secure their personal and business information, but what is a VPN?

What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)?

Imagine the internet as a vast interconnected and ever changing cloud of information. As you are sending data out into this incredibly complex cloud, anyone could intersect it. If the information you are sending is, for example, your credit card number traveling to your virtual shopping cart on your favorite online store, there is a huge risk if you are not protected. A VPN provides that protection, and you are using one every time you pay for something on the internet (or at least you should be). Banks and businesses with an online presence have set up VPNs to protect their customers’ personal information and financial data. The diagram below shows a simple site-to-site virtual private network connection, but virtual private network connections can also connect networks or connect a person’s mobile device to a site or network.

What is needed for a VPN?

A VPN does not require very many components. If you have these things, in theory, you could set up a VPN:

• VPN software – you need it to enable the remote connection.
• Routers and firewalls – these must be configured so that the information you want to send can pass, but everything else is kept out.
• A VPN appliance usually referred to as the VPN server – this device will establish virtual private network sessions and manage virtual private network traffic.

This list seems pretty straightforward, but if any of these components had misconfigured, you will end up with a false sense of security and no internet privacy.

How can you set up a VPN?

The components listed above are available on the internet or at a computer store. The information you need to set up your VPN and configure all of its components can be found on the internet. YouTube has videos that can teach you everything you need to know. Just make sure you know which kind of VPN technology you are employing. The technology will in part depend on whether you are connecting a fixed site to another fixed site or to a mobile target, such as a laptop computer.

Types of VPN

There are many types of VPN technology available including IPSec (IP Security), PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol), L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) and SSL (Secure Socket Layer). Some of these terms and abbreviations may be familiar to you, but chances are you do not know exactly what they mean. This information is also available on the internet if you have enough time to look and research.

Another Option

You don’t have to figure this out all on your own! In fact, you don’t have to figure it out at all. There are VPN services available to any internet user. They are easy to find and easy to use. The components are all in one place. All you need to do is download the software to your computer.

An excellent choice is Shellfire. The VPN provided by Shellfire keeps you safe from internet intruders and also allows you to access the internet anonymously. Shellfire VPN is easy to install and available for all kind of devices, so no matter where you go, it will keep you protected and invisible.

Shellfire’s virtual private network is very affordable and they have many payment options available. Best of all, you can try it for free! Just go to www.Shellfire.net and click on the download link. It’s that easy! The Shellfire VPN comes with a useful 14 days money back guarantee, so you have plenty of time to try it out.

I found that communication was also easier than ever. Long gone are the days of party lines and the worries about your neighbors listening in. As the internet develops, privacy concerns will be constant. Don’t worry though… you can handle it! You just need Shellfire VPN.