Select Your Personal VPN Like The Pros Do

[baqirkhatri]

In my daily routine I often advise small and medium sized businesses as to securing their networks from unwanted intrusions, I have the opportunity to meet many secretaries, administrative assistants, and other assorted individuals that ask me concerning their best bet for a VPN in 2012. And invariably my answer is: "What are your needs?" Before shopping for anything, a television, or a personal VPN service, priorities should be clearly defined. 

vpnveteran.com

First: What do you need

There are several things to consider when deciding which VPN service will work best for you...

Access: Will you be using the service on a daily basis, with every connection? If you will only be using it on a limited basis, (occasional banking, or financial transactions,) then you would probably be okay with a bandwidth limited account. If you will be using it a lot to maintain your privacy and security, an unlimited access account will be required, but these will cost a little more.

Security: What level of security are you needing? If highly sensitive documents for others, perhaps employees or customer data, are to be handled, then a higher level of security, 256 bit encryption will be needed. If it's simply personal data, and you are keeping out the prying eyes, then 128 bit encryption will be sufficient.

Purposes: Will you be using the VPN as a cloaking device...keeping out the prying eyes of the hackers, thieves, and government? Or will you occasionally need to appear to be elsewhere to see how a website shows up in another country. This feature can also be handy for travelers, as they can appear as if they are sitting in their own home.

Price: There are a couple of things to keep in mind here: 1) You get what you pay for, and 2) You don't have to pay a fortune to get everything you need. Determine the features you will need most, access, and when traveling, ensure that the protocol you will be using isn't being choked or blocked. This has been a complaint in some Mid-East and other countries.
Shopping For Your Provider

Shopping for a provider should not be intimate. Most review sites have provider ratings, and best and worst listing charts. First rule out the providers that are outside of your budget. Then start sorting through the best VPN's of 2012 by checking for the protocols you'll need, then encryption that is allowed, server locations, and number of servers, the list will narrow down a bit, and the best VPN for 2012 will become quickly apparent.