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Right now, you’re not the only one who knows that you’re on this website reading this article.
When you’re on your home WiFi doing your daily visits to your favorite sites, everything you do is registered with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) using your Internet Protocol (IP) address. Think of your IP address as your semi-permanent internet license plate or ID card – a complete record showing who it’s registered to (you), where you’ve been, and what you’ve been up to.
And it’s not just your ISP. As you shop, browse, and argue on social media, third parties could be collecting data about you from your IP address without your knowledge. Every time you log on, your router traffic is logged. Most of it isn’t properly encrypted, so advertisers, your ISP, government agencies, and hackers could potentially be obtaining info like your browsing habits and even location — sometimes within six feet of where you are — using the geolocation programs built into most browsers. This can’t be turned off, making it extremely difficult to avoid.
Your email is tagged too; every time you send something, it’s tied to your IP address, risking the release of information like your name, and most recently with mobile devices, your fingerprints.
There are a number of ways to keep your sensitive information safe, but to protect yourself online, we recommend using a Virtual Private Network (a.k.a. a VPN) and a reliable VPN router.
What You Need to Know Before Buying a VPN Router
How It Works: The best VPN routers can be an excellent line of defense against your information being taken and used without your permission. When you set up your default home internet access through a VPN router, you can go anonymous, and your data is harder to track. It’s just like a regular router, but rather than sending your info out to the open and unsecured internet, the data is first sent through a secure server, where it’s encrypted and protected.
Pros and Cons: Instead of running VPN apps on all your individual devices and manually managing each one, a VPN router covers all the connected devices on your network.
There are some potential downsides to a VPN router though: for starters, there’s a chance your internet connection speed could be a bit slower, since the server it’s being routed through might not be near you. Also some streaming sites block VPNs, though in those cases, you’ll still have your regular WiFi access to fall back on.
Security: Cybersecurity is one of the most important topics in the world today and there are a number of ways to make sure your personal information remains personal, aside from just using a VPN router. A strong password is a must, and so is staying current with the latest software and antivirus updates, backing up your data, and using two (or even three) step verification.
Keep in mind that a VPN will only do so much; if you have a weak password, someone could still break into your network and sniff out all of your data.
When shopping for a VPN router, security, speed and range are what to look for. We’ve rounded up some top picks for small homes to large offices. The best VPN routers can offer reliable coverage, stronger security and hopefully offer some peace of mind as well.
