Expressvpn Protects Your On-Line Anonymity Together With Privacy

This post reviews ExpressVPN, a hosted Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. H5N1 hosted VPN service is a paid subscription service. With a VPN, all your Internet communication is encrypted as well as passed through a secure proxy (the VPN server) earlier continuing to the intended destination. To the residual of the world, the Internet traffic appears to come upwardly from the VPN server, non your abode computer.

Why VPN?

Subscription to a VPN service provides many benefits. For a brief video introduction, delight click here.

Anonymity as well as privacy

When y'all connect to the Internet, y'all are exposing yourself to the Blue Planet of hackers as well as authorities spy agencies who desire to rail your on-line activities, as well as pocket your someone information.

Many people receive got misplaced their trust inwards the Internet Service Providers (ISP) to protect their on-line anonymity as well as privacy. It is to a greater extent than ofttimes than non good known that ISPs produce log your Internet activities. They are obliged to manus over the information if they are subpoenaed yesteryear authorities authorities.

The tech savvy may run Tor, a pop safety tool, on their abode computers. But, running Tor yesteryear itself is non practiced enough. While the information is good protected, your Internet access provider does know that y'all are using Tor. The mere usage of Tor may arouse suspicion as well as attract extra unwanted attending from the authorities.

By using VPN, all your Internet information as well as activities (including Tor usages) are protected, fifty-fifty from your ISP. The telephone commutation is that the VPN vendor must non rail your VPN traffic. This "no information logging" policy is written into ExpressVPN's terms of service agreement.

Breaking censorship

Even if y'all alive inwards a democratic country, y'all may live on patch of study to regional Internet restrictions. For example, I cannot sentinel NBC on-line because I alive inwards Canada as well as they bound access to American viewers only. Likewise, American viewers cannot current hockey games from the Canadian CBC website.

With a VPN, y'all tin intermission censorship yesteryear opening a VPN connectedness to a server located inwards the target country. For example, to sentinel the American NBC, I connect my reckoner to a VPN server located inwards the USA. In this way, my asking to sentinel NBC is granted because it appears to come upwardly from an American location.

For ameliorate safety as well as service to you, VPN vendors must deploy servers inwards every bit many cities as well as countries every bit possible. ExpressVPN's servers are located inwards 136 cities across 87 countries. This should embrace the location requirement for most people.

VPN service features

Pricing & payment options

ExpressVPN's pricing is non the cheapest inwards the industry. However, it does offering a flexible term: y'all tin sign upwardly for 1 month, or y'all salve money yesteryear committing for half dozen or 12 months. All plans come upwardly amongst a generous 30-day money-back guarantee, as well as 7x24 alive chat support.

I similar the payment options that ExpressVPN offers. In improver to the major credit cards, ExpressVPN also accepts PayPal as well as Bitcoin. If y'all pay amongst a credit card, your identity is associated amongst your VPN account. On the other hand, y'all tin purchase bitcoins anonymously. If y'all pay amongst bitcoins which y'all purchased anonymously, y'all stay anonymous fifty-fifty to the VPN vendor.

Linux support

Many VPN vendors claim back upwardly for Linux. Windows users tin download a VPN client which automatically configures your VPN connection. In contrast, the flat of Linux back upwardly is ofttimes inwards the cast of instructions on how to manually laid a VPN connection.

ExpressVPN's Linux support is exceptional. You tin download the VPN client for major Linux distributions such every bit Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, as well as CentOS. You purpose the client for all your day-to-day VPN operations, such every bit connecting as well as disconnecting from the VPN, listing available servers, as well as reporting the connectedness status.

Installing ExpressVPN client

After y'all sign upwardly for the service, download the VPN client according to the instructions inwards the official welcome email. You require to specify the Linux distribution earlier the download tin proceed. For Debian or Ubuntu, choose Ubuntu (there is no Debian selection per se). Similarly, for Fedora or Centos, choose Fedora.

It is also a practiced thought to download the VPN client's
signature file. For instructions on how to purpose the signature file to verify the client download, click here.

After y'all successfully download the client (expressvpn_1.1.0_amd64.deb), installing it is every bit tardily every bit running the next command:

$ sudo dpkg -i expressvpn_1.1.0_amd64.deb

Next, y'all require to activate the VPN service. Note that y'all entirely require to produce it once. You volition live on prompted to travel inwards the activation code every bit provided to y'all inwards the welcome email.

$ expressvpn activate

You tin download as well as install the VPN client on every bit many devices every bit y'all wish. But, y'all tin entirely
receive got a maximum of three simultaneous VPN connections.

The side yesteryear side department explains how y'all volition purpose the ExpressVPN client.

Useful commands

To connect to the VPN, run this command:

$ expressvpn connect Connecting to Smart Location... Connecting to Canada - Montreal - 2... 100.0% Connected.

Note that I did non specify which VPN server to connect to. When y'all connect for the real kickoff fourth dimension as well as y'all produce non specify the server, it volition default to a recommended server, the 'smart' server, e.g., Montreal. In subsequent connections, it volition default to the previous server.

What if I don't desire to connect to the Montreal server? I alive inwards Vancouver which is nigh 4,000 kilometres (or 2,485 miles) away from Montreal. So, I desire to connect to a nearer server.

To switch servers, follow the steps below.

List the available servers using the next command.

$ expressvpn listing     ALIAS COUNTRY            LOCATION          RECOMMENDED      ----- ---------------    ----------------- -----------     smart Smart Location     Canada-Montreal-2  Y ... usny  US of America (US) USA - New York     Y ... usse                     USA - Seattle      Y ...

Disconnect from the electrical current server.

$ expressvpn disconnect

Connect to the target server.

$ expressvpn connect usse    Connecting to USA - Seattle...  100.0%    Connected.

To verify the condition of the VPN connection, run this command:

$ expressvpn condition Connected to USA - Seattle

Performance test

A VPN service encrypts as well as reroutes your Internet traffic through the VPN server. Because of this indirection, it adds or as well as thus flat of overhead to the VPN speed performance.

To mensurate the performance overhead of ExpressVPN, I run the next tests.

Baseline (No VPN)
I run three tests without VPN, using speedtest.net. Each attempt measures the download as well as upload speeds. Results from the three tests are averaged as well as recorded inwards the row labeled 'No VPN' inwards the tabular array below.
VPN connectedness to the nearest server (Seattle)
3 to a greater extent than tests were run amongst VPN connectedness to the Seattle server. Note that the download as well as upload speeds convey a 21% as well as 18% hitting respectively when y'all compare the results amongst tests performed without VPN. H5N1 drib inwards speed is unavoidable because of the inherent VPN performance overhead. This flat of performance degradation is ofttimes acceptable to most users, as well as tin live on viewed every bit the toll of protecting your on-line privacy as well as anonymity.
VPN connectedness to the smart server (Montreal)
The Montreal server is located 4,000 kilometres (or 2,485 miles) away from Vancouver. In contrast, the Seattle server is entirely 200 kilometres (or 124 miles) away. In calorie-free of the greater distance, it is non surprising that the Montreal speed tests took a bigger hitting than the Seattle tests.

VPN status	Ave download speed (Mbps)	Download speed penalisation (%)	Ave upload speed (Mbps)	Upload speed penalisation (%)
No VPN	26.73	N/A	6.69	N/A
Connected to USA - Seattle	21.10	21	5.49	18
Connected to Canada - Montreal	18.80	30	5.40	19

Summary & conclusion

Pros

Excellent Linux command-line interface
30-day money dorsum guarantee
7x24 client back upwardly via alive chat or email
PayPal, Bitcoin as well as many to a greater extent than payment method options

Cons

Restricted set out of devices for simultaneous connections

There are many VPN solutions inwards the market. But, if y'all are looking for Linux support, y'all should definitely give ExpressVPN a try. Linux ability users volition relish the purpose of the command-line VPN client.

Disclaimer

Linuxcommando was provided a complimentary ExpressVPN subscription for this review.