The Best Free VPN Clients-gctid70494

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The Best Free VPN Clients | PCMag.com

                                         VPN products can help  employees access work machines back in the office, provide consumers  with secure Internet browsing, or enable secure connection between a few  computers. There are some good free choices available, but which one is  for you?

                By Samara Lynn, Fahmida Y. Rashid                        

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•                         January 15, 2013
• 30 Comments  
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What was formerly a technology used mostly by businesses to allow  employees to access the compay network remotely has turned into a  multi-purpose technology. Now VPN means everything from enterprise VPN  hardware to on-the-fly software solutions simple enough for use by  consumers who want to provide remote access to their home networks.  

   People use VPN to describe a whole range of products and services. They  may be talking about setting up a VPN server so that employees can  connect to the corporate network even while out of the office. They may  be talking about protecting their online activity when connecting to an  Internet hotspot. And they may be talking about remotely accessing their  computer in a different location, or securely sharing their computers  with other users.  

   And it's not just the technology that has become more accessible—the  price, too, is right for everyone, with several good free VPN clients  now available. But what exactly do you need?

   Traditional vs Non-Traditional VPN

VPN traditionally has been a locally-deployed client/server solution.  You would  have a VPN server—another server, a router, or an  appliance—to manage and negotiate the connections and install clients to  the machines that needed remote access. This is still the way many  businesses set up VPNs. In this traditional setup, you need a VPN client  on your computer to be able to connect to the VPN server. Cisco's VPN  client software is one of the most widely-used in business, but there  are plenty of other options, and most modern operating systems also  comes with a built-in VPN client.

   Of course, not everyone needs enterprise-level VPN. Some people just  want to be able to connect to their work machine without a lot of  hassle. This may apply even more to those who work in small companies  with little or no IT support. Others may just want to set up a secure,  encrypted tunnel between two or more computer in order to collaborate or  host PC game-playing sessions with friends. These VPN products are a  bit different from remote control and access products like Team Viewer  or GoToMy PC,which are designed more for accessing a single machine's  files, or for desktop sharing.  Two good examples are LogMeIn's Hamachi  and Comodo Unite, which allow you to connect multiple computers  securely.  

   If you are just looking for a way to secure your connection while  browsing the Internet, check out our Best Free VPN Services. These  services act as an anonymizer, changing your IP address so no one can  track your activity, but also provides an encrypted tunnel for sensitive  data. It's good additional security to have in place when connecting to  the Internet at public hotspots.

   VPN Cautions

Whatever free VPN product you may consider, bear in mind that there are a  few caveats. While most free VPN software employ some sort of security  for the data connection, you certainly aren't getting the security  strength of paid and business VPN products. Don't use free VPN clients  to share or transmit your most sensitive data—they'd be fine for Amazon  shopping but not for healthcare records or anything that requires you to  send your social security number, for example. Also be aware that VPN  solutions tend to slow down browsing. Often it's not significant enough  to notice, given a broadband connection, but when your connectivity is  constrained, using a VPN might make a big (negative) difference.

If you are looking for free VPN clients, click the links below to read our full review.
 
FEATURED IN THIS ROUNDUP
       
               Shrew Soft VPN
       
                 aspThe easiest traditional VPN client around, ShrewSoft's VPN client  makes setting up and connecting to an existing VPN client is easy. No  more clicking through the built-in client in the operating system.   Great option if you have a large pool of users who need remote VPN  access          Read the full review ››

     
               LogMeIn Hamachi
       
         Free for basic
        Hamachi is one of the more business-focused non-traditional VPN  products. Install Hamachi on multiple computers and be able to connect  securely between the two (but there are a few software quirks).          Read the full review ››

     
               Comodo Unite
       
        Another non-traditional VPN product, Comodo Unite lets users  create secure connections between computers, share desktops, work  remotely, chat securely, and share files and applications.           Read the full review ››

     
               Wippien
       
        Wippien is a decent option if  all you need to do with a VPN  connection is to share files with friends or connect your computers in  order to play games together. Many gamers like Wippien because they can  host games on one machine and connect securely from another. It also has  a built-in chat client.          Read the full review ››

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Surprised hotspot shield isn't on the list.

[Ajamu]

Hotspot Shield


 Download Now CNET Secure Download

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• CNET Editors' Rating:
  
    4.5 stars  Outstanding
  
• Average User Rating:
  
      3.0 stars out of 463 votes See all user reviews
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Quick Specs

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• Version: 2.83
• File size: 5.46MB  
• Date added: January 13, 2013
• Price: Free  
• Operating system: Windows XP/Vista/7/8
• Total downloads: 13,059,615
• Downloads last week: 287,876
• Product ranking: #1 in Encryption Software
  
• See full specifications  
  
• Add to my list  
• Report a problem  

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CNET Editors' review

 by: Seth Rosenblatt on March 14, 2012
Hotspot Shield - Maintain and protect your privacy - Download Video Previews

The bottom line: The Internet connection protector Hotspot Shield encrypts your traffic  to protect you from all kinds of spying while your computer communicates  with the rest of the world. It's a must-have utility for anybody who  uses public Wi-Fi networks.

 Review:

The Internet connection protector Hotspot Shield encrypts your traffic  to protect you from all kinds of spying while your computer communicates  with the rest of the world. It's a must-have utility for anybody who  uses public Wi-Fi networks, but it's also an excellent tool for ensuring  on any network connection that you can access sites and data according  to your tastes, and nobody else's. Hotspot Shield's Virtual Private  Network services are used by more than 10 million people at the time  this review was written, according to the software publisher AnchorFree,  making it the largest VPN in the world.

 The browser-independent Hotspot Shield establishes an encrypted  connection to the Hotspot Shield servers, and turns all HTTP traffic to  the safer HTTPS. By rerouting Web traffic and providing you with a new  IP address hosted by AnchorFree, the company is able to ensure that your  data isn't plucked out of the open by man-in-the-middle attacks or  wireless network spoofing.

 Recent changes include automatic detection of Wi-Fi connections nearby,  the ability to work on corporate networks, and no longer requiring  administrative privileges to install.

 In our tests, we noticed that sometimes the program would actually  resolve pages faster than when connected without it. This occurs, most  likely, because of the geographic location of the company's servers.  During a day of hands-on testing on the notoriously pokey CNET public  Wi-Fi network, we noticed that Hotspot Shield Elite was remarkably fast.  There were no connection lags despite the rerouting, and the program  admirably handled high-definition streaming videos from sites such as  Vimeo, YouTube, and CNET TV. We'd recommend the program for improving  the Wi-Fi speeds alone, nevermind the additional security benefits.

 The free version of Hotspot Shield does come at a cost. The installation  opts you into a toolbar, which redirects your default search and home  page, and a desktop icon. Also, whenever you activate Hotspot Shield, it  will open a new tab to AnchorFree.com and begin autoplaying a video.  That's seriously annoying, even in a free product that offers such a  valuable service. Still, the toolbars and redirects are optional.

 Once installed, it appears as a red icon that turns to green when  activated in both your system tray and in your browser. Clicking will  toggle it on or off. Choosing the Properties option opens a window that  tells you that you're connected. Hit the Details link to learn more  about your connection, including the VPN IP address, amount of data sent  in and out, and how long you've been connected. The data transfer rate  makes for a useful, quick-and-dirty gauge for people with data caps.

 Hotspot Shield's paid upgrade is called Elite, which runs ad-free and on  faster servers. Elite costs $0.50 per 24-hour session, with a minimum  $10 deposit, or $5 per month, or $29.99 per year. Payment options  include credit card, PayPal, prepaid cash cards or mobile phone payments  via premium SMS. Along with built-in site malware protection, Hotspot  Shield Elite comes with tech support, preferential bandwidth priority  (read: faster Internet speeds) and serves you no additional ads from  AnchorFree.

 The company has created multiple ways to circumvent download blockers in  countries with strict censorship, too. If you can't access a Web page  with the download, you can send an e-mail to win@anchorfree.com for the Windows version or mac@anchorfree.com for the Mac version, and the small installer file will be sent directly to you.

 Note that although the Windows version number and the Mac version number don't match, AnchorFree says the features are the same.

 Even with the installation shenanigans, we highly recommend Hotspot  Shield for anybody concerned with privacy. In today's world, that ought  to be anybody connecting a computer to the Internet.
  Hotspot Shield - Maintain and protect your privacy - Download Video Previews:



Publisher's Description

From AnchorFree:


Hotspot  Shield protects you online and lets you access the information you  need. Access blocked services like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Skype  in countries or venues where the Internet is censored. Keep hackers  from stealing personal information while users are browsing the Internet  in public locations like Starbucks. Hotspot Shield also protects  against 3.5 million malware threats, including infected websites,  phishing and spam sites. Browse the Internet privately and anonymously.  Hotspot Shield does all of this without collecting any information on  your personal identity.

What's new in this version: Version 2.83 improves compatibility with windows 8.

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Read more: Hotspot Shield - CNET Download.com Hotspot Shield - CNET Download.com

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