Computers connecting to the Internet do so with an IP address which is provided dynamically or statically by the Internet Service Provider (ISP). That IP address can be used by websites and services to identify a user’s location in the world, which in turn means that they can find out about the user’s ISP as well. Users who prefer to stay anonymous on the Internet have a few options, from basic web proxy servers which do that for a single website in a browsing session to complete solutions like Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
The advantages of using a VPN are manifold, among them that it sits like a proxy between the computer of the user and all Internet activities. It does not matter if the user browses the web, plays a game on Steam, downloads files via P2P or watches streaming movies. The VPN will always act as the proxy, something that web proxies cannot do.
Another advantage is the fact that it makes the Internet connection more secure. VPN connections are encrypted by design, which means that users in the same network, say a public network at school, dorm or work, will not be able to eavesdrop on the traffic. Firesheep? Not a problem for VPN users.
Invisible Browsing VPN (IBVPN) offers free and paid accounts. The company gives away 30 free accounts per week, offers a 2-hour trial account and several paid options which range from $4.95 to $7.95 per month. The paid accounts differ only in the countries the user can connect to. The two $4.95 accounts offer either VPN access in the United States and Canada, or the United Kingdom and Ireland. The premium VPN service contains the four and in addition network access in Germany, France and the Netherlands.
So what can the average web surfer do with a VPN?
- Access country-limited contents on the web, e.g. Hulu or Pandora in the United States, BBC in the UK or Zattoo in Germany. Using the VPN you can use those country-specific services providing you connect to one of the country VPN servers. This is also handy for users who go on holidays oversea but do not want to miss their favorite show. Lastly, ex-pats come to mind who can now connect to services and websites from their country that would otherwise be restricted to them.
- Hide your IP. This can be beneficial in many cases. Maybe for employees who want to comment on their company, webmasters who want to check search engine rankings or contents on their websites, users who have medical questions and a lot more. A vpn will also hide the tracks from your ISP and network.
- Bypass Internet censorship. There is likely no country in the world that does not censor the Internet in one way or the other. Censor may not be the right word in some cases, but the fact remains that it is likely that you stumble upon blocked websites if you search long enough. China for instance is a prime example, or Iran, but the problem is not limited there. A VPN can bypass censorship which other services might not.
Now that we have established what you can do with a VPN, we should take a closer look at how it is setup. IBVPN offers easy configuration guides on their website for Windows, Linux and Mac users. Windows users can even download a small client which is dead easy to use.
Just start the portable application and enter your username, password and a server that you want to connect to. A list of servers is provided in the welcome email and in the account section over at the Invisible Browsing VPN site. A click on Connect establishes the connection to the selected VPN which is visualized by the Connected status message in the program application. A click on disconnect breaks the connection again.
Advanced users, and users with Linux or Mac, can follow the guides on the website to configure the VPN manually.
Those three are just examples of the services that limit their contents to users from specific countries, and that you can watch by using the VPN from outside those allowed countries.
IBVNP Verdict
Setup is really easy on Windows, especially if the vpn client is being used. Everyone can do that without having to create a new connection manually. That’s a big plus for the service as most of the VPN services do not provide access to a client software. The connection speed is good, both Hulu and Pandora streamed without interruptions, BBC was a bit slow in the beginning but it ran fine after a bit of buffering. Speeds are excellent and tests at speedtest.net have shown connections speeds of 5+ Mbit down and 1.5 Mbit up.
Invisible Browisng VPN Giveaway
We have 20 IBVNP premium accounts that are valid for 3 months for you. Premium meaning that you get the whole package and can connect to a VPN in all supported countries. For this we are asking you to let us know what you would do with the service or use the service for.
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finally be able to watch BBC (e.g. Dr Who)
i will watch all my fav videos on hulu and ya no bad practices with this … :)i hope i win this one at least……. thanx….
watching hulu and pandora
watch all these movies …. finally
I would use it to catch up on my favorite BBC shows.
Mostly for hulu but also to protect myself when I feel my privacy might be compromised!
Finally get to try all of user location limited website, like hulu, music on pandora and spotify. BBC shows, Youtube restricted movies, and hopefully all other that I find.
want to access facebook, youtube, vimeo, etc…coz Chinese ISP really sux..
I’d love this, we moved to NZ three years ago and I miss all my old tv shows, the tv here is a bit poor, but I never win anything, might take a look at paying actually for real if this is speedy and lets us see Iplayer, Pretty please. Can I try one ?
I would mainly use it for Hulu and other equivalent services. Thanks.
I want to try services like Hulu, Pandora, Spotify, I’ll finally be able to watch some excellent BBC shows on their service.
If i win the license, I would finally be able to watch BBC programmes (mainly sport).
For Spotify ! :)
It’s time for me, browsing the Internet with no limits
Hello,
Like many previous commentators, I would use it to access content that it’s not available in my country and probably a bit of invisibility doesn’t hurt!
Enjoy the music on pandora
to watch us tv shows
thanks
General internet surfing and account access on the roat. When I connect to specific sites I frequent I’m fine with normal browsing but when I’m doing general internet surfing / browsing IBVPN is the perfect solution. When I’m on the road I use my corporate VPN but if it’s not business I’d prefer not to use it but still need security to access email accounts, etc.
I would love to use this VPN to access US-only and UK-only streaming websites. Some international sites like justin.tv also add country limits to their streams, and being able to use a different country proxy would allow me a less choppy viewing experience.
There are a lot of restricted services in Italy, I’d like to try them as in other countries!
Being in Australia, a VPN would prove very useful.
Being able to access US only sites would make me very happy! There’s a lot out there.
So how does one partake of this free trial mentioned in the article? Followed the link and one would assume there would be a special promotion for Ghacks readers?!
I’d use it for privacy purposes and entertainment to watch USA restricted websites such as FOX, hulu, pandora, unrestricted last fm (since outside USA isn’t free)
hmm since am in syria since few months :S
so facebook, youtube, and allmost all video sharing sites are blocked
also sourceforge blocked blogspot blocked xD loool its loooooong list
so ye this service will be GREAT help
Go wild on anything that has a country restriction, I got plenty of spare bandwidth and I intend to use it !
I want this one….No luck up till now.
especially for pandora
I am in this giveaway…vpn are the most secure way of browsing the internet..
For me VPN is good because my younger sis doesnt know much abt internet and she browse the net carelessly so it would be of grat help for protecting my ip address..;)
using VPNs to access blocked sites lol