It also helps me do some website testing as I can see how different sites load if I was visiting from Europe, Asia, etc. If you use a traditional VPN service (not the Firefox version), they usually allow you to change your IP address location so that for example you can use Netflix even when you travel temporarily internationally. (NordVPN, TunnelBear, and PIA are affiliate links, and Firefox PN are not.) Other options: The winner of a Lifehacker poll was Private Internet Access.

I switched from, which also worked fine but it costs a lot more at $10 a month or $99 a year. I’m not a VPN expert, but I switched to NordVPN about a year ago because their “no logs” policy was audited (VPN reviews are a mess in general) and a 3-year subscription cost only $3.49/month. Some people use a VPN 24/7 as they don’t want Comcast/Spectrum/AT&T/Verizon collecting their internet data either. Even if I only occasionally work in public spaces with shady WiFi, I figure that paying a few bucks a month is worth avoid a bigger cellular data plan and it allows me to connect to that free airport WiFi with peace of mind. While I don’t necessarily feel everyone “needs” a VPN, I have used one myself for many years. However, I think this presents a good opportunity for more people to become more familiar with using a VPN and see that it isn’t very complicated. They do plan on charging for it at some point in the future. While it is in beta testing, this feature is free to all Firefox for desktop users in the United States. The VPN tunnel keeps other folks from peeking in on your e-mail passwords, website visits, exact location, and so forth.įirefox promotes itself as a privacy-focused web browser alternative, and its newest feature is called Firefox Private Network, which bakes VPN encryption into the browser itself.

The solution to this problem is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that acts like a secure “tunnel” between you and the service you are reaching. The problem is that (as Mozilla puts it) if a “Wi-Fi connection is free and open to you, it’s also free and open to hackers”. Coffee shops, airports, libraries, hotels, conference centers, etc. If you’re like me, you take advantage of all the free WiFi you can get to avoid having to pay too much for a big cellular data plan.

Firefox vpn free