Basically, you NEED a VPN as a basic privacy precaution for any online activity on wireless networks. MakeUseOf provides a list of top VPN providers that you should check out if you’re considering signing up to a VPN service.
Once you’ve subscribed, and you’re set up with your virtual private network, you probably think “that’s it, all sorted.” But you’d be wrong. You’ve only just made your first baby steps into the world of VPNs.
Here are seven ways you can enhance your use of a VPN, and use it like a boss.
1. Set Up Your VPN on a Router
One of the most important things you can do with a VPN account is to set it up on your home router. The reason for this is simple: once set up, no other devices on your network need VPN software installing (unless you use public Wi-Fi).
However, there is a problem: not all routers support VPN accounts. As such, you may need to purchase a new router specifically for this task. While this may seem an unnecessary expense, the privacy benefits are considerable. Specific VPN routers are now available online, such as at Amazon.
If this isn’t practical, there are other solutions. For instance, it’s possible to set up a computer as a dedicated VPN between your modem and your router (or, if they’re the same device, between your router and your devices). Probably the best solution for this is a Raspberry Pi — if you don’t already own one, however, buying a VPN router isn’t much more expensive.
Free VPNs are great, right? Well, actually, no, they’re not. Free VPNs may seem like an excellent alternative to paid solutions, but in truth, you’re still paying.
In every single way, a paid VPN is better than a free one. Functionally, a free VPN does not cut italongside a subscription. They’re slower, less versatile (for instance, free VPNs don’t support torrenting), and more often than not display adverts based on the information you’ve used to sign up.
Avoid!
3. Pay Annually for Better Value
You can subscribe to a decent VPN service with almost any budget. Almost all services let you pay monthly, but if you really want to keep your costs down, pay annually!
This may need a bit of fiddling around with your account settings, but if annual payment is available, you’ll find your VPN offers at least a 10-percent saving. It’s definitely worth paying that fee in advance to make the saving.
While we’re on the matter of paying for your VPN, several options are usually available. For instance, major credit cards and debit cards can all be used to subscribe. Similarly, you might pay by PayPal, or one of its many alternatives.
ome VPNs, meanwhile, accept Bitcoin as a payment option. If you own a sizable amount of Bitcoin, this represents a minor fraction of the cryptocurrency’s value.
4. Use the Mobile VPN Client
Sadly, not every VPN service offers a mobile client. But if you’re subscribing to one that does, you should take advantage of it. It’s all very well extolling the dangers of using public Wi-Fi without a VPN, but people tend to view this purely as a laptop problem.
The issue here is that many shopping malls are mobile internet blackspots either intentionally, or by design. Your only option, therefore, is to access the public Wi-Fi on offer in these places. Stores are increasingly offering free Wi-Fi to potential customers in order to learn more about them. Remember that advert on your phone when you signed into public Wi-Fi in your favorite fashion store?
5. Don’t Let VPN Encryption Drain Your Laptop Battery
You probably know that a virtual private network uses encryption. And that the encrypted data travels from your device (or router) to the VPN server, then onto the destination website unencrypted (unless you’re using a HTTPS service).
Encryption can be heavy going on your computer. It can certainly impact the performance of your laptop battery, and if you run a VPN client on your mobile device, the battery of your smartphone or tablet. You don’t want your device battery to empty faster than usual, do you?
The solution to this is rather basic. You’ll need to employ a portable battery solution to recharge your device during or after VPN use. Regular charging is not ideal for batteries, but it’s a tradeoff between privacy and convenience. We’ve looked at several rechargeable battery packs at MakeUseOf over the years. My own favorite is the RAVPower 27000mAh Portable Charger, which will recharge a laptop, and is available from Amazon.
However, smaller alternatives are available, ideal for smartphones and tablets.
6. Learn How to Use Your VPN Software
There’s little point subscribing to a VPN service, installing the client software, and then leaving it to run. Accessing your virtual private network delivers so many advantages, from beating government censorship to keeping your torrent activity private. VPNs can even deliver benefits to online gaming.
In many cases, these advantages are gained by switching to a particular server. For instance, to watch region-blocked streaming media, you would need to use a server based in the appropriate country.
While some VPN clients make it easy to perform particular private tasks (such as CyberGhost), others offer less explicit features. The result is that you will need to gain familiarity with your VPN client; doing so will enable you to appreciate the full range of features on offer.
7. Book Cheaper Air Travel
We’ve briefly touched on the costs of subscribing to a VPN service. But do you know how to use a VPN to save money? With a VPN enabled, you’ll be able to deal a blow against tracking cookies. Unfortunately, online marketing services have developed other ways to identify you. Going forward, this particular advantage may die out, but for now, switching servers to different locations around the globe to book holidays can yield notable savings.
For instance, agencies selling air travel will offer prices based on your location (if not your previous buying patterns). Many people using VPNs have reported making savings by switching to an overseas server to purchase air tickets. Others still have made similar savings from arranging hotels, day trips, theme parks and other excursions.
Could your VPN pay for itself? There’s only one way to find out!
Be the Boss of Your VPN!
These seven tips should illustrate the importance of fully getting to grips with how to use your VPN. Here’s a reminder:
Set up your router with your VPN account
Avoid “free” VPN services
Save money by paying annually
Use a mobile VPN client wherever possible
Don’t let your VPN drain your mobile device
Understand how to use the VPN client and service
Save money when booking air travel and hotels
In short: a VPN isn’t simply a privacy tool. It can save you money, and generally improve your life. Don’t just subscribe, install, and click “Connect”. Get the full benefit, understand what your VPN can and cannot do, and be the boss!
Are you getting the most out of your VPN? Feel like switching to a different VPN provider? Tell us below.
If you use a modern home Wi-Fi solution like the Google Wifi or our favorite mesh system, the AmpliFi HD, you’re undoubtedly enjoying lightning fast internet all over your home. It’s great for phones, tablet, and other light-duty devices, but we have a better recommendation for your PC, streaming devices, or anything else that needs the fastest and most reliable connection possible. Wiring your house for Ethernet is a pain in the neck, which is why devices like the TP-Link AV200 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit are so fantastic. You get the same reliability and sustained speeds as you would with cat5, but you don’t need to install anything at all. Plug one box in near your router, another box near your PC, and you’re done!
Here are the highlights from the product page:
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WiFi technology is everywhere these days and it seems almost every electronic device around has a wireless network connection of some sort. Laptops, tablets, smartphones, digital cameras, printers, gaming consoles, smart watches and many other devices can connect to each other or the internet through a WiFi connection. But a wireless network setup also presents its own set of problems when it comes to your own home network and the devices attached to it.
Naturally, setting up your own WiFi network with adequate protection like WPA2 and a strong password is vital, but that still doesn’t mean people you don’t know about aren’t using your network without your knowledge. It’s entirely possible friends, neighbors or family members have shared the WiFi credentials with others and people you don’t even know could have access to your network and your shared files. Even though many routers have additional security measures such as MAC address filtering, these might not be configured or someone has circumvented them.
A lot of modern routers will give you a list of the wired and wireless devices making a connection to the network, but some do not and some people wouldn’t actually know how to find that information. Another simple way is using a tool to get the list of connected devices, here’s 5 for you to try out. Read More: https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-do-i-know-if-someone-is-using-my-wireless-network-wifi/
1. Wireless Network Watcher
Wireless Network Watcher is by Nir Sofer and is another one of his many utilities that simply does what it says on the tin. The good thing is it requires no setting up of IP address ranges and starts scanning your main network adapter automatically for connected devices. If you wish to scan a different adapter or a custom IP address range, use the Advanced Options by pressing F9.
Scanning the IP range is fast and only takes a few seconds, after which you get information like IP, device name, MAC address, adapter manufacturer, detection count and activity state. While Wireless Network Watcher is open a background scan continuously looks through the IP range to detect new and disconnected devices, you can set a tray balloon and audio warning when devices are detected or disconnected. The background scan interval can be set in seconds through the Advanced Options windows (F9). A portable or installer version is available.
WiFi Guard is like a cutdown and more basic version of the excellent SoftPerfect Network Scanner which is more suited just for detecting unknown or unauthorized network connections. This tool will scan your network for connected devices and rescan every xx minutes, popping up a message if an unknown connection has been found.
If you have more than one active network adapter the program will popup the settings window on launch to select the adapter you want to scan, otherwise you will be taken to the main window where pressing Scan Now will detect all devices connected to the network. For every red marked connection you know is authorized, double click on it and tick the “I know this computer or device” box, that will tell the program to ignore the device on rescans as it’s known. While running or minimized WiFi Guard will rescan between 0 and 60 minutes (default is 30 mins) and popup a message on screen if a new unknown device has been detected.
As mentioned above, there is Softperfect Network Scanner which is one of the most comprehensive scanning and administration tools of its type. It can also be used for scanning and identifying wireless connections but it won’t scan every number of minutes and warn you on unknown connections. Both WiFi Guard and Network Scanner have portable and installer versions.
This is an all round network administration tool that can do a number of tasks in addition to scanning your network for connections. There’s also remote options to Wake-on-LAN and shutdown, connect via HTTP/FTP as well as remote control with Remote Desktop and Radmin. Of course, those features are unnecessary for simply scanning your network for wireless connections.
By default Advanced IP Scanner will set the address ranges for all connections on the computer, only the range that the WiFi connections are likely to be on will need to be scanned, such as 192.168.0.1 – 192.168.0.254. If you only have one active connection, there’s no need to touch the IP range. After the scan, all connections will show along with the wireless device manufacturer, MAC address and its name. Advanced IP Scanner doesn’t have to be installed and the option to run it as portable can be selected when running the setup executable.
Angry IP Scanner is a multi platform tool that works on Mac and Linux as well because it’s Java based, this will obviously mean the Java Runtime Environment needs to be installed on your computer. The tool simply pings every IP address in the selected range for a response and then displays the result along with the information you ask for in the Fetchers window.
To select a range of addresses to scan, enter them yourself or click the IP button and select the correct network adapter. Then click the drop down to its right to choose the range, /26 will scan up to 63, /24 will scan up to 255 and etc. You can also choose our own IP list text file if you have a complicated setup. The scanning process is quite fast because the program scans using multiple threads. To see the result of all scanned addresses, go to Tools > Preferences > Display and choose “All scanned hosts”, this will reveal other possibly connected devices that are not responding to pings. Portable and installer versions are available.
This tool is a little different from the others because its main task is to identify the computers on your network and warn you when unknown or unidentified connections are made. Unfortunately one of its most useful functions of blocking unknown or suspicious connections is only available if you sign up for a paid subscription, plans start at a slightly steep $9.95 per month. The free version however, still lets you scan and find devices on your network.
The first thing required is to configure the address range to scan from the default by clicking the Settings button and entering the the range you need for your network, such as 192.168.0.1-254. If you are not sure go to the Diagnostic tab in Settings and click “Detect IP Ranges” to see what your network is currently using. Then run a scan and devices on the network will be identified. Select all known connections in turn and set their state to KNOWN from the drop down, then optionally give each a description.
If you keep Who Is On My WiFi running in the background it pops up a visual and audible message when an unknown network device is detected, by default it will scan every 5 minutes although you can change this time to between 2 and 10 minutes in the settings. Make sure to close Who Is On My WiFi from the tray icon if you don’t wish to use the monitoring feature.
Note: We did test a few other network scanning tools called LanSpy and Lizardsystems Network Scanner but they were quite inconsistent in detecting wireless networks. Sometimes they would show up, sometimes they would be missing even though the tools in our list had no such difficulty. If you want to use those tools to search for wireless connections, do so with caution.
Setting up Wi-Fi in your home has never really changed. You buy one router, hope it reaches every corner of your home, and then react in frustration when it doesn't. Businesses have always had a solution to this problem — putting multiple Wi-Fi access points throughout a large space — and now some startups are trying to bring that approach to the home. The latest is Luma, a new router system that's supposed to make it easy to fill a home with strong Wi-Fi and provide a homeowner with much more control over what happens on their network.
PARENTAL CONTROLS SHOW YOU WHAT SITE EVERYONE IS VISITING
The Wi-Fi part is straightforward. You can buy just a single Luma router, but you're expected to buy several of them at once — they're sold in a three pack — and place them throughout your home. Once they're set up, the routers will all form a single network, so you'll only have to connect once, even as you move throughout the house; the routers can even take care of moving you between 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks.
But that's where the basics of Luma stop and the more interesting — and invasive — aspects begin. Unlike typical routers that have bewildering settings pages, Luma can be managed entirely through a simple companion app. And that companion app is able to do quite a few other things, including show what devices are connected to the network and what those devices are doing. That means showing everything from what servers your smart thermostat is connecting with to the exact websites that people in your house are viewing (it cannot, however, show the specific content; so you may see that someone is viewing Facebook, but you won't see their private messages).
Luma's activity tracking is meant for monitoring children: a content filter is included that allows you to lock certain users into viewing sites that are rated G, PG, PG-13, and so on; requests to bypass the filter can be sent on a site-by-site basis after they've been blocked, and a chat window can be activated to let parents discuss it. Luma also suggests using its tracking abilities to see if kids are doing their homework or browsing the web. The app can also be used to set internet time limits. It really seems to have robust parental controls.
Where it gets more problematic is that you can only sort of turn this off. Luma's activity tracking isn't a niche feature — it's front and center on the app, with everyone's activity and snapshots of the sites they visit presented like an Instagram feed. Their history is recorded for a year, too. The network's administrator can tell Luma to hide certain users' activity, so it won't be displayed, but there's no way to lock that setting in. The administrator can just go back and unhide their activity later. Watching every site your child visits is overbearing at a minimum, but the app could also allow one adult to spy on another, since only one person can be Luma's administrator. That's a huge issue.
Luma is also touting the additional security features built into its router and app. It analyzes traffic looking both for intruders on the network and for whether any local computers might be infected with malware, which might cause them to speak with strange servers. Luma will also regularly scan devices on the network to see if any are set up with default passwords, which it'll prompt the administrator to change. Another security feature is that you don't have to give the router's password out to anyone: when someone tries to connect to a Luma, they'll get an interstitial pop-up — kind of like when you try to connect to Starbucks' Wi-Fi — which will stay put while the administrator chooses to grant them access or not, and for how long.
LUMA TRIES GIVES YOU NETWORK POWERS THAT BUSINESSES USUALLY HAVE
Its all impressive tech, but it's clear that Luma's business-style approach to home network management can go a bit too far. (Luma comes from a team that's created and sold several other startups involving business network security.) Whether you should actually have so much power over a network is worth considering before getting a Luma. There are other options like this, too. The most similar is Eero, another multi-room Wi-Fi system that's supposed to make it easy to get a good connection anywhere throughout a house. Eero also has an app that handles guest access and security, but it doesn't show you everything that people are viewing. It was supposed launch over the summer, but has been delayed until next year.
Luma is also launching next year, with shipments expected at an unspecified point in the spring. At that time, Luma is also supposed to go on sale in some stores, including Best Buy and Home Depot. Preorders start today, with Luma selling all of its units for half price. A single router will be $99, and a three pack will be $249. Eventually, those prices will rise to $199 and $499, matching Eero.
Dear Lifehacker, Lately it seems like my high speed connection is bogged down, and I'm getting a creepy feeling that someone's stealing my bandwidth on my Wi-Fi network.
How can I find out if other people are leeching my Wi-Fi, and how do I stop them if they are?
Signed, Paranoid or Not?
Dear PoN, Besides the fact that your Wi-Fi moocher may be slowing down your connection, people connected to your network may also have access to some of your shared folders (depending on what security measures you use), and if someone's using your connection to do illegal things, it could even bring the authorities to your doorstep. Don't worry, though, we can help you find out if, indeed, your Wi-Fi is being stolen and help you put an end to it. (Note: If it turns out that no one's using your Wi-Fi, you may want to check out our guide to fixing your slow Wi-Fi connection.)
Without further ado, there are a few methods for sniffing out wireless intruders.
Low-Tech Method: Check Your Wireless Router Lights
Your wireless router should have indicator lights that show Internet connectivity, hardwired network connections, and also any wireless activity, so one way you can see if anyone's using your network is to shut down all wireless devices and go see if that wireless light is still blinking. The trouble with this is that you may have many other Wi-Fi devices (e.g., your TV or gaming console) to remember to unplug, and it doesn't give you much other information. It's still a quick-and-dirty method, though, that can confirm your at-the-moment suspicions; for more details, follow up with either the administrative console check or software tool suggestion below.
Network Admin Method: Check Your Router Device List
Your router's administrative console can help you find out more about your wireless network activity and change your security settings. To log into the console, go to your router's IP address. You can find this address on Windows by going to a command prompt (press Win+R then type cmd) and then typing ipconfig in the window, then find the "Default Gateway" IP address. On a Mac? Open the Network Preference pane and grab the IP address listed next to "Router:".
Next, type in that IP address in a browser window. You'll be prompted to login to your router. If you haven't changed the default settings, your router documentation will have the login information, which typically uses a combination of "admin" and "password" or blank fields. (Note: for security's sake, you should change the login as soon as you get into your router console, before a hacker does it for you.)
Attached Devices
All routers are different, but once you're in yours, you'll want to look for a section related to connected devices. This could be called "Attached Devices" (Netgear) or "My Network" (Verizon routers), "Device List" on the awesome Tomato firmware, or something similar. It should provide a list of IP addresses, MAC addresses, and device names (if detectable) that you can check against. Compare the connected devices to your gear to find any unwanted users.
Note: DHCP list on routers doesn't show all attached devices, but rather only DHCP clients — devices that got their IP address automatically from the router. A stealthy hacker, however, can get into your network with a static IP address, bypassing that DHCP table. So you'll need to refer to the actual wireless client list, not the DHCP list. On Linksys routers, you can find it behind the wireless MAC address filter function, which needs to be enabled so you can show the MAC list of all connected devices (static or DHCP).
What to do if you find an unauthorized deviceAs mentioned below, changing your security to WPA2-AES (or setting up a new password) will prevent access to your Wi-Fi network from unauthorized users (and kick any who are on your network now off until they provide the new security key). The IP addresses and MAC addresses alone won't really help you identify the perpetrators themselves, though, if that's what you're looking for. If you want more information about where these moochers are, you can also try the software tool below.
Detective Method: Use a Network Monitoring Software Tool
It's good to know how to get into your network admin panel where you can change settings and view logs, but maybe you also want more advanced network auditing or sleuthing. That's where MoocherHunter comes in. Part of the free OSWA (Organizational Systems Wireless Auditor)-Assistant wireless auditing toolkit, MoocherHunter has been used for law enforcement organizations in Asia to track Wi-Fi moochers. The software description says it can geo-locate the wireless hacker from the traffic they send across the network, down to 2 meters accuracy.
The software doesn't run as an executable in Windows; rather it needs to be burned to a CD, then used to boot the computer. The idea is, with your laptop (and the directional antenna on your wireless card), you'd walk around to triangulate the physical location of the Wi-Fi moocher.
We're not advocating you use the tool to take any actual action (like knocking on your neighbor's door and having a physical confrontation) based on the software's results, but it is another way to learn more about who, if anyone, is using your wireless network.
Moving Forward: Beef Up Your Wi-Fi Security
You didn't mention what kind of wireless security your network uses. If you're using the more secure WPA2 (or, to a lesser extent, WPA), you're likely pretty secure. If you've gone through all the steps and your browsing still seems slow, you may want to turn your thoughts to speeding up your web browsing. If your connection isn't encrypted or if you're using WEP—which is very easy to crack—your Wi-Fi is fairly vulnerable to anyone looking for a free ride. (If you're not sure which type of encryption your network is using, go to your wireless connection properties, which will identify the security type.)
Just remember: Whether you discovered a leecher or not, you should still use WPA2 (AES) encryption, and tackle other wireless router setup essentials. If, for some reason, you want to run an open wireless network or have to use WEP because some devices (e.g., the Nintendo DS) won't work over WPA, your best bet is to add a new, separate and secured wireless network for important stuff and only open the unsecured one for guests and WEP-only devices when needed (you can also get a router that broadcasts a separate wireless signal for guests only).
Here's to knowing everyone who's connecting to you...
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