Betternet Free VPN

BetterNet is a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, service that encrypts your browsing. This is done to protect your privacy and to ensure that you aren't spied on while browsing your favorite websites. This VPN prioritizes simplicity and is best for basic website browsing.

Setup and Privacy

One thing to realize about VPNs is that they will often ask for some information. These services are supposed to protect your information, but the more you give them, the more you are sacrificing your potential privacy. Some VPNs will ask for your name, address, email address and other personal information.

Something else to consider is activity logs. A VPN is supposed to prevent third-party services from watching your activity. At the same time, most VPNs will keep some log of what you're doing. This can be as minor as just logging your browsing times while others will log your IP address, what you're searching for, how much data you're downloading and more.

Betternet is surprisingly private on both fronts. You don't have to give them any information to start using the VPN. There's no need to give them a name or email address. Simply download the program and start using it. They also don't keep any logs on you. There is absolutely no logs on their side showing anything about you. This is wonderful and rare to find.

Encryption

Every VPN will encrypt your browsing session. This ensures that hackers cannot barge in and see what you're looking at. It's essentially this encryption that keeps you safe and secure while browsing. Each VPN uses a slightly different encryption protocol.

Betternet uses a 256-bit encryption over the entire VPN service and a 128-bit encryption over your IP address. Not only that, but they also use the Catapult Hydra protocol. This is seen with many top VPNs. This protocol regularly changes the encryption key. An encryption key is needed to turn the encrypted data into normal, readable data.

Constantly and randomly changing the key prevents anyone from easily cracking the data. This keeps you safe and you don't have to do anything to make it work. All of this is occurring in the background.

Speed

This is an area where Betternet suffers. Speed is very important with a VPN because the service itself is slower than normal browsing. Normally your computer requests information to be downloaded, like a website or file, and that information is delivered directly to your computer. The only two points of contact are your computer and the server.

A VPN adds more points of contact during this connection. You are connecting to the VPN server and bouncing your signal off it. This hides your original IP address and makes it seem like you're really browsing from the VPN server's location. This extra point along the chain reduces downloading and uploading speeds.

While Betternet has good enough speeds for conventional browsing, like checking social media or reading articles, it isn't good for streaming. Even short videos take a long time to load, which can be irritating. The paid version of this program is somewhat better, but even those servers aren't quite made for streaming.

Simple Interface

Betternet uses a simple interface that any user can understand. Open the program after you have downloaded and installed it. Click the "Connect" button and you're connected to a VPN. It's that easy. This is good for users who are new to VPNs, who don't need a lot of features, or who want a simple program without all the bells and whistles.

If you're looking for an advanced VPN with lots of features and customization, then Betternet probably isn't right for you. This is made to be easy and simple. While there might be lots of security features going on in the background, there aren't many tools that you can use on your end.

Advertisements

Betternet falls into the advertisement problems that plague many free programs. If you've downloaded a free program before, then you've probably noticed a number of ads surrounding the program. This is so that the developer can make money, but it's also irritating. The free version of Betternet comes with many ads. There are banner ads, video ads, text ads and more.

They don't just show up and interrupt your browsing, but they were constantly be there the whole time. You should still be able to browse your favorite websites while ignoring the ads.

Free or Paid

This program comes in both free and paid versions. Both of them allow you to safely connect to servers across 11 different countries and you have access to hundreds of IP addresses. That being said, the paid version gives you access to better services.

The paid version gives you dedicated IP addresses that are faster than the free ones. In fact, the service in general is significantly faster. It's still not great for streaming, but it does a much better job of loading websites and downloading files. The paid version also gets rid of all the advertisements. You will no longer have to see those ads around the VPN when you're connected.

You also get support 24 hours a day. This is useful if you ever encounter any issues while browsing websites or if the VPN won't connect for some reason.

Another big difference is that you have more freedom for choosing your own server. The free version of Betternet chooses the server for you. While you can override this to a degree, you often must use the server that they suggest. The paid version gives you more control over which server you want to use, which might be good for browsing websites that are blocked in certain countries.