GoKawiilI'm basically a VPN rookie, at least when it comes to personal use. Sure, I've had to "tunnel in" to corporate networks before, but outside of work, a VPN has never been a need. But that might change, now that I have a better understanding of what you can actually do with it.
I got a chance to check out Amnezia's Premium VPN service, and it was eye-opening. I was able to watch TV shows and sports in different countries and gained an appreciation of how valuable VPNs can be.
Most of us have probably seen ads for VPNs, but what are they? A VPN, which stands for virtual private network, is software that securely connects your computer to the internet and funnels your web traffic through an encrypted "tunnel" to a server in a remote location. Your internet service provider can't know what websites you're visiting.
VPNs also mask your IP address, thereby hiding your physical location and enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content such as sporting events that otherwise are blacked out in their areas.
About a third of the world uses VPNs, according to estimates from VPN provider Surfshark, and they're vital for people living in countries where governments censor and block various websites and apps.
If you want to know more about what different VPNs offer and how they compare, CNET puts many of them through hours of rigorous testing to determine the top dogs in various categories: best VPN overall, best cheap VPNs, best mobile VPN and many others.
What Amnezia's Premium VPN lets me do
I went in wide-eyed and curious about Amnezia. I checked out the Premium edition, which costs $24 for six months and $48 for a year and covers seven devices simultaneously. There are also free, self-hosted and business subscriptions.
On its checkout page for subscribing to Premium, Amnezia clearly says there might be a "payment gateway fee" that raises the price a bit. CNET's Attila Tomaschek has a great explainer about how to watch for any added fees when buying VPN plans.
Digital privacy expert Mazay Banzaev founded the company, starting with an idea at the 2020 Demhack hackathon and culminating with the launch of the AmneziaFree Telegram bot component in March 2022.
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