VPN

They can do if a free app , try Norton never had an issue with them

 

It's however so bloated that it slows the rest of your computer down

It adds more links in the chain so yes, how much depends on the server you are using

Without a VPN when you request a webpage it goes

Your Computer - > Your ISP -> The Internet -> Requested Site -> The Internet -> Your ISP -> Your Computer

With a VPN it goes

Your Computer - > Your ISP -> Your VPN -> The Internet -> Requested Site -> The Internet -> Your ISP -> Your ISP -> Your Computer

By adding an extra 2 steps you are data request has to go through. Extra steps mean slower speeds

Now the way the internet works is when you get to the internet part there isn't a direct connection to the site you are going to. You hope between different networks between your physical location and the site you are loadings location, these are referred to as nodes, as distance impacts speed it will try and find the shortest physical route (although sometimes it will go via a node further away that has more capacity as a store saturated and slow node could take longer)

However the VPN server you are connecting to might actually be further away, if you are in Bradford the VPN's UK datacenter might be in Glasgow but Bantam Talk's server Is in London so you would be going

Bradford -> Glasgow -> London -> Glasgow -> Bradford

Which is around 1660miles. Without the VPN its Bradford -> London -> Bradford which is just 554miles

And one of the main reasons for using a VPN is to make it look like you are in a different country. That actually means you could be going to a VPN server several thousand miles away . Even if the reason for doing that is to access a site in another country the VPN server might be on the other side of the country than the server hosting the site but worst of all if you leave it on and you try and access a UK hosted site you are adding a large distance

For example if we use this site again and you use a VPN server in New York you might go

Bradford -> New York -> London -> New York -> Bradford, That's like 5400miles from Bradford to New York, 5600miles from NY to London and then the same on the reverse journey back you you


The Quality of the VPN service however does play a part. Paid ones will generally have data centres in more countries, more data centre locations in each country and more servers in each datacenter so it can handle more users. Free ones have limited countries, limited data centres in each country and use less and lower powered servers so it adds even more latency. A good VPN service if you are just using it for security so are selected the fastest server option should have minimal speed.

Personally I use Surfshark right now, Its one of the big 3 (Other 2 being NordVPN and Private Internet Access) but it's the most cost effective right now (especially if you commit to 2 or even 3 years). NordVPN has a few good features the other 2 don't have but their higher price doesn't justify these features especially as most people won't use them.

I actually have a referral link if anyone is interest https://surfshark.club/friend/4R5QtuKV . After you have used the service for 30 days you will get a free month added to your subscription (for full disclosure so do I)