Opera: a Browser with a Built-in VPN

Back in the States, most of my friends didn’t know what a VPN was. Honestly, they didn’t believe they had much use for VPNs. But here in Vietnam, and in expat communities all over the world, pretty much everyone is familiar with the term. Just in case you’re not, VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

Why Use a VPN?

Why would you want a Virtual Private Network, you ask? There are a few reasons… One reason people install VPNs is, quite frankly, to mask their identity when browsing *ahem* unsavory places on the Internet. But there are several other, more “legit” uses of VPN technology that can come in very handy.

VPN uses a sophisticated encryption methods that help to ensure privacy between sites on the Internet. So businesses often use built-in VPN systems on their networks to connect to remote datacenters securely. Individuals can use them to connect to private networks remotely as well. They are also useful in securing private data when you’re on a public network. Read: working after school or over the weekend at Highlands Coffee. VPNs can also allow you access to sites that are otherwise unavailable to your particular IP address. For example, I can’t get on Twitter or BBC News from my house. Don’t know why, just can’t. It’s blocked. Unless I turn on my VPN, and then, voilá!

Here’s more on VPNs, if you’re interested in the details.

How to Get a VPN

VPNs are also a relatively cheap method of encryption. You can sign up for a paid VPN service for about $20/month. I won’t list them here because PC Magazine just did a best-of list. You can also sign up for free services. We have HotSpot Shield installed on a couple machines at home. It’s free and fairly reliable, but it does come with advertisements and some delays. There are other extensions for Safari and Chrome that you can install for VPN service.

Opera

As it turns out, there’s a lesser-known browser out there called Opera that now comes with a VPN automatically installed, completely unlimited and free. Rather than re-hash what’s already been written, I’ll share the link and offer the video below to explain. But for what it’s worth, I have used Opera on and off over the years, and it’s actually a really great browser, so I do recommend checking it out.