Have you ever worried about your online privacy? With the number of stories appearing recently about hackers and government spying, we think this is something that most people have at some point worried about.
When it comes to protecting your privacy online, one of the most effective tools you can use is a VPN. They protect your privacy by encrypting your traffic and directing it through an encrypted tunnel. This makes it much harder for people to see what you are doing online.
As well as this, many VPNs have other benefits such as allowing you to stream location blocked TV shows no matter where you are located.
If you want to install a VPN on your computer, then please read this article to find out exactly how to do it!
Do I Install Software Or Manually Configure A VPN?
There are two ways to install a VPN on your computer. The first is through downloading VPN software from your VPN provider (NordVPN or ExpressVPN, for example) and the second is to manually configure a VPN you already have access to.
The easiest way is to simply download the software from your VPN provider. Once you have done this you will usually simply have to log into the software, choose a network and press connect. You will likely have a large number of different networks to choose from, probably in a vast number of different countries.
Windows allows you to configure VPNs that use two of the most popular VPN protocols: PPTP and L2TP/IPSec.
Manually configuring a network requires you to have certain details about the VPN at hand so you can configure it using the Windows VPN management software. While it can be used for a personal VPN if you can get the information from your VPN provider, it is more likely that you would use this option to connect to a work or office VPN.
How To Manually Install A VPN On Windows 10
If you don’t have any VPN software on hand and you want to manually configure a VPN on Windows 10, simply follow these steps:
1) Click the network icon at the bottom of your screen and then click network settings. Alternatively, click Start > Settings > Network & Internet.
2) Find the option for VPN. This should be located on the left side of the screen. Click it, then you can click on the button that says ‘Add a VPN connection’.
You'll then be greeted with some fields to complete:
3) Now things get slightly more complicated. In this step, you will need to add some info about your VPN including:
- VPN Provider (You will need to select "Windows (built-in)" from the list)
- Connection name
- Server name or address
- VPN type
- Type of sign-in info
- Username (if you chose this in the step above)
- Password (if you choose this in the step above)
You will be able to get all the information required for these steps from your VPN provider. Once all the information has been entered correctly, click the ‘Save’ button.
4) The final step to connect to your VPN is to simply press ‘Connect’ (after clicking on the VPN connection you just created). If all the information in the previous step was correct, you should now have no problem signing in to your VPN.
If you need to adjust the settings of your VPN, you can do this in the ‘Advanced Settings’ section. You can also check the status of your VPN by checking the network section of your taskbar.
Video: Setting Up VPN on Windows 10 (Tom's Hardware Style!)
What About Windows 8?
If you use Windows 8 then the process and the information you will need to set up a VPN is very similar to Windows 10. However, the location of the VPN manager is slightly different.
On Windows 8 you can access it by:
1) Searching for 'VPN' in your search bar
2) Choosing the results found in the 'Settings' section
3) And then clicking on "Set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection".
...And Windows 7?
Windows 7, on the other hand, is a little different.
1) First, you will have to find the “Set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN)” option on your operating system which you can do by clicking ‘Start’, then searching for the term ‘VPN’, in the search box.
2) You will then have to follow the instructions and input the relevant information to connect to your VPN. Oce again including the IP address of the VPN server, the name you want for your network, and also a username and password if you want to set one up for the connection.
...and that should be it!
You can also install a VPN on a router. This means all your home network traffic can get all the benefits of a router. But you do need a ?compatible router. Read our article on the best VPN routers here.
Hopefully, this article will have cleared up how to install a VPN on Windows. If you have any questions remaining, please let us know in the comments section below!