ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. It is an organization which provides internet services to the customers in homes and workplaces. ISP allows you to explore and use the internet. The ISP connects the server you are using to the servers all across the internet. Basically it acts as a channel between your PC and other servers.
When a user sends a request to the server, the request is first sent to the ISP servers and then it is forwarded to its destination point via other servers. ISP provides Internet services to the customers through dioptric, space stations, or copper cables.
What is a VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Nowadays people are concerned about their privacy over the internet. VPN provides a service that maintains the privacy and protection of user’s data and activity over the internet. VPN connects you to the public internet services through an encrypted tunnel which ensures that all the actions performed by the user cannot be traced.
The VPN server hides the users’ IP addresses from the public internet and makes all the actions performed by the user totally anonymous. It makes public browsing more secure and reliable. Therefore it reduces the chances of cybercrime, data theft, and other means of misusing the personal information of any user.
How Does VPN Work?
First, the user shall install any software which provides VPN services.
- The VPN software will encrypt the data sent from the clients’ server and send it to the VPN server through a secure connection.
- The VPN server decrypts the data and sends it to the internet.
- The VPN server once again encrypts the data received from the internet and sends it to the clients’ server.
- The data is decrypted by the VPN software so that it can be meaningful to the user.
Can ISP See And Block VPN?
Yes, ISP can see if a person is accessing the internet through a VPN.
The data is sent from the clients’ server to its destination through ISP. The only way this is possible is if the ISP knows where to send the data. The destination point for the data would be a VPN server if the user is using a VPN. Hence the ISP can see the amount of data being passed and also the users’ IP address despite the fact that the data is encrypted.
But ISP cannot see the actions you perform online when you are connected to a VPN. For example, they can know if you have accessed Facebook, but they cannot know what you are doing with it. VPN encrypts all the data, which stops ISP from accessing or using your personal information and online activities.
ISP can block VPN depending on the protocol which is used. PPTP protocol uses GRE packets and it works on only one port that’s why ISP can block VPN.
If TCP protocol is used with port 443 in OpenVPN, then ISP will only be able to see the secured websites you are visiting such as Google, Gmail, and Facebook, etc.
Best VPN Service Providers:
ExpressVPN:
ExpressVPN is considered to be one of the finest VPN providers. You can select your VPN server IP address from one-sixty VPN server locations. These locations can be across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA, which makes 94 countries worldwide.
Your data is protected by using 256-bit encryption. Now you can easily browse from any website without worrying about your data being blocked.
You can watch and download your favorite TV series and movies in high speed and high quality. This VPN provides access with fast speed without any bandwidth limits. It makes downloading anything a matter of seconds and video chatting without any distortion. ExpressVPN might be a little costly, but given all the services that are provided, it is worth the cost.
CyberGhost:
Cyberghost is considered to be the second-best VPN provider. CyberGhost is much cheaper as compared to ExpressVPN. The plus point of CyberGhost software is that it is user friendly and extremely easy to install. It allows you to access blocked websites, enjoys fast torrent download, unblocks streaming services, and plays games that are restricted in your region.
It protects your data from any unethical use or cybercrime. It also makes sure that your bank transactions are secure. It uses military-grade encryption. It ensures safety on public internet by hiding your IP address and keeping your identity anonymous.
Another benefit of CyberGhost is that it has various servers where the data can be sent. This can prove to be advantageous when there is a need to unblock certain online websites. The internet speed will be eventually higher if the server is present near your location.
NordVPN:
NordVPN is considered to be the second-best VPN provider. This service provides reliability and safety of data. The NordVPN software is user-friendly. Due to its effective security level, its speed can be slow as compared to that of ExpressVPN. By keeping in view the services NordVPN provides, it has a reasonable price.
Other advantages provided by NordVPN are that it offers a unique IP address to the user and hides the real IP address. It allows accessing the websites that are restricted in your region. For example, Netflix can easily be accessed. To ensure the extreme security of sensitive data, NordVPN offers double VPN connections. This makes it almost impossible that your data could be used by the government or any hackers.
Conclusion:
Browsing has become very unsafe in the present era. Our personal information is always at risk while surfing the public internet. Therefore for the sake of our security, it is important to use a VPN. VPN encrypts your data and makes the internet accessing much safer and reliable. Although there is a possibility that ISP can see our real IP address, it is still much safer to use VPN than unencrypted browsing.