1. What is VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and is an increasingly popular form of proxy for security and to stay anonymous on net. VPN is a tunnel over the Internet. Each VPN connection is totally anonymous on the internet and it helps to keep your activities anonymous and safe. VPN internet access is an attractive option for people worried about their security and privacy.

2. What are the benefits of using VPN?
a. Provides a layer of security and anonymity.
b. Prevents local ISP from regulating your connection.
c. Prevents harassment from people tracking you by your IP address.
d. Safe/encrypted connection between your computer and the Internet.
e. Access blocked sites and bypass proxy and content filters.
f. Internet Service Provider won't know you are using it.
g. Your office or school won't know you are using it either!
h. Bypass Skype/MSN blocks.
i. Skype sound quality may improve with a VPN connection.
j. Visit all blocked/censored websites.


3. How does VPN work?
The VPN connection behaves like this:
You connect to the Internet in the normal manner, through your ISP.
The VPN client software on your computer initiates a connection with the VPN server.
The VPN server encrypts the data on the connection so it cannot be read by others while it is in transit.
The VPN server decrypts the data and passes it on to other servers and resources.

4. What is the technical difference between a VPN and a proxy?
A VPN has many advantages over a proxy server. Here are some of them:

a. A VPN does not restrict the kind of software you may use. So whatever software you have been using to surf the Net, you can use it after installing the VPN. A proxy almost always require you to make changes to how you use your software.

b. A VPN works at the network level. So when you use a VPN it will not just help your browsing, but every other kind of traffic, including p2p traffic such as skype etc. A proxy only handles http traffic.

c. A VPN encrypts all its data between you and the VPN server. Many proxies do not necessary encrypt the data but rather encode it to bypass detection. Encryption is of course more secure than encoding.

d. When you use a VPN, you are as good as surfing from a foreign IP address. In other words, no web sites can detect you are actually surfing from within China. This can be important as certain web sites actually ban Chinese IPs.

e. Once set up, a VPN is actually much easier to use than a proxy. To start/stop a VPN you simply double click on the VPN icon you have configured..

5. How to setup a VPN (Virtual Private Network) Connection in Windows XP?
Go to the the step-by-step tutorial by CLICKING HERE.
For Windows Vista users, go to the the step-by-step tutorial by CLICKING HERE.

6. Where can I get a free VPN?
(1). CLICK HERE for a shor review of VPN plans.
(2). If you are new to VPN, we suggest you use relakks.com free VPN service. They offer a 30 day free trial. Please go to http://www.relakks.com for detail info. There you can select English as your language.
(3). Hotspot Shield is a free VPN client software. Download and install it on your PC is very easy. This is the download URL: http://anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/.
(4). FirePhoenix free VPN client software. The software is only released in Chinese.
(5). New Free US Based VPN Service - AlwaysVPN.
(6). Free SSL VPN service - CyberghostVPN.
(7). Free public VPN service by Loki Network Project.
(8). VPN123 Free test account offered by VPN123.com.
(9). Alonweb Free VPN.
(10). ItsHidden Free VPN

6. How to block Hotspot Shield Ads?
CLICK HERE for the blocking method if you are using Firefox browser.

Using Orphne Web browser can also block Hotspot Shield ads. CLICK HERE.