VPN (Virtual Private Network) has been proven to be the best way to browse the web anonymously. Besides being flexible, it is by far more secured than other similar technologies. With VPN, web traffic is encrypted which means no third party can easily intercept your data. Mobile users are protected when they are in a public Wi-Fi zone or a in a country with strict Internet policies. VPN offers different security protocols to choose from, and Open VPN is one of them. Here are some of its notable advantages:
1. Very easy to install and use
Released in 2002, this OpenVPN open-source software is very easy install and use. You can install it on a server and client on any platform (such as Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and others) without restrictions. OpenVPN server waits until a client submits a request for connection, and the client establishes the connection according to the given configuration. Despite requiring you to download and setup additional configuration files, it does not come as a burden as there are tons of tutorials available.
2. Offers high level of security
OpenVPN offers various security features as such as peer authentication, digital certifications, and very strong encryption standards. It uses security protocols from the OpenSSL encryption library and SSL v3/TLS v1 protocol. The cryptographic algorithms (e.g. AES, Blowfish, 3DES, CAST-128, etc) being used are known to have no serious security issues from any party, including the NSA (National Security Agency). The 128-bit Blowfish is OpenVPN’s default cipher, but the newer AES provides more security.
3. Highly configurable and flexible
OpenVPN is highly configurable as compared to other security protocols. It can be set to run on any port, but is known to run best at TCP port 443. This makes OpenVPN traffic harder to distinguish and block as compared to the traffic from the HTTPS websites. During connection set up, OpenVPN also offers numerous points making it very flexible to all kinds of users. Connections can be tunneled through almost every available proxy and firewall, thus providing additional protection for field workers.
4. Great community support
OpenVPN requires you to download a third party app, but support from the community is great. Due to its popularity, it has already acquired a huge amount of fans all over the world. Not to mention, OpenVPN network can be connected on mobile devices and works well on various operating software such as Apple’s iOS and Android. And because it is an open source, source code is readily available and is free for modification. In short, receiving support is never a problem for OpenVPN users.
5. Highly reliable
With OpenVPN, there is no data loss even if the system goes down. Instead, the network stops so that repair and reconfiguration can be done immediately. This feature also serves as an additional security measure. OpenVPN is also considered as the most stable and reliable VPN protocol on wireless routers, non-reliable networks, as well as on Wi-Fi zones. When it comes to speed, it is notably fast even on far distances and connections with high latency. This is why many VPN providers are offering it.