If you want to browse the Internet anonymously and simply being secured online, VPN (Virtual Private Network) is without a doubt the best choice. As compared to other methods, VPN offers encrypted web traffic which protects you from undesirable third party. However, there are many types of VPN, and Open VPN is only one of them.
In layman’s term, Open VPN is an open source software application that provides secured virtual connection between two computers at different locations. To achieve secured connection, it uses the OpenSSL encryption library along with other strong security features. Despite being fairly new, it is one of the most preferred VPN protocol.
But before you decide to use it to secure your Internet connection, below are some of the major advantages and disadvantages of Open VPN.
Pros of Open VPN:
Strong encryption
Open VPN is known for having a strong encryption, which is considerably better against the NSA (National Security Agency). The OpenSSL encryption library supports a number of cryptographic algorithms including the AES which is known for almost no weakness at all.
Highly reliable
Besides being secured, Open VPN is highly reliable, thanks to its capability of allowing for repair or reconfiguration even if the network is down. This means that no drop of packets which means no data will be lost once there is a corruption during the communication.
Works with DD-WRT routers
This is a great advantage if you want to run your local network on a single VPN account. To be able to achieve this, you will need a DD-WRT supporting router. Thiif done correctly, this free Linux-based firmware upgrade allows you to share a single VPN connection.
Great community support
This is pretty obvious because of the extreme popularity of Open VPN. And because it is an open source application, it can be easily be modified. This is why you can easily get support from other users around the globe. And yes, it is very much applicable to mobile phones.
We can recommend a great Open VPN for Android – Spider VPN.
Cons of Open VPN
Software required
You will need third party software before you can use Open VPN. You will need it for the authentication of the VPN server. If you are not a techie guy, this might be a problem to you. Although it is pretty easy to install, you might find it complicated to use if you are a beginner.
Possibility of High Latency
In terms of Internet, latency is the time delay of the response in the network, and is therefore a waste of time and can be annoying if you playing online games. And because of the high load in Open VPN, you might encounter this problem depending on your location of your access.
There are other disadvantages of Open VPN, but they are considerably minor. For example, it is quite slower than PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) and L2TP/IPSec. Some user also note that Open VPN for desktop computers is better than for mobile devices. However, if you are really concern with security and reliability, then you should choose Open VPN.
Original: http://sahrzad.net/blog/pros-and-cons-of-open-vpn-technology/