8 Best VPNs For Ubuntu: Ultimate Guide

We are now in the digital age. This means that every little thing is translated and transformed into data. This data can be stored on the internet forever, and can grow as companies, sites and people gather more information, traffic and data whenever you use the internet.

Where we like to go to eat, what purchases we make, what people we interact with the most, and the routes we take to work are all tracked, gathered and stored as information. This can be found on your Google mail account, or stored by your phone’s assistant. It truly is scary how much data is harvested about us daily.

This is why online protection and security is so important and prevalent today than ever before. So, what can you do to protect yourself and your personal data? You can sign up to a VPN service.

A VPN service works to ensure that your online activity and traffic goes through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to encrypt that information and keep it protected from hackers or third parties.

This way, your information cannot be tracked, logged or used against you as advertisements! But, where do you start? How do you find the best VPNs for your Ubuntu OS to protect your data online?

That’s where we come in handy. Our guide offers the top 8 VPNs for Ubuntu users, so that you can find the right one for you and protect yourself online.

Best VPN For Ubuntu Buying Guide

What to look for in a VPN?

When looking for the best VPN, you need to think about your needs, wants and requirements first. Then, you will be able to find a VPN that meets those requirements. We recommend that whatever VPN you are looking for, it has some of these services:

An Automatic Kill Switch

A kill switch should automatically kick in if your VPN connection fails or becomes unstable. If this should happen without a kill switch, then your data, traffic and information could become vulnerable or breached. With a kill switch, you can ensure that your information is safeguarded at all times, even if the VPN fails or is reconnecting.

DNS and IP Leak Protection

DNS and IPv6 leak protection will prevent third parties from accessing your information. A DNS is a Domain Name Service, which has your IP addresses. When you browse, sites may request your DNS, and will be able to identify your IP address, and your ISP will give this information so that you can browse that website.

To ensure your privacy online, you will want to minimize DNS leaks and IP address leaks to keep your data and personal information hidden and encrypted at all times.

256-Bit Encryption

256-bit encryption is the highest level of encryption available on most VPNs, and will give you the best chance of fully safeguarding and protecting your data and browsing activity when you are online.

No Logs Policy

What this means is that the VPN does not collect, store or log any information that is transmitted through that network, giving you an extra level of security. These types of VPNs will not store any personal information about who you are, what location you are in, or what you download or search for online.

Server Coverage

You also need a VPN that has servers all around the world, so that you can access many different geo blocked websites and content without any problems.

This means that you will be able to access sites and download data from any country that is covered by the VPN servers. In addition, if you travel, you will still be able to use your VPN.

Multiple Connections

This is an important factor that you should consider. If you have a large household, or you have multiple devices, you will want a VPN that you can use for all of these devices to protect the whole household, without having to sign up to multiple VPN services.

Sp, make sure you can have multiple simultaneous connections with the VPN that you choose.

User Friendly Apps

For extra guidance on how best to use your VPN, there may be applications that you can download with tips and support. These can be found on the VPN services’ website, which can give you an insight into the VPN before purchasing, or can help you understand the features.

Customer Support

Just like any services, VPNs can have issues, or problems. This is why it is important to choose one with good customer service and support, so that you can rectify any issues as and when needed.

Most services will offer 24/7 online support with a live chat function on their websites, but some may also offer phone support as an extra layer of help.

Using a VPN for Ubuntu

Having a VPN for Ubuntu is very similar to using a VPN on any other Operating System. However, there are a few things that you should be aware of and consider.

For instance, if you need a custom GUI, then these are very hard to come by on Ubuntu. Only AirVPN, and Private Internet Access will be suitable for custom GUI clients with Ubuntu.

Most VPN services will offer support for Ubuntu clients with manual CLI or Network Manager guides, which often work well, but there can be no DNS leak protection in these cases.

Whilst the basic VPN setup for Ubuntu along with CLI clients does not push DNS requests to the VPNs providers DNS servers, which means that there can be DNS leaks.

However this can be resolved by modifying the settings to push DNS to the VPNs DNS servers and not your own. You can also employ a firewall to divert all DNS requests to the VPN server instead, for extra protection and security online.

Best VPN For Ubuntu - FAQ's

What is a VPN?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network, which is utilized to protect your online privacy and information when you are surfing the web. A VPN is a simple software that can make it much harder for hackers or outsiders to see your search history, personal information and sensitive online information.

Without a VPN, other internet users can see your online traffic, and even discover your IP address, which can actually tell them your specific location, too. A VPN therefore works to anonymize your internet traffic with a protected network as a barrier.

However, it is not just to hide your online information and data, a VPN can also help you break geoblocks or access streaming services from all over the world.

Yes, that means that you can watch TV shows on UK Netflix, German Netflix and US Netflix so that you can get more films, and shows without restrictions! You can also download torrents faster, and so much more with a VPN.

Why do I need a VPN?

A VPN is there to protect you and your information online. In an age where everything is turned into data, whether it is the people you interact with frequently, the locations you visit, or the things you search for and purchase online, so much information is stored about you.

In the wrong hands, anyone can hack into your network and find out this information or steal this data. That’s where a VPN comes in handy.

By having a Virtual Private Network, or a VPN, all of the data you send to the internet is encrypted and protected. This means that all of your data and searches are encrypted so that no one can see what you are doing, or looking at.

This includes your ISP, or internet service provider. That means that the ISP cannot control your internet speeds either, which can happen if you are using speed sensitive programs such as streaming apps or games.

In addition, encrypting your data and internet information also means that no one can access your saved data such as passwords to enter websites. This is particularly important if you often use public WiFi networks to surf the web, log into social media accounts or log into your online banking.

With a VPN, no one will be able to watch what you are doing, and save your data and passwords.

Other websites will use your IP address to find out your location. These websites are usually things like Amazon, Netflix or other sites that need your location information.

For instance, Disney + and Netflix will release different movies and TV shows to different locations. Some may have new films at different times, or even receive new shows months before other countries will.

With a VPN, you can mask your IP address, and access all kinds of sites and data with no problems. Never again will you see that notification that says: Sorry, this video is not permitted in your location’ . This gives you so much more freedom on the internet.

One of the biggest appeals of having a VPN is that they have built in protection against viruses and malware that could hack or damage your devices. Some sites can automatically download malware onto your computer, laptop or phone, and a VPN can block ads and popups such as these from happening.

How do VPNs work?

A VPN will direct all of your internet data and traffic through its server, where this information will be encrypted, meaning no one can understand or read it.

The VPN can then mask your location, IP address, information and traffic whilst you stream the web so that you are protected, not restricted and able to do whatever you please without being blocked by websites. 

In addition, all of your private and sensitive information and data is protected so that no one is able to hack into it, see it or use it.

Are VPNs legal?

Yes, VPNs are legal to use, and you can use most of them in the majority of the countries around the world. However, in some countries non-government VPNs are banned and forbidden.

What this means is that if you try to use a VPN from a provider that is not compliant with anti-privacy and censorship laws in that country, then the VPN will probably be blocked and you will not be able to access websites with it on.

What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is the name of the new, modern open source operating system available on Linux: https://ubuntu.com/. Ubuntu is distributed by a company called Canonical, and is a commercial project based on the Linux kernel, as it is a Linux based Operating System.

With the many features, free software and great security that Ubuntu provides, it has become a very popular open source operating system for Linux users.

As such, Ubuntu was created and intended for personal computers, but is now often used on servers too. Being a vastly and widely used OS, there are many VPNs suitable for Ubuntu.