online security has evolved as the internet did. At first, the mainstay to protect your computer was the antivirus . Then the firewall became popular. And, currently, the star tool to keep safe security and privacy online is the VPN. Acronym for Virtual Private Network , a VPN acts as an intermediary between your connected devices and the internet. The available offer is joined by Mozilla VPN , Mozilla's security service, those responsible for Firefox.
Launched in September 2019 in beta under the name of Firefox Private Network and renamed Mozilla VPN in its official launch in July 2020, Mozilla VPN is the response of the Mozilla Foundation to protect the average user while accessing the internet from their smartphone, tablet or computer. And is that when you open a web page or open an application, sometimes you are giving more data than you think . That for starters.
VPN technology allows to access the internet anonymously . You will only leave the trace you want to leave, if you decide to fill out forms or record certain information. Everything that the internet knows about your connected device will be protected by the VPN, which stands between you and the internet . Thus, if a server asks for your location, it will give it the location of the VPN server instead of your actual location.
The advantages of using VPN
Although VPN technology has been around for a long time, it is still a stranger in certain areas. However, security firms begin to advertise in the media promoting their own VPN as a star product to protect your privacy .
Its growing popularity is due, on the one hand, to the need to safeguard our privacy when we access the internet from our smartphones or from public WiFi networks . And as a result, VPN companies and services for all tastes have proliferated. For its part, Mozilla has decided to contribute Mozilla VPN , its own VPN.
If you connect to the internet with a VPN, pages like the one in the image detect the location of the VPN server, not from your computer or device Among the advantages of using a VPN we have the protection of our identity . As I said before, by default, when accessing an internet service, it is able to know from which computer you access, your browser, operating system and location. With a Virtual Private Network, none of that is available to the internet. Instead, they will obtain the information provided by the VPN, which may be in another country and city .
This is very useful to prevent your messages or emails from falling into the wrong hands. Or that your banking or purchase details are intervened if you make purchases using a public WiFi. Safe and secure privacy.
More advantages of using VPN. Access content that is prohibited or blocked in your country or wherever you travel, for legal or political reasons. Not all countries allow free internet access.
And, finally, if you are interested in accessing media or services in your country that are blocked abroad, thanks to the Virtual Private Network you can do it as if you were there .
What does Mozilla VPN offer?
Now that we know what a VPN is and its many advantages, it touches the question of rigor. Is Mozilla VPN worth using as the default VPN? What do you offer us and at what price?
Mozilla VPN is a paid VPN service. Launched in July 2020 in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand, it also made the jump to Germany and France in April this year. And from July, you can also use it in Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy.
Available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad), Mozilla VPN allows access to VPN servers in more than 30 countries and more than 50 cities spread over America, Europe , Asia and Oceania . In some countries, there is only one city to choose from, which is usually the capital. Other more popular such as Germany, United Kingdom or Sweden, there are several cities to choose from. And if you need to connect from a VPN server in the United States, the choice offers an extensive list of cities spread over different states.
Its operation is very simple. You download the installer on your platform, install it, sign up for the service by creating a Mozilla account and, finally, log in. From the application you can activate and deactivate the VPN when you need it. Once you choose a server, it appears in the history so that you can access it faster.
It said that Mozilla VPN is paid. As is usual with other VPN services, you can contract their services through a subscription that can be monthly or yearly. If you pay monthly, it costs € 9.99 per month . If you hire it for six months, the price drops to € 6.99 per month . And if you opt for the annual subscription, the price drops to € 4'99 per month . For that price, you will have access to Mozilla VPN on up to 5 devices at the same time. Come on, if you opt for the annual subscription, each device will be protected at the price of one euro per month.
What else do you need to know
To offer this VPN service, Mozilla uses technology from Mullvad , a Sweden-based VPN provider whose software is open source. On a technical level, Mozilla VPN uses the WireGuard protocol, which promises fast and secure connections. In this sense, Mozilla's VPN performs very well.
It is very good to access web pages from anonymity or avoid geoblocks. However, that is useless if the speed of the connection suffers. After testing two servers, one in Germany and the other in the United States, I have obtained speed data identical to what I would obtain if I performed the test with the Virtual Private Network disabled. My fiber optic connection is 300 Mbps. The speed obtained connected to the VPN in New York was 260 Mbps. And 290 Mbps in Frankfurt.
If we talk about latency , the results are the usual when accessing European or North American servers. When using a German server, the latency ranges from 25 ms to 48 ms. In these cases, the latency band is usually between 30 and 80 ms. When accessing the internet from the United States, the latency in my test was between 61 and 124 ms, compared to the usual data that is usually between 120 and 200 ms.
In short, Mozilla VPN is a VPN service up to the task. Fast, safe, easy to use and very economical, with this tool you will increase your security and privacy wherever you are. And with the guarantee of Mozilla, a non-profit foundation that has more than 20 years working to improve the internet and to make it safer for the user. You will find more information on its official page.
