62 PCWorld JANUARY 2022REVIEWS BEST VPN SERVICES
comes from a known and trusted security
company, so there are fewer worries about
data security than with one of the
independent services. The key thing with
AVG Secure is that the interface is easy to
understand and use. It has a big “Change
location” button to help you select the
country you’d like to appear to be in. The app
also tells you what your current IP address is
and how long you’ve been connected to the
VPN. That’s pretty much it. This VPN also
works with streaming services and has P2P
servers. One thing it doesn’t have is a lot of
extra features, which is actually perfect for
anyone looking for a no-frills VPN.BEST VPN FOR NOVICES
RUNNER-UP: PRIVATEVPN
Price: $2 per month (fave.co/3p92Nd4)
Private VPN is also a nice option for novices,
with a mobile-style interface featuring a big
on/off button and location options just a tileclick away. The other nice
feature of Private VPN is
that once you’re done
being a novice, you can
click the Advanced view
to get a more complex
interface and mess
around with
other features that are
beyond the reach of a
simple click-and-go app.BEST U.S.-BASED VPN:
PERSONALVPN
Price: $4.44 per month (fave.co/3pbekbD)
If you want a VPN based in the good ol’ USA,
we recommend WiTopia’s PersonalVPN. The
speeds are good, the price is right, and the
app is very easy to use. It’s true that a lot of
VPN review sites stress the importance of
having a VPN that’s outside the so-called Five
Eyes countries (fave.co/3FhmVzf), which
includes the U.S.—some will even say to
avoid the Fourteen Eyes (fave.co/3pf2m0Z).
The idea is that if you use a U.S.-based VPN,
your activities may end up being secretly
monitored by Western authorities. Snowden
revealed such truths back in 2013. But if
you’re using a VPN to access your accounts
for Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or
any other U.S.-based service, then staying
outside the Fourteen Eyes is more or less
pointless. Sure, that VPN with an exotic locale
may be able to easily ignore U.S. subpoenasAVG Secure’s network security options.