Not wanting to derail anther thread, I’ll ask the above question here. I’ve used VPNs before. Mainly connecting to a corporate network. It keeps the data encrypted between me and the corporate servers, so check, I get that.

As I see it, a VAN encrypts the data between my client machine and the server/gateway that is providing the service. The traffic from that server/gateway to any other computing device may or may not be encrypted, otherwise every device on the network would need to be able unencrypt that data and would defeat the purpose.

So if I use a VPN service to talk to my bank, then I have to assume that traffic from the VPN service to the bank is unencrypted unless the bank’s servers are also using the same VPN service.

Assuming the above is all true, then I’m protected from anyone between me and the VPN service, but not on the other side of the connection. If I don’t trust my ISP or I live next door to a family of criminals, then yeah, it’s useful. Otherwise what am I gaining?

My assessment is that VPNs hide the destination of the data you are sending to and from. Not so much the content, as the content is usually already encrypted with SSL (HTTPS). But with a VPN, nobody can sniff up where you go, and when. Because there's just one constantly running connection between you and your VPN provider. That said, from your VPN provider, the traffic would be visible, but there, they wouldn't see the "you" part of it. Because your provider is the source o each connection.

My main concern with VPNS would be the added latency. The transit time, translation time, and general processing of it all HAS to add something. Whether that's enough to make it suck is an unknown to me.

I have spent a lot of time thinking through some step-ups in my home network security. I believe I'll be purchasing a Bitdefender Box 2 home WiFi security device.

In most cases, your connection to the bank is already encrypted (SSL).

VPN services are good for other browsing, and for browsing from places that block the sites you want to visit (assuming they will allow the VPN connection in the first place).

The only real strong use cases I see for a VPN for general internet use are traveling abroad or having to connect within a network that restricts or monitors traffic, such as an educational institution or a corporation. Traveling abroad for the same basic reason. Also for users who are relying on public or unknown wifi networks.

Otherwise, for the average personal user, it's something that sounds sexy for not a lot of real benefit. You also introduce some latency by relaying all your traffic through the VPN service.

There are a variety of reasons for corporate and government users to connect to a VPN, but those aren't really relevant to personal users

Ping times and jitter will increase. Your internet will only be as fast as the bottleneck (if any) at the VPN server. On the plus side, you can bounce around a few IP addresses and whatever you are doing will be more difficult to track back to your activity.

I'm planning to do a lot of traveling especially around overseas.

I got a vpn for two things: security and being able to watch amazon movies.

My main financial institution won't accept a vpn connection. I called and said, it's already encrypted. They decline vpn connections because of hacking attempts. Beats me. I think another institution of mine rejects vpn connections.

Then amazon also declines vpn connections.

VPNs are a two-edged sword.

They let you do some things anonymously when you need it (travel, content, etc..)

Some companies block connections from known VPN providers due to the amount to hacking attempts from people who are concealing their true location.

As noted earlier, VPN isn't really necessary for connecting to your financial institution - in fact, they might block them. If your financial institution isn't using secure connections when you're online, you need to find another place to put your money.