When you buy a vpn online online you need to be careful of a few things, and keep a few other things in mind.

The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that you shouldn't trust every review that you read. Many people are getting commissions off these vpn services so the reviews are very positive (of everything) just so you can buy a vpn online through their web site. How can you recognize these sites? They usually have a lot of post tags for each blog post and tons of repetitive information. I was looking at a site the other day that had tons of tags that were obviously excessive to make the site seem like it had more content. There were at least 20 different ways of saying "Buy a vpn online for the UAE". (The internet is censored in the UAE). Posts will be short and won't tell you much except where to buy a vpn online.

Another thing to watch for is how long you have to get your money back. I've never experienced it but I've read a post and have a friend who got a bit robbed by the company. They used the free trial period and after they decided to buy a vpn online with the company (The post was Vpn in China, and the friend was Ace Vpn), the speed and reliability dropped noticeably and it was too late to get their money back. Many vpn services offer seven day money back guarantees. With the huge number of services to buy a vpn online from, this is one way to narrow down your choice.

You also need to know how much you know about vpn's. There are lots of techie-nerds out there who do hacking and crazy porn searches so they know the in's and out's of vpn's. Stuff like PPTP and SSL is like apple and banana to them. For the normal guys who just want a plug and play type thing, you can tell immediately by the front page of the site if this it's going to be easy for you to navigate. Some of the easier sites to buy a vpn online from are Astrill, Freedur, Skydur, and 12vpn.

Also check that they have live support and that it works. The funny thing is that the best support I've experienced was from 12vpn who doesn't have live support. I find that live support people are very curt and don't really have a sense of humour. However, they're there to help me buy a vpn online or get things fixed up if I run into trouble - not to be my friend. So I forgive them. The point is that in the vpn world you don't have to go without live support to save money.

When you buy a vpn online don't be fooled by extensive number of server locations. It's not important whether your server is in London, France, or someone underpants. They're all similar. I've found out that it's more important to have unlimited server switches. Many of the better vpn companies like 12vpn and Astrill allow an unlimited number of switches for their basic plans. Other companies may charge more. This means that if a particular server is slow or frequently gives you problems you can immediately switch to another one free of charge.

You can continue reading more specific reviews at my site for expats looking to buy a vpn in China - don't worry if you're not in China. Or you can read a review of two of the most trusted names in vpn services - 12vpn and Strongvpn

I'll warn you though, I do get a commission!