4 Best VPN Solutions for Small, Medium & Large Businesses
If you are a small business owner, you may be considering using a VPN to protect your business data. A Business VPN will encrypt all of the internet traffic going to and from your work computer, therefore, protecting your businesses important data.
Before we start, it is important that you are aware that there are two types of VPN services. These are corporate intranet VPNs and commercial VPNs. Corporate VPN intranets allow users to access files remotely on a work computer whilst commercial VPN services encrypt the user’s data to improve your online security.
In this article, we look at commercial VPNs, explain the differences between commercial and corporate VPN services in detail, and list the best business VPN services currently available.
What are the Best Small Business VPN services?
We have listed the best small business VPN services below. Of you want to know more about any of the services in the list below, scroll down for an in-depth analysis of each business VPN service.
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All of the best small business VPNs listed in this article have the following features:
- Strong encryption
- Fast servers
- Very reliable
- Can be used by all employees
What is a business VPN?
The terminology around this subject can be rather confusing, not least because there are no standardized uses of the term “business VPN.”
There are, traditionally, two kinds of Virtual Private Network (VPN):
1. Corporate VPN intranets
As the reason VPN technology was first developed, these systems allow remote workers to access corporate intranet resources securely from the internet as if they were sitting in their business HQ and physically connected to the office LAN network.
This kind of VPN remains popular in the business world, but its benefits are usually only available to large corporations. This is because the cost of setting up and maintaining dedicated VPN servers (plus the cost of paying full time highly specialized staff members to do this) is prohibitively expensive for most SMBs.
2. Commercial personal VPNs
Over the last few years, increased demand for improved personal privacy on the internet has driven demand for third-party commercial VPN services.
These have repurposed VPN technology to allow them to operate VPN servers located around the world, which allow customers to access the internet from these server locations in a way that greatly improves their privacy on the internet.
This kind of VPN network has become so popular that it is now what most people mean when they talk about “VPNs.”
So what are “business VPNs?”
Full-scale corporate VPN intranets are developed in-house and are, therefore, beyond the scope of this article. Most “business VPNs” we discuss, therefore, fall into the second category; they are commercial VPN services that sell bulk personal VPN licenses so that businesses can ensure their workers benefit from the advantages of using a VPN. We discuss these advantages below.
There is, however, a new breed of business VPN which offers something of a hybrid experience, blending traditional corporate and third party personal VPN services. [[post-object type=”gotolink” provider=”perimeter81″ tag=”business”]]Perimeter 81[[/post-object]] is by far the most prominent of these, although we expect this new market to expand dramatically over the coming years.
Best Business VPN services – In-depth analysis
We take a closer look at the best corporate VPN services below. All the services in this list provide users with excellent encryption and security features.
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Why use a corporate VPN?
This general section discusses the advantages of using a bulk-purchase personal VPN license for your SMB staff members. Perimeter 81 can be used in this way, but it also does lots of other things that are outlined in its summary above or are discussed in more detail in our full Perimeter 81 review.
Protection when using public wi-fi
When using a VPN, the connection between a device and a VPN server is securely encrypted. In the past, this has made VPNs an invaluable tool for protecting sensitive data when team members work from cafes, airport lounges, and the like.
Wide-scale deployment of HTTPS over the last few years has greatly reduced the danger of leaking sensitive data to hackers when using public wi-fi hotspots. They might be able to see which HTTPS websites your team member visit, but won’t be able to see anything they do on them.
That said, some websites remain defiantly HTTP-only, so using a VPN still has some value in this regard. It is also useful, more generally, for preventing tracking for advertising purposes my commercial wi-fi hosts.
Protection against ISPs seeing sensitive data
Internet providers (ISPs) can usually see all data that passes through their servers – including potentially sensitive company data. As with public wi-fi, however, the spread of HTTPS has greatly reduced the threat posed by rogue ISPs.
It should be noted that when using a VPN the need for trust transfers to the VPN provider, which can now see your insecure internet communications in the same way your ISP could. A big difference, though, is that most VPN services make it their business to protect your privacy in a way that ISPs simply don’t.
Geo-targeted marketing
VPNs allow you to research international ad campaigns as if you were inside the target country. This means you can perform SEO research using native online platforms, bypass any censorship performed in your own country, and easily check that ads are being correctly viewed by your target audience.
Geolocation spoofing
If your team members regularly travel abroad, then a VPN can allow them to access local websites and streaming services as if they were at home. This can be a great comfort and convenience for workers who spend a great deal of time away on business.
