I’m a Digital Nomad and These Are the 6 VPN Rules I Swear By

I’m a US citizen, and a few months ago I chose to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in Milan, Italy. When I stepped off the plane in my new home country, one of the very first places I went was the universally dreaded Vodafone store to sign up for a home Wi-Fi plan.

Why? Because I am a freelancer by trade. I understood that, while I could hop around and work from free cafe Wi-Fi networks, a home internet connection would be the most secure way for me to work from abroad — for myself and my many clients.

Experts agree: When you work from public Wi-Fi, “you’re choosing to be as vulnerable as you could possibly be,” says Michael Nizich, director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center at New York Institute of Technology.

An unsecured internet connection exposes your online activity and possibly even valuable client or company data to anyone who is looking. Thankfully, there are ways to protect yourself, even if you don’t have a home Wi-Fi connection. American citizens working as digital nomads or traveling often, like me, could benefit a lot from a virtual private network (VPN), a tool that creates a secure internet connection no matter where you are.

I talked to two cybersecurity experts who shared with me the best online security and VPN strategy for US citizens, like me, who are working or living abroad.

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6 VPN tips for digital nomads

Cybersecurity experts Nizich and Fred Kwong, chief information security officer at DeVry University, offered these six VPN and online security tips for digital nomads.

1. Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi

Digital nomads working abroad might also notice, like I did, that some of their favorite shows on Netflix or Hulu are blocked by geographic content restrictions. When a streaming service detects you’re logging in from a different country, you’ll be restricted to the content library for that region. 

Using a VPN to connect to a server in the US can help bypass these restrictions, because it makes it appear as though you’re logging in from America. If you’re trying to use a VPN to stream georestricted content, Kwong recommends choosing a VPN known for high-speed connections that can handle video streaming.

ExpressVPN is CNET’s top choice for streaming, thanks to its excellent ability to unblock streaming content from other regions.

4. A VPN can’t protect you from yourself

You can use all the best tech tools and still fall victim to an online scam if you neglect the human element: you.

“The technology is actually really strong today,” Nizich says, but user behavior can still present risks.

First, take care of the basics: double-check that your VPN is active when you’re connecting to public networks.

6. Choose the right VPN service

If your employer doesn’t provide its own VPN portal, you’ll want to sign up for your own.

There are lots of VPN services out there these days, each with slightly different setups and price points. Looking into a few different options to figure out which one best fits your needs and budget.

CNET’s expert team has rigorously evaluated top VPNs for privacy, speed and more. Here are three that they recommend:

• ExpressVPN:
  Rated by CNET as the best overall VPN service, this provider is known for cutting edge privacy and security, with fast streaming speeds. But it’s also one of the most expensive options on the market.
• NordVPN: This came in as the best VPN for speed in CNET’s ranking. If streaming and gaming are important for you, you’ll do well with a NordVPN subscription. 
• ProtonVPN: If you’re on a budget, ProtonVPN’s free plan might work for you: CNET’s experts note that it “doesn’t sacrifice privacy, sell your data or plaster your screen with ads.”