Online security is becoming more and more important by the day. In order to make life more convenient, we give up information about ourselves frighteningly easily. And that information could fall into the wrong hands. Hackers are very good at identity theft because, well, it isn’t hard. On an Android device, for example, there’s a record of every action you take. Where you traveled to today, what apps you used, what apps you downloaded, and what you did with them.

Of course, there’s far more information where that came from. Your credit card details, social security numbers, and much more is all fair game to an experienced hacker.

For this reason, virtual private networks (VPNs) are becoming indispensable. This technology hides your location and encrypts all your information, meaning that it is protected from anyone trying to spy on you.

But how do you go about choosing the right one? There are so many options, and not all of them work.

Here’s some advice, for subscribing to the perfect VPN.

Avoid the freebies

Unfortunately, VPNs cost money. They require a monthly subscription. The good news is, that subscription fee is relatively cheap – around $10 a month. There are free services, but generally you get what you pay for. The best free VPNs are the trial versions of renowned services, and they restrict your bandwidth, meaning you won’t be able to use it when you’re doing something that requires a lot of data. Rather take the plunge and pay the subscription fee. Your security is worth it.

Read the reviews

Let’s face it. You probably don’t know how a VPN works (and kudos to you if you do). There’s no reason you should. However, this makes it impossible to determine on your own whether a VPN is worth its salt. For this reason, you should ask the experts, and there are plenty of reviewers out there doing the work for you. Start with this excellent ExpressVPN review, to get an idea of what you’re looking for.

Added benefits

There are some extra benefits to using a VPN, other than safety. This is especially the case for those trying to watch streaming content from another country. VPNs mask your location, and can trick a streaming service into thinking you’re in another location. While Netflix and others have found a way to block VPNs, there are still many that work. If you need this functionality, make sure you look for one that is known to still work with Netflix, etc.

Customer service

Good customer service is very important with a VPN, because you sometimes need to do a bit of troubleshooting, which you’re probably not cut out for. You need a service which answers your questions quickly or has an online chat. A VPN that is not working is incredibly frustrating, and if you can’t get it to work, you’ll end up using the web unsecured. Good customer service will guide you through any problems, so that you never have to risk your online safety.