Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows a user to make a phone call over the internet instead of over traditional phone lines. With the increase of high speed internet over the last 20+ years, it should be no surprise that this technology has taken a solid hold in society. There are several advantages to doing this, including portability, and price. If you make international calls and you are on those calls for any length of time, you know all too well that the costs add up on a traditional phone line. That said, there are also some disadvantages. However, these disadvantages could be solved by using a VPN.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
There are many different options in the VoIP field, and they are contingent on what the provider offers in their service. Here are some questions you would ask in determining which is the best service for you.
- Does the service require special phones?
- How portable are the numbers?
- Does your computer have to be on to make a call?
- What are the rates for local or international calling?
- Are there multiple plans available?
Depending on your goals, many companies offer multiple plans to meet your needs. Let’s say you were in the US and you have affiliates in Europe. For a relatively low cost, usually lower than a traditional phone bill without long distance, you may be able to call anywhere in Europe for free by using a VoIP. Enjoy popular VoIP services like Skype and Google Talk from anywhere in the world without restrictions. Even if the country you are in blocks VoIP, a VPN will allow you access anyway.
Once you have answered those questions, you are ready to look at some of the disadvantages. Like anything that is done over the internet, your data is not secure unless it is encrypted. In the days of the land lines, the telephone call was relatively private, unless the line was tapped. With VoIP, it is possible that your conversation could be intercepted by people with malicious intent.
That is where a good VPN comes in to play. A VPN will encrypt your conversation so you can keep prying ears away from sensitive personal data, or just regular conversation. It works by making a secure connection to a server, possibly in another country, depending on where you are calling. You could pick a server in or near the country you were trying to call and avoid extra charges.
If you see the benefits of using a VPN with VoIP, you may ask the question, what are the best options for me to choose? Fortunately, we have some good suggestions geared toward VoIP. First, you will want to stick with the protocol known as OpenVPN (UDP). That is the best protocol to use, because it is the fastest. The same could be said for streaming anything else as well. If you develop connection issues, you could switch to OpenVPN (TCP), but that may cause a speed loss. Of course, since you must use broadband for VoIP anyway, that may not be an issue. That said, OpenVPN is always the option you should go with whenever it is available. Our choices have custom clients, so setup is easy.
For securing your calls, or to save money by changing regions, we recommend IPVanish or Overplay. Neither of these companies keep connection logs, but IPVanish has the fastest networks in the US and Europe. Both companies offer secure encryption, and both offer our readers a very nice discount. We also have a top 10 VPN services list as well for other options, but you should not need to investigate further. IPVanish and Overplay are the best overall, based on pricing, speed, and worldwide server networks. Reliable providers will secure your privacy and have fast networks in many different counties, the choices in this post do both.