Fergus O'Sullivan
How-To Geek
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Past articles by Fergus:
1Password Password Manager Review: One Password to Rule Them All?
1Password is a well-known password manager with a solid reputation and a good track record. Is it the right pick for you, though? I took a long, hard look at 1Password to see how it works and if it stands up to the competition. → Read More
Torrenting on a VPN? Don’t Connect to US Servers
You probably know you need a VPN for torrenting or run the risk of being fined into oblivion. However, just because you’re using a VPN doesn’t necessarily mean you’re safe, especially if you’re using servers based in the United States. Here’s why. → Read More
Hide.me VPN Review: Will It Hide You?
Hide.me is a VPN service that’s been around for a while and which goes heavy on the marketing, claiming many firsts and positioning itself as the best in many fields. I took a hard look at Hide.me and its claims to see how it stands up to scrutiny. → Read More
How Cheap VPNs Can Cost More Than You Bargained For
Times are hard and money’s tight. It’s no more than reasonable to want to limit your expenses on certain things and VPNs are as good a candidate as any. Are VPNs something you can skimp on, though? Do you really need to pay $100 per year to get a great VPN? → Read More
How to Pick a VPN for Torrenting
If you’re going to torrent, you’re going to need a VPN to protect yourself while doing so. How do you pick a good VPN for torrenting, though, is there something a good torrenting VPN has that others don’t? Or is it more about what a VPN doesn’t do that makes it good for torrenting? → Read More
Windscribe VPN Review: A Good Free VPN At Last?
Windscribe is a famously independent VPN service with a fiery and snarky social media presence. It’s not personality alone that has brought it fans, though: its users also extol its speeds, ability to access Netflix, and, of course, its wonderful free plan. → Read More
NordVPN Review: Truth in Advertising?
NordVPN might be one of the best-known VPNs out there, mainly thanks to its far-reaching, aggressive advertising campaigns. Of course, with so much money spent on marketing, I wondered whether or not it was all it was cracked up to be. → Read More
Private Internet Access VPN Review: A Great Option for the Price
Private Internet Access (PIA) is one of the more venerable VPN services out there. Founded in 2010, it’s practically a dinosaur compared to some of the other services out there. I took PIA, as it’s better known, out for a spin to see if it still has what it takes. → Read More
Proton VPN Review: Safe As a Swiss Bank
Proton VPN is a VPN service operated by Proton, a Switzerland-based company specializing in privacy-related services. It has a great reputation among the members of the How-to Geek newsroom so I took Proton VPN for a spin to see what it’s all about. → Read More
Mysterium VPN Review: Kicking the Tires of a dVPN
Decentralized VPNs are an interesting evolution of traditional VPNs, letting you pay your fellow users to get access to nodes all over the world. The most accessible dVPN out there is Mysterium VPN; I took it through its paces to see how it works. → Read More
Mozilla VPN Review: Is It a Game Changer?
As the name suggests, Mozilla VPN is a VPN from Mozilla, the privacy-focused group behind the Firefox browser, among others. Originally developed as a browser extension for Firefox, Mozilla VPN is now a fully-fledged standalone VPN; I took it through its paces to see how it fits in with the market. → Read More
Why You Shouldn’t Use BitTorrent Over Tor
If you’re looking to get started with torrenting, you probably know that you should use some kind of protection when doing so. However, one of the more popular ways to stay anonymous online, The Onion Router or Tor, is generally not recommended for use with the BitTorrent protocol. Why is that? → Read More
Mullvad VPN Review: The Little Mole That Could
Mullvad is a Sweden-based VPN provider with a long-standing reputation for privacy and efficiency. It has a spot on our best VPN services roundup as the best option for privacy, thanks to the many ways it safeguards your identity. How does it perform in other areas, though? → Read More
IVPN Review: Fast as Lightning
IVPN is a bit of a dark horse in the VPN market. It doesn’t have the marketing clout of big players like NordVPN and ExpressVPN, and it’s only slowly gaining the name recognition of independent players like Mullvad. I took it through its paces to find out what IVPN could do. → Read More
ExpressVPN Aircove Review: A New Breed of VPN Router
To get a network-wide VPN up and running traditionally, you’ve had to buy a compatible router and flash custom firmware. But with the Aircove, ExpressVPN is ready to go the moment you finish setting up the router. I tested out the device to see if the all-in-one solution is worth your money. → Read More
How Do No-Log VPNs Destroy Their Logs?
When looking for the best VPN, you’ll quickly notice that all VPNs, from the very best to the very worst, promise that they are “no-log,” “log-free,” or some variation of these words. How do these services get rid of logs, though, or do they even avoid creating them at all? → Read More
ProtonVPN Releases Stealth Protocol to Dodge Internet Censorship
ProtonVPN has released a new VPN protocol the company claims will help citizens in countries with censored internet to contact the outside world without risk of interception. Called the Stealth Protocol, it’s available now for all ProtonVPN users, including those on the service’s free plan. → Read More
Can a VPN Really Improve Your Ping While Gaming?
Looking around all the VPNs on the market, you quickly notice that more than a few of them like to make wild claims, like offering protection from hackers or viruses. Another of these claims is that they can improve your ping. Let’s see if that’s even possible. → Read More
What Is HTTP?
If you have a really sharp eye when looking at web addresses in your browser’s top bar, you’ll probably have noticed the very first part of any website’s address, the letters “HTTP” or “HTTPS.” What is HTTP, though, and how does it work? Let’s take a look at the glue that keeps the web together. → Read More
How to Unblock Netflix
Chances are that you use Netflix, the streaming site that lets you watch all kinds of content for one single monthly price. What you may not know is that Netflix has even more content than what you can see when browsing the main page. The way to access this extra content is also the way you get around blocks that keep you from accessing the site in the first place. → Read More