The Best VPN For School

We remember what it was like to be in school, bouncing back and forth from lectures hall to libraries, dorms, coffee shops, and of course, a bar or two. All of that movement on and off of public Wi-Fi is precisely the reason why students should care about protecting their identity and web traffic with a VPN. VPN companies know that students are often a little cash-strapped, and each of the VPNs below offers a student discount because, like us, they believe cost shouldn’t be a barrier to web safety.

What We Look For in VPNs for Schools

Between classes, assignments, and extracurriculars, we know students don’t have time to wait around and fuss with a clumsy VPN. As people who take internet security incredibly seriously and weren’t students that long ago, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make a rigorous comparison of all VPNs to see which best fit modern student needs. From speed tests and security to customer support and privacy, our methodology is rigorous. On top of all that, we test each VPN’s iOS and Android apps to be sure that we’re protected on the go. Essentially, we save you a ton of Googling and clicking, so there’s more time in the day to hit the books.

Methodology

Each VPN is stress tested for usability, speed, and security. Below, we’ll describe our methodology so that readers can understand exactly what we were looking for in a VPN and why certain VPNs landed where they did in our Best VPNs for School ratings. We specialized this testing process with the typical student user in mind. We prioritized things like a student discount, split tunneling for dual access to public and private networks, and the ability to stream quickly, especially from Netflix.

Once the VPN was deemed good for students based on the above factors, we then took a close inspection of other VPN features, like if the VPN has 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), how well our IP addresses are masked, whether or not the VPN logs data beyond our payment information, and more. Once the VPNs checked those boxes, we escalated them to the next level by running through our speed, security and feature tests.

Security

The main goal of using a VPN is to protect web traffic from prying eyes of governments, hackers, and more. More literally, we use VPNs to protect our web search history and IP addresses. To test a VPN on this merit, we needed to know that our private IP addresses weren’t being leaked with the VPN on. IP addresses are typically leaked due to a default feature of most browsers (Chrome, Edge, and Opera) called WebRTC, which allows browsers to communicate directly with each other.

We test for DNS leaks through DNSLeakTest.com. We compare the IP addresses of our computer to the IP addresses provided on the website and use that to determine if there was a DNS leak while using the VPN or not. We then test for WebRTC leaks by leveraging a tool on ExpressVPN’s website. Similarly, we use a tactic where we look at the local and Pubalic IPv4 IP addresses to discover any potential WebRTC leaks.

At a macro level, we concentrate on the company’s privacy jurisdiction and data logging policies. In short, it matters a lot where the company is headquartered as their location determines what international surveillance alliances they are a part of. Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes are each of the security alliances which obligate companies to hand over customer data to the government if there was a legal reason to do so. Ideally, a VPN is not based in any country where companies are subject to agreements, but if they are, we prefer that they keep only essential data from their customers. We’re looking for companies to only keep nominal information like names, emails, and payment info saved instead of traffic history, IP addresses used, and location.

Our testing process also scrutinizes each VPN’s encryption methods to be sure that they meet industry standards. The gold standard is VPNs with AES-256 encryption and OpenVPN, the most secure encryption methods available.

We round out our security check by looking to see if the company offers unique or completely anonymous IP addresses to decrease the likelihood of potential tracking. Dynamic IP addresses are the ideal situation here, as companies will essentially shuffle the IP address deck each time we log in. This makes it near impossible to track our Internet history. The less than ideal version is a static IP address, meaning the IP addresses don’t change; something like this is okay if thousands of users share the IP addresses, but some websites, like Netflix, will block shared IP addresses, making a dedicated IP address necessary. A final yet integral feature which we always make sure to check on is a kill switch, which will close out Internet browsers if the VPN fails.

Speed

Next, we test the speed of each VPN. We test all of our VPNs on the private Optimum network at our office in Brooklyn. We use our Internet speed without any VPN activated to serve as the control, and we only connect one device at a time before testing. We test all of our VPNs on two different machines and operating systems to make sure we cover more of our readers. For these tests specifically, we used a Macbook Air and a Windows Vivobook on the website SpeedTest.net.

On Speedtest.net, we tested each VPN’s download speed, upload speed, and ping (latency). First, we performed the tests with the VPN, and then immediately without, all within a one to two minute window. Download and upload speeds are measured in Mbps or megabits per second while latency is simply measured in milliseconds. After we record the speeds of each, we identify the differences in terms of a percentage, as Macs and Windows computers have naturally different connection speeds.

We’re the first to point out that there are a lot of factors that impact a speed test: the operating system, distance to the server, and especially the device type, but we need to make sure that the speed tests have no more than a 40 percent difference in any of our categories with the VPN turned on and off, ideally.

Split Tunneling and Multi-Hop Encryption

After those tests are run, we jump into features. One of the most important features to serious VPN users is split tunneling. This capability allows us to use both the VPN and a public network simultaneously. On top of that, there’s a security element called multi-hop. If a VPN is double or multi-hop, the software encrypts data multiple times through multiple servers. This is the safest version of a VPN.

Torrenting and Netflix

A great plus for students of using a VPN is using it to stream, watch, or otherwise access media like movies and television shows that you otherwise could not through local servers. That’s why we pay close attention to VPNs that allow access to torrenting and Netflix. However, the Netflix portion proves to be a little more challenging as Netflix is constantly updating their code to block VPNs, so we can’t guarantee that it will always work.

Customer Support

Sometimes even the best product breaks down a bit and needs a customer support team to help clients. That’s why we reach out to each VPN’s customer support so that we can report on how they respond, should something go wrong. Students don’t have time to fuss around with clunky customer service, so it’s important to take that into account. Typically, VPN providers offer a live chat feature as well as an online help center or FAQ section. VPNs that offer a phone line get extra points; not many VPN companies spring for that sort of support.

Subscriptions

Cost can make or break a VPN purchasing decision for any user, especially students. That’s why we hunted out some of the best student discounts that any VPN companies offer. Our goal is to give our readers straightforward cost information while leveraging our expertise in digital security to decide whether or not prices are reasonable or not.

Some VPNs are very cost-effective, costing under $1 a month with long-term commitments, while others can be as pricey as $15 per month. We’re especially receptive to companies with high levels of flexibility in their pricing packages, like a month-to-month price point, or a longer-term subscription for a discounted monthly rate. It’s even better if the VPN has a free trial period or a money-back guarantee. Finally, we run through and explicitly spell out what a subscription actually entails from the number of server switchers to the number of devices we can run on the service at once.

App

Last but certainly not least, we review the mobile apps for both iPhones and Androids, taking into consideration our user experience as well as the app store ratings. An app store rating below three stars in the App or Google Play store disqualifies an app from being recommended to our readers.

To learn more about how you can shop for a VPN, read our VPN guide.