I’m sure you have heard of the use of VPNs for personal users. It’s usually a way to hide your dodgy illegal downloading or other nefarious actions on the internet, but there are a lot of legal and useful reasons you would want to use a VPN.

Now Norton has come in with one at a reasonable price with the promise of quality in their name.

I know you are wondering why you would want to use a VPN, and the short answer is for a lot of reasons. When you browse the internet, put your credit card details into a site, or access your internet banking, you are providing a lot of personal and important information for potential criminal activity out there. Generally, this shouldn’t be an issue, after all the websites use SSL to keep your data safe right? What if the danger falls between you and the website, not after the website.

Most of us have made use of free Wi-Fi at Airports, cafes and even at McDonald’s, but how often do you verify that the Wi-Fi is legitimate? If you saw two McDonald’s Wi-Fis would you pick one and see if it worked? The question is how do you know who is providing it? Hell, how does the cashier know which is the correct one if they have similar names? To put it simply, someone being cheeky, or dangerous could be putting out an SSID that is similar or identical to one you trust, and if you connect to their device then who knows what they are doing with your data.

The easiest solution to this is to use a VPN.

A VPN encrypts all your data, pumps it through the internet then exits via their service. This means if you are using an unsafe Wi-Fi connection, they can’t tell what any of your data is, and can’t unencrypt it. This is an important part of internet security that even me has tended to overlook in the past. Using a VPN like Norton Secure VPN is an easy and reliable way to achieve this.

One other concern I should alleviate is the question around free VPNs. There were a lot of free VPNs popping up not long ago that seems too good to be true, and they are. These services generally use its user’s computers in the process of transferring data, which means your PC could be used to hide dangerous or illegal activities. This means it is always wise to go with a paid service who can use safe means to move your data.

So, the real question is how easy to use is a VPN?

That’s where I personally get my value from a paid service. In this front the Norton Secure VPN has blown me away. After installing it pops a little icon in the system tray. Opening that immediately gives the option to connect and secure your data. Doing this will keep your traffic coming out of NZ secure and fast.

Norton Secure VPN also allows you to choose another country to have your traffic fall out in. This basically means that a website sees you coming from that location and will treat you as such. Geo-locked data, or anything else like that will immediately be open to you. This is for the more advanced users, but you can safely encrypt your data sticking to NZ.

The Android app is as easy to use. Launch the app and it encrypts your data. You can pop around the settings to change your location as well, but the encryption is where this gets its value. Also, you don’t want to accidentally geo-lock NZ content by making the site think your accessing it from the UK.

The tougher sell is the price. If you want to encrypt one device, then the $80 NZD a year is a reasonable price. The prices all go up in reasonable steps with $100 for three devices, and $140 for five devices, but this can be a steep bill for a family household.

The Norton Secure VPN is a super easy to use VPN solution for all your devices. Its price tag reflects the trust in the Norton brand when it comes to security, but that may be a little off putting for some. If you can afford it though, the software is fantastic, and you should use a VPN if possible.

The post Norton Secure VPN Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

New Zealander’s are used to staying in the slow lane when it comes to data, mobile or otherwise, and are charged a premium price for the slow service.

However an initiative between New Zealand’s main telco; Spark and Huawei, will see improvements made in the mobile data sector, with the upcoming release of 4.5G.

With Spark announcing that Queenstown is the first town in New Zealand to receive 4.5G coverage and confirming plans it will roll out in another 10 towns in the next year, the promise of even faster nationwide mobile internet access will soon become reality. But to use the network, it is necessary to have a 4.5G capable handset, so consumers with certain models will need to upgrade to unlock all the benefits of 4.5G.

Huawei’s P10 Series, which launched in New Zealand in April 2017, was the world’s first smartphone to support many 4.5G features, and is also the world’s first to offer te reo Māori as a standard language option and a Leica front camera. Huawei’s previous P Series model, the P9, also support a limited amount of 4.5G capability, as do s other select smartphone makes and models.

4.5G is the next generation of mobile technology, capable of delivering more capacity and faster speeds, and giving people more connectivity options. The upgrade puts the Spark network slightly ahead of devices, with no commercially available modems or phones supporting the entire range and combination of 4.5G features at the moment. However, the Huawei P10 is an example of an advanced smartphone that supports a multitude of 4.5G capabilities, enabling users to benefit from 4.5G’s significantly increased speed compared to 4G.

New Zealand compares well internationally for its mobile internet access speeds, rating 18th in the most recent Akamai State of the Internet Report with a national average of 12Mbps across any device or network.

At present, the average 4G speed for mobile users in New Zealand is 36Mbs; when Spark trialed the first 4.5G mobile network in Christchurch last year, the specialised equipment reached a peak speed of up to 1.15gbps.  At the June 20 launch of the commercially available 4.5G network in Queenstown, Spark said 4.5G can deliver up to three to five times faster speeds with compatible devices than those experienced on the regular 4G network.

“It is clear that the introduction of 4.5G will revolutionise how we use our mobile devices,” says Andrew Bowater, Head of Public Affairs at Huawei New Zealand. “But to take advantage of faster streaming, better and more reliable video calling and to use the latest augmented and virtual reality services powered by 4.5G depends on having an appropriately specified device.”

Huawei distinguishes itself by developing not only handsets like its market-leading P10 Series, but also developing and manufacturing the equipment used by telecoms operators like Spark to create mobile networks. Both the Christchurch trial and the new 4.5G network in Queenstown were built with Huawei equipment.

In addition to faster connectivity speeds, 4.5G technology also connects with lower latency – meaning less time is required for signals to move from the handset, through the network and to the receiving party. This is expected to drive innovation in the use of mobile technology in latency-sensitive applications such as driverless vehicles or tele-surgery.

4.5G is also seen as a promising solution to rapidly improve rural broadband access; it is expensive to extend fibre connectivity to outlying and sparsely-populated areas. Coverage from a faster mobile network, coupled with an appropriately-specified smartphone, can make affordable broadband a possibility for people in these areas.

“With the P10, we have combined the latest in technology with a sharp focus on aesthetic appeal to deliver the very best capabilities to our customers,” says Andrew Bowater. “That includes 4.5G connectivity, which makes it possible to shoot stunning pictures and video with the 20-megapixel Leica camera and immediately share it to social media over the fastest mobile technology available in the world.”

Currently, 4.5G is only available on the Spark network in select New Zealand areas, including Silverdale, Auckland, limited areas in Christchurch CBD, and a cluster of five cell sites in Queenstown. Spark has confirmed plans it will roll out 4.5G network in another 10 towns in New Zealand in the next year.

The post 4.5G is here… but can your phone handle it? appeared first on Shane the Gamer.