People seem to be confused why they need a VPN if they have a security suite. We're told that they think a security suite will protect them from every danger, thus you don't need further security. Sadly, you do and we'll explain why.

A VPN offers a secure tunnel to the internet. This is particularly useful for laptop, smartphone and iPad users who tend to connect to the first free wifi network as soon as they get to a public location. They don't check the status of the wifi network, they connect regardless, irrespective of the consequences, then head to websites, start entering login/password information and more. All this information can be gleaned from your unsecured connection to this rogue wifi network. Indeed, hackers can intercept the data, too, even if the wifi network isn't rogue.

The answer is a VPN which will wrap your data in a secure tunnel (meaning all your login/password information between the internet and your computer is scrambled) and enables you to reposition yourself with a temporary IP address. 

Windscribe VPN is a relatively new and free VPN that enables you to quickly connect and secure your network. You can simply choose another location within your current country or even re-position yourself elsewhere. Options include multiple locations in the United States, Australia, Europe and other locations. The advantage here is that you can then browse content for users of each nation - a VPN enables a British person to view US TV and someone located in Italy to watch British TV.

Windscribe goes further than most other VPNs by offering its own R.O.B.E.R.T. (Remote Omnidirectional Badware Eliminating Robotic Tool) anti-malware and anti-phishing security and, if you upgrade to the paid Pro edition, you can add ad-blocking and anti-tracking.

It's the static IP port-forwarding (again, another Pro paid option) function which we found interesting. Rather than Windscribe offering you a dynamic IP each time you use the VPN, you can purchase the use of a static IP address which will offer you the same fixed IP each time you use your VPN. Why is this good? A dynamic IP address is used by thousands of different users and websites and streaming providers will often block the same IP used by more than one user. By purchasing a unique static IP address, it's far less likely to ever be blocked.

Windscribe VPN offers a basic free and rather generous 10GB/month service with a limited number of locations. If you move up to the paid Pro edition, you get the additional security, unlimited monthly data, more locations and the chance to add a static IP. Pricing for Pro starts at $4.08/month for a 12-month contract or $9/month for a rolling monthly contract. A static IP is an additional $8/month charge.

Note that this is the extension for Chrome. If you choose to only install the extension (and not the desktop version described above) you only have basic web browsing protection and no firewall. You can block ads and add websites to a whitelist, so our advice is to install this web browser extension in addition to the desktop version and use the extension to whitelist websites.