The United Kingdom is known for its tea-drinking habits, as well as the London Eye. However, the country has 14 more eyes because it’s the part of the 14 Eyes. This means that there’s constant government surveillance that threatens to endanger the residents’ privacy. Whether you’re traveling or just living there, you’ll need a reliable Virtual Private Network with you all the time. Now that you’ve come to the right place, the last thing we suggest is leaving. In just a few minutes, we’ll give you the best VPN providers for keeping your privacy intact while being in the UK !
Why You Should Use a VPN in the UK?
Both residents and visitors could use a decent Virtual Private Network in this country. And here’s why:
Avoiding Government Surveillance
As mentioned in the introduction, United Kingdom has a massive problem with government surveillance. The interesting thing is that not every resident knows this, especially the elder ones. Although many say that this is a free country, we think it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Social media websites aren’t blocked, for example, and you’re free to express your feelings and emotions. But, with the government watching your every step online, it’s hard to feel free. Furthermore, since the country is a part of the 14 Eyes, the same government is allowed to spy not just on your internet habits.
Text messages, emails, and phone calls are all here. So, even if you’re offline and you’re sending your friend an SMS, the government knows that. They don’t only know when did you send it but what’s written in that message. Needless to say, your phone calls are also monitored, so they know what you’re talking about.
If you happen to say something about the government, who knows what can happen. This doesn’t have to be the case if you have a subscription to the best VPN in the UK.
This service will hide your IP address, making it impossible to track you. And if you’re in this country, we strongly recommend you use one, mainly for this purpose.
Torrenting Safely and Anonymously
Torrenting is another thing that can get you into trouble here. Especially because the government is constantly monitoring. Anyone who engages in peer-to-peer downloading risks getting 10 years in jail. Yes, 10 years for downloading anything via BitTorrent! Crazy, isn’t it?
We understand that the copyrights exist but having a punishment this harsh is almost pointless. If you want to download torrents in the United Kingdom, we don’t recommend doing it without a quality VPN. But with this being said, we don’t support pirating at all.
If you decide to go this route, you should at least do it as it’s intended – with protection. Also, downloading pirated games should be just to try them. You should always support the developer and buy them afterward 😉
Bypassing Geo-Restrictions
This is one of the most important English-speaking countries in the world. Yet, it doesn’t exempt it from this problem. Geo-restrictions are almost unavoidable. If you want to watch Netflix US catalog, you will have to change your IP to bypass geo-restrictions.
Netflix is a USA-based streaming service that offers a huge catalog of movies and TV shows… but, only for America! The rest of the world can access it, although the catalog will be more modest, with no new and 4K content. If you think that the UK can access the full catalog, you’re wrong.
On the flip side, this country has BBC iPlayer, which is another streaming service. This service competes with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video. Being available only here, you won’t be able to access your subscription when abroad, which is another geo-restriction.
Either way, you see where we’re going with this. To put it simply, you’ll need a VPN for accessing geo-blocked content and streaming platforms while being in or outside of the UK.
The providers we mentioned below, they’re all a good solution for streaming either in this country or abroad, when you want to access local televisions.
Avoiding ISP Throttling
ISP throttling isn’t a problem that plagues only the United Kingdom.
Every country in the world has this problem – some suffer more, some suffer less. For those who don’t know, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider, and now that we explained it, things should be clearer. Your ISP often throttles your internet speed, mainly when you’re streaming or downloading in P2P.
Why is that? Because you’re consuming too much datas for them. Because of that they are decreasing your internet speed. Even streaming services are aware of this and many of them are paying to certain ISPs to alleviate this problem.
Best Providers with Servers in the UK
Traveling out of your homeland and missing your favorite local shows can be nerve-wracking, especially if you’re used to them. With a proper Virtual Private Network provider at your disposal, this won’t be the case. Here are the best VPN providers with servers in the UK:
- ExpressVPN: It is the fastest provider in the world. It has 3,000+ servers worldwide, including servers in Docklands, East London, Kent, London, and Wembley. Thanks to all of this, it is simply the best provider for this country.
- NordVPN: NordVPN has 5,400+ servers around the globe, of which 690 are in this country. It’s fast, reliable, and easy to use, which is why thousands of users are using it.
- CyberGhost: The provider comes with a plethora of features at an affordable price. It has 6,000 servers worldwide, of which 20 are in Berkshire, 494 in London, and 179 in Manchester, effectively covering the entire country.
Using a VPN regardless of your location is very easy. You just need to click on some of the links or buttons below and buy a subscription from your favorite provider. From that moment, you can enjoy safe and secure internet access, with no government and ISP surveillance.
Best VPN Providers for the UK
With all the main stuff out of the way, it’s time to see what are the best providers for this country. These providers don’t necessarily have servers in the country we’re talking about but this time, they have. Here are our top picks:
- ExpressVPN
- NordVPN
- CyberGhost
Below are the reviews of these services.
1. ExpressVPN
In our opinion, the best VPN for United Kingdom is ExpressVPN and in a moment, you’ll see why. First of all, you know that this is the fastest provider at the moment, right? If you don’t believe us, you can ask our Monkey and he’ll tell you the same. Its speeds are constant, making streaming 4K content on Netflix or Hulu possible.
Aside from its lightning-fast speeds, ExpressVPN also offers numerous security features. One of them being 256-bit AES encryption that’s also used by the government and the military. To top it all up, the provider offers DNS and IPv6 leak protection, kill-switch, and a zero-log policy.
Thank God it’s based in the British Virgin Islands, which is far away from the 14 Eyes, unlike Britain itself. One thing we like about this provider is its 24/7 customer support. This is one of the best we’ve seen. They’re available literally 24/7 for all your issues and questions regarding internet security.
Finally, ExpressVPN offers a 49% discount and 3 months free for a 12-month plan. This is for those who say that its subscription is very expensive. On top of that, you also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can basically try it for free, for a whole month!
2. NordVPN
Another safe and secure provider is NordVPN. We can confidently say that this is the most secure provider at the moment. Although their focus is mainly on security and protection, you can also use it to bypass geo-restrictions, for example. You can access DAZN even when you’re traveling outside of the United States.
This applies to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and BBC iPlayer, if you’re outside of the UK. When it comes to speed, don’t expect it to be like a snail or a turtle. NordVPN is blazing-fast and in our tests, it’s just behind ExpressVPN and CyberGhost, which we’re going to talk about later.
Since we haven’t mentioned these almighty security features, let’s do that now. Aside from the standard ones mentioned above, NordVPN offers Double VPN and Onion Over VPN features. The first one filters your internet traffic through two servers, making it untraceable by the government and ISPs
The second one let you use Tor Browser in conjunction with this provider. This makes for some serious protection that can’t be breached even by the toughest algorithms. If you want to buy a subscription, know that you can first try it for free on your iOS or Android smartphone in a 7-day trial.
On PC, you don’t get a free trial but you can buy it for just a quarter of a dime a month. That is also why it is for us one of the best VPN or the UK. Do the math and see how cheap it is or just click the button and see for yourself.
3. CyberGhost
CyberGhost comes from Romania, another country far from the notorious 14 Eyes. This automatically means that you get your well-deserved no-logs policy.
Remember what that means – the provider doesn’t keep any logs of your internet activity on its servers. If you’re a newbie and you’re just entering this world, this is one of the best providers to start with.
The reason for that is its beautiful, intuitive interface and affordable pricing. Its applications are available for all major platforms, with added support for routers. You can now cover your entire house or apartment if you want! How good is CyberGhost in the United Kingdom, then? The short answer is – very. The long one is – veeeery.
CyberGhost has 6,000 servers, making it the largest provider on the earth. In terms of speed, it’s, as we’ve said, very close to NordVPN and ExpressVPN. You know what that means – unlimited bandwidth for streaming 4K content or playing online games at your will.
Those who want to unblock DAZN with CyberGhost, won’t be able to do that. Luckily, all the other popular streaming platforms can be unblocked. Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO, ESPN, and many others. And if you love torrenting, support for P2P activity is also here with specific servers!
Summary
Is using the best VPN is mandatory in the UK? At this point, in 2024, we would say yes. With no limitations in terms of internet access, as well as minimal censorship, the United Kingdom is a relatively free country. We must not forget its participation in the 14 Eyes, which tarnishes the country’s ‘free’ ranking.
To avoid being under surveillance when online, we suggest a rock-solid, reliable, and fast provider. That provider is ExpressVPN. It offers all we just said, which makes it perfect for this, and other countries with government surveillance.
The second and third options are a bit cheaper but they also work just fine. Still, there can only be one winner and that’s ExpressVPN.