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VPNs have become increasingly common, fuelled by the rise in remote working and growing concerns about online privacy.
For instance, the rollout of the Online Safety Act has been linked to a sharp spike in VPN downloads, as more users look for ways to limit how much of their online activity can be tracked by internet service providers (ISPs) or other organisations.
At the heart of protecting almost everything you do online with a VPN is the employment of a concentrator. This is a specialised network device found in some of the best VPNs, which manages and secures multiple VPN connections at once. Instead of handling encrypted traffic one connection at a time, a VPN concentrator acts as a central hub — receiving, processing, and routing large volumes of secure data between remote users and a private network.
This is similar to a highly secure checkpoint at the entrance to a private system. Every connection that passes through is authenticated, encrypted, and carefully directed to its destination, ensuring that only authorised users gain access.
GBN Tech put together an in-depth guide on how VPN concentrators help you manage your online activity securely.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. | UNSPLASH What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. VPNs can conceal your online activities by routing traffic through an encrypted tunnel that connects to secure servers worldwide.
The most reliable VPNs use the same encryption standards as governments in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring that even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) on Wi-Fi cannot record the websites you visit, the duration of your sessions on each site, or your current location. This protection extends to advertisers, trackers, and hackers, preventing them from monitoring your online behaviour.
Furthermore, personal information entered into online forms and sensitive data transmitted to and from your device will be safeguarded from hackers using strong encryption provided by a VPN.
VPN concentrators are commonly used by large enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions
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What is a VPN concentrator?
A VPN concentrator is a dedicated networking device designed to manage a large number of simultaneous VPN connections. It enables secure remote access for hundreds or even thousands of users to a central corporate network.
Typically deployed at the network edge — often alongside a firewall — it acts as a central hub that establishes, manages, and terminates multiple encrypted VPN tunnels between remote devices and the internal network. While traditionally hardware-based, modern implementations are often virtualised as software.
VPN concentrators are commonly used by large enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions with extensive remote workforces or multiple branch locations. If you work for a large organisation, there’s a good chance a VPN concentrator is part of its infrastructure.
They are particularly valuable in large-scale environments because they handle high volumes of connections efficiently and help protect sensitive corporate data from interception over public or untrusted networks.
However, VPN concentrators may not be the ideal method to protect your privacy. They are often expensive and designed for organisational use rather than personal needs.
For personal privacy — whether browsing the web, sending sensitive information, or preventing ISP tracking — a commercial VPN provider is usually the simplest and most practical solution.
Protect your online privacy with ExpressVPN
Protect your personal information and encrypt everything you do online for just £1.99 with the latest ExpressVPN deal. That equates to under 7p per day, trouncing NordVPN, its biggest competitor
ExpressVPN adds military-grade encryption across up to 10x devices, including iPhone, Android, Linux, Windows, Mac, Fire TV, and dozens more, to secure your internet traffic from prying eyes, advertisers, and governments. You'll benefit from an extra 4 months free with a two-year plan
ExpressVPN
$9.99
$1.99
Benefits of ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming, gaming and protecting your privacy as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries, providing access to global coverage.
It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering. With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunnelling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.
Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company were collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.
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ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit on the number of ExpressVPN apps that you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on up to 14 gadgets at once.
It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.
ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN deal. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers. It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.