Find out how you can bypass geographic limitations, enhance your privacy and security by using Opera web browser’s new built-in VPN proxy service – completely free and absolutely unlimited.
VPN services are becoming increasingly popular throughout the Internet-connected world. As more and more popular services like Netflix, Pandora and Spotify license their content to limited regions of the world, and as network security becomes an increasing threat, the importance of staying safe and anonymous is increasing with it.
Opera web browser isn’t the most popular in the world. It has a fairly limited userbase of a few million users compared to hundreds of millions of Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge users. However, Opera can be called the most innovative web browser. These guys introduced tabs, speed dial, pop-up blockers, and private browsing – all of which have become staples of modern web browsers.
Now Opera has taken things one step forward. They are testing an amazing new feature – a built-in free and unlimited VPN service for every single Opera user. It was announced today on Opera’s blog, and we are incredibly excited to be writing a proper guide for it.
Opera is initially testing this on the developer channel of their browser, meaning the proxy feature is incomplete and possibly quite buggy. They will roll it out in their stable channel in a few weeks time if testing goes well.
Features for the VPN include:
- Security on public WiFi connections: if you tend to use free public WiFi hotspots a lot, this will keep you safe from man-in-the-middle attacks.
- IP address hiding: servers, routers and other middlemen on the Internet will never know your approximate location based on your public IP address since that will now be replaced by Opera’s VPN server’s IP address. Great for preserving anonymity.
- Bypassing websites blocked at the school/office : you will be able to use Facebook, Reddit, and other services blocked on your campus WiFi as if you are at home!
Getting started with Opera web browser’s new VPN
So, the question is: how do you start using Opera web browser’s VPN? It’s simple. You just need to enable VPN from Settings > Privacy and security. It then turns on automatically, and remains on for your complete browsing session. You can follow the step-by-step guide if you need help:
Step 1: Download the latest developer release of Opera:
- Opera developer for Windows [Official]
- Opera developer for Mac OS X [Official]
Step 2: Open the Opera Installer file.
Step 3: Click on the Install button. This will start the download for Opera’s developer release. This may take time, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.
Step 4: After downloading and installing is complete, launch the browser.
Step 5: If you are Windows user, press the Opera button, and go to Settings.
Step 6: From the left sidebar, select the Privacy and Security tab.
Step 7: Scroll down to the VPN section. Click on Enable VPN to turn on Opera web browser’s built-in free and unlimited VPN.
That’s it! Now just open another tab and start browsing! You should see a blue VPN button to the left of the address bar. While testing, we were unable to get it to work, so you’ll see an orange VPN button. This is easy to understand, since Opera’s servers must be getting hammered with all the hundreds of thousands of users checking out the new free service. We’ve seen mixed reports from other users – some got it to work, some didn’t.
Keep in mind that this is a developer preview release. It is meant for fixing functionality bugs and usability issues. Opera probably doesn’t even want too many general users to be using their new VPN service, I’m sure, so be patient.
We will update this guide when the free VPN becomes a part of the general Opera release. That should be a few weeks away from now. Until then, this guide is correct!
(via Opera)