It also circumvents geographic limitations. If a website or other internet service is not available to internet users from your country you can use a VPN to make it look like you\u2019re actually located in a country where that service is permitted. As long as your VPN provider has servers in that other country, of course.<\/p>\n
ExpressVPN has more than 3000 servers located in 160 data centers in 94 countries around the globe. It has desktop clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are ExpressVPN apps for both iOS and Android. They also provide browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. On paper, ExpressVPN has an impressive global infrastructure and a global spread of servers, an impressive stable of cross-platform clients, and extensions for the major browsers. But how easy is it to install and use?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re going to walk through what is probably the most complicated of all of the desktop installations. We\u2019re going to install ExpressVPN on Ubuntu Linux, install the extension on the Linux version of Firefox, and see how they perform.<\/p>\n
Installing ExpressVPN on Ubuntu<\/h2>\n
We\u2019re using the most recent version of Ubuntu, the 21.04 Hirsute Hippo released in April 2021. We also tested the entire process on Ubuntu 20.10, the October 2020 release code-named Groovy Gorilla.<\/p>\n
ExpressVPN is available in the usual Ubuntu program repositories, but it’s best to install the latest version from the download page<\/a>\u00a0on the ExpressVPN website. Use the drop-down menu to select the Ubuntu 64-bit version. The versions available are:<\/p>\n It\u2019s good to see other Linux distributions get some attention, including Raspbian\u2014now called\u00a0Raspberry Pi OS<\/a>\u2014for the\u00a0Raspberry Pi<\/a>\u00a0single-board computer. But we need the Ubuntu 64-bit version, so select that in the menu and then click the green \u201cDownload\u201d button.<\/p>\n The \u201c.deb\u201d package file will be downloaded to your computer. You\u2019ll probably find it in your Downloads directory.<\/p>\n You could install it by double-clicking it in your file browser. This will launch the Ubuntu software application and install it for you. Perhaps you\u2019re installing ExpressVPN on a server with no GUI installed on it, or over an SSH connection, or you just prefer to do things the command-line way. The command you need is:<\/p>\n Make sure you spell the name of the file you\u2019ve downloaded correctly. Our version of ExpressVPN was 3.7.0.29. That part of the file name will change with later versions. Helpfully, if you type the first few letters of the file name and press the \u201cTab\u201d key, the rest of the file name will be completed for you.<\/p>\n You must activate ExpressVPN before you can use it. Activation requires an activation code. You\u2019ll receive an activation code when you purchase a plan. At the time of writing the costs in U.S. dollars are:<\/p>\n To activate your installation of ExpressVPN type:<\/p>\n When you\u2019re prompted for the activation key enter the key that has been emailed to you. Note that it isn’t displayed on-screen when you type it. Because of the gobbledegook nature of the key and the difficulty you\u2019ll have typing it sight unseen, it\u2019s much safer to copy and paste the activation key into the terminal window. You still won\u2019t see the key displayed in the window, but there\u2019s no chance of mistyping it. Note that the key combination to paste into the terminal window is \u201cCtrl+Shift+V\u201d not \u201cCtrl+V.\u201d When you\u2019ve pasted the activation key hit \u201cEnter.\u201d<\/p>\n If all goes well you\u2019ll see the \u201cActivation\u201d confirmation. You\u2019ll be asked whether you want to send usage reports to ExpressVPN. Press \u201cEnter\u201d to agree, or press \u201cn\u201d to opt out. You\u2019re now ready to start using ExpressVPN.<\/p>\n The simplest way to make a VPN connection is to let ExpressVPN choose which server to connect to.<\/p>\n ExpressVPn establishes the connection, displays the name of the connection, and provides some help text.<\/p>\n In this example, it has connected the computer to an ExpessVPN server located in London. At any time you can check the status of the connection by typing:<\/p>\n When you no longer need the VPN connection, type:<\/p>\n The VPN connection is closed and you\u2019re returned to your normal internet access.<\/p>\n If you need to make your connection appear as though it originated in a specific country, pass the country on the command line. If we wish to appear as though we\u2019re in Germany, we\u2019d use this command:<\/p>\n The VPN connection is established using a server in Germany. To see a list of the countries in which ExpressVPN has servers, use this command. We\u2019re piping the output into less because there\u2019s quite a lot of it.<\/p>\n There are four columns of data in the output.<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to install the browser extension in Mozilla Firefox<\/a> because that\u2019s the default browser in Ubuntu. The process is similar for all browsers. You can install the ExpressVPN extension through Firefox\u2019s extensions web page, but that didn\u2019t work for us. The only reliable method we found was to install the extension through the command line. Make sure you have ExpressVPN installed and working before you install the extension.<\/p>\n The command to use is:<\/p>\n This launches Firefox if it isn\u2019t already open. It takes you to the extension installation page on the ExpressVPN website. Click the green \u201cGet Extension\u201d button.<\/p>\n The browser extension is downloaded to your computer. The page changes to allow you to install the extension. Click the blue \u201cAdd to Firefox\u201d button.<\/p>\n A permission dialog appears.<\/p>\n Click the blue \u201cAdd\u201d button. When the extension is installed you\u2019ll see the ExpressVPN icon in the top-right corner of your browser window. A reminder dialog tells you that you can manage your extensions through the Firefox three-line \u201chamburger\u201d menu. It also allows you to check a box if you want to use the ExpressVPN extension in Private Windows. When you\u2019re ready to proceed, click the blue \u201cOkay, Got It\u201d button.<\/p>\n To use the extension, click the ExpressVPN icon in the top-right of your browser window. The extension window opens. It\u2019ll tell you you\u2019re not connected. The entire top half of the window is the button you use to connect and disconnect. The bottom half shows some recent connection details. What you\u2019ll see will depend on which connections you\u2019ve recently made. On our research machine, three locations are listed.<\/p>\n Clicking the button in the top half of the window connects you to the \u201cSelected Location.\u201d Clicking the \u201cRecent Location\u201d button connects you to that location. A notification appears at the top of your screen.<\/p>\n And the top half of the extension window turns green to show you\u2019re connected.<\/p>\n A small green tick appears on the ExpressVPN icon in the top-right corner of your browser window to indicate you\u2019re connected.<\/p>\n If you click the button in the extension window once more the connection is disconnected, the top half of the window returns to the reddish-orange color. You can give feedback to ExpressVPN about the quality of the connection by clicking a green thumbs up or a red thumbs down.<\/p>\n If you click the \u201cSmart Location\u201d button you\u2019re shown a list of possible locations. Clicking one of them will connect you to that location.<\/p>\n In our tests, ExpressVPN was nothing but reliable. It connected quickly every time\u2014within two or three seconds\u2014and every connection was fast. We had no drop-outs or slow-downs. Of course, our tests only took place over a couple of days. If you use the service for a longer period perhaps you\u2019ll see the occasional blip, but for us, it was plain sailing.<\/p>\n ExpressVPN understandably takes security seriously. ExpressVPN uses AES-256 encryption<\/a>, a 4096-bit SHA-512 RSA certificate, and Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC) to prevent modification of data in transit. They even have their own encrypted, no-logging, private Domain Name Servers on every one of their own servers.<\/p>\n The problem with some other VPNs is their policy and practices on logging. Some of them log so much information it pretty much negates the whole point of using a VPN. ExpressVPN is clear about what is and what isn’t logged. Nothing is logged that can identify your IP address or your browsing history.<\/p>\n\n
![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/1-1.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2.png\")
<\/p>\nsudo dpkg -i expressvpn_3.7.0.29-1_amd64.deb<\/pre>\n
![\"sudo](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/3.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
expressvpn activate<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/4.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/5.png\")
<\/p>\nUsing ExpressVPN<\/h2>\n
expressvpn connect<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/7.png\")
<\/p>\nexpressvpn status<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/8.png\")
<\/p>\nexpressvpn disconnect<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/10.png\")
<\/p>\nConnecting to a Server in a Specified Country<\/h2>\n
expressvpn connect germany<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/11.png\")
<\/p>\nexpressvpn list all | less<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/13.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/14.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
Installing the Browser Extension<\/h2>\n
expressvpn install-firefox-extension<\/pre>\n
![\"expressvpn](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/15.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/16.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/17.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/18.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Final](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/19.png\")
<\/p>\nUsing the Browser Extension<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/21.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/22.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/23.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/24.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"ExpressVPN](\"https:\/\/itenterpriser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/25.png\")
<\/p>\nHow It Performed<\/h2>\n