Yes, the Internet Service Provider can see most of your traffic that goes to one address (our VPN) and which address it is.
More importantly, all the traffic monitored by the ISP may look to them as gibberish because decrypting it is near to impossible without compromising the VPN itself or your own device.
The traffic is mostly encrypted as VPN uses Advanced encryption standards meaning it uses a symmetric block cipher, protecting the data against any breach and theft. Secondly, it comes with three distinct block ciphers which are AES-128, AES-192, and AES-256 bit respectively. For more on that, read my detailed guide on AES Encryption.
However, the ISP will still be able to identify your IP address and know your actual identity but a VPN ensures that the only thing an ISP sees is the IP of the VPN Server. The VPN servers are mostly located physically or virtually in another country.
How Does it Work?
The VPN tool on our computer connects to a VPN server by establishing a proxy tunnel in the process, thus all the data is routed through this tunnel and all the communication is handled by the VPN server.
Therefore, a VPN has the ability to create encrypted private tunnels, hence the data being transferred back and forth on different servers makes it impossible for anyone to monitor the activity.
How to Hide further from an ISP?
There are more ways to hide from an ISP by using features like Double VPN. Double VPN enables you to encrypt and transfer data by connecting to two different VPN servers located in different countries.
As such only, popular and affordable VPN services like Surfshark and NordVPN offer a double VPN feature that helps in achieving double encryption.
What Other VPNs Do We Recommend For Maximum Privacy?
Aside from Surfshark and NordVPN that we recommend because of their double VPN feature, here are two more powerful and great VPNs worth checking out:
- ExpressVPN – Premium VPN. Comes with 3000+ servers in 94 countries that offer powerful security and support both torrenting, and streaming. Offers features such as AES 256-bit encryption, kill switch, no-logs, and DNS leak protection. Can easily unblock BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Netflix, Hulu, and more. Can be used on 5 devices simultaneously. Fast enough to offer speeds of up to 40.43 Mbps (50 Mbps standard connection). Comes with a free smart DNS – MediaStreamer feature. One of the best VPNs for Nvidia shield, iOS, Xbox one, Android, macOS, Firestick, and more. Costs just $6.67/mo and comes with a 30-day risk-free money-back guarantee. Limited time offer: Get 3 months free subscription with its annual plan.
- CyberGhost – Easy to Use VPN. Incredibly intuitive to use on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and more. Comes with a massive 7700+ server network in 90+ countries. Easily cable of delivering fast speeds of up to 46.13 Mbps (50 Mbps standard connection). Costs just $2.29/mo, offers 7 multi-logins per subscription, and offers an extensive 45-day money-back guarantee.
Hello I have a question? I recently deleted Hola VPN but they still have my email account. Should I be worried and what can I do?
Since it is mandatory for a user to provide an email address to purchase a VPN service, you cannot avoid that. There is nothing you need to worry about the only thing that you could face is getting promotional emails from Hola VPN.