What are the cons of Norton VPN?

Should I keep Norton VPN on all the time?

Is that necessary?

I have recently moved from Windows XP (my old laptop) to Windows 8.1 (my new laptop). I also don't get a chance to use my old laptop often but I can't avoid using it occasionally.

After I installed Norton VPN on my new laptop, when I'm on my home network (WiFi), I can't access my router's page or its control panel. Also, when I'm outside my home network (3G mobile internet), I can't open the page of our internet provider (my university).

Then I started to doubt whether the reason for the problem is Norton VPN or not. So here are my questions: ? Thanks in advance. Last edited by chenmiao on Sun Oct 12, 2026 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total. I think keeping VPN enabled is not a good idea if you're accessing Wi-Fi/3G/mobile internet on your home network. You don't know how many users have same idea about keeping this.

If you want to browse the web on any device at any time, using VPN is totally fine. But remember some other device might use VPN to access some private network, so it might expose your Wi-Fi and others.

If you keep it on all the time, even when you're using Wi-Fi or mobile internet outside home network, most of the applications would need VPN connection to get through that network (eg web browser, music downloader). It'd cost too much bandwidth, if you're streaming movies over 3G.

The question of "Do I need a VPN" is like the question "Do I need a bulletproof car". VPN just adds some extra layers of security, but you could say those layers protect you against things that aren't necessarily harmful. That's not to say that you shouldn't use a bulletproof car.

Should I use Norton Auto VPN?

The answer to the question 'Should I use Norton Auto VPN' is dependent on the level of protection you are looking for and how you intend to use it. The question is not as simple as, 'yes, or no', but rather, 'how does it perform in practice?' If you have a PC, and it is already protected with a firewall and a security suite then there is little need to add Norton, because the firewall/security suite will be protecting your PC from the Internet. If you use your PC for online banking, shopping, chatting, downloading music and so on, then you should really be using a firewall with antivirus software.

If you do not use a firewall and antivirus then you should consider getting one. We are not going to talk about them here, because Norton is not a firewall, and we think you can get a better deal elsewhere.

To get your PC protected, it is best to buy both. However, if you only have time to download and install one piece of software, you may want to go for the Norton piece first.

If you use Windows XP SP1 then the first step would be to download the Norton AntiVirus software.99.

Norton claims to be compatible with all Microsoft operating systems, including Windows 2026, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. However, if you use Windows XP SP1, then you need to look at the requirements for that operating system, as it does not include the Norton Antivirus software. To find out what you need to do, please refer to the following link:

If you use the latest version of Norton then you do not need to re-install it after a reboot. However, if you use the previous versions then you will have to reinstall it every time you reboot. If you want to use Norton Auto VPN, then the steps are:

To use the new version, follow the instructions below: Make sure that you have a full licence key for the old version. You can check this by going to your 'User Account Control' settings, and selecting the option 'User Account Control Settings'.

Should I use a VPN on my home network?

I live in a remote part of the country where Internet access is very limited.

There is a cable company with only one option, but it is very slow. It is a good 10 minutes to connect to even the most basic site. Most of my browsing is done from home using Firefox, but since I need to stay in the office at my company (and other reasons) I don't want to leave my computer logged in. I recently found out that this place also offers high speed fiber optic internet, but again I don't want to pay for something I don't use. So is there anything I can do to prevent getting caught? Is it safe to use a VPN on my home network?

My first thought was to just use the default OSX built in VPN, but it seems a bit risky. After doing some research, it seems the best way is to setup a VPN on a server I own. But I'm not sure if I can setup a server on my home network, and if so what would be the best option. Would I have to run it on a non-standard port and what sort of encryption options do I have?

There are several questions in your post. Please try and keep them as distinct as possible.
How do you connect to the internet (wired or wireless)? - Do you need secure encryption on your connection? Do you expect to browse the web? Do you use any sort of streaming media? - Do you need to VPN at work? Here is my take on it. You may disagree, but hopefully it will at least help you start to think about it and figure out the answers for yourself: Wired and DSL: You need to use some sort of router. Make sure that you install the right firmware and follow the instructions (if you aren't a programmer - you might want to ask someone else to set this up for you). If you don't have a router yet, that's a good place to start.

Wireless: I haven't done this for a long time, but I believe your router needs to support wifi security. If you have a laptop, this would be the only device on which you would set this up.

Security: Make sure that you have some sort of security.