Private Internet Access. I've had it for years and it's worked fine for me.

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

Very easy to use, no logs (they say), and the app installs a virtual ethernet adapter that is really your connection to the VPN. Not a feature that most would use, but nevertheless allows some interesting things to do, like sharing the VPN connection on your local network. You can also connect to VPNs in other countries to get around regional restrictions.

With a multi-year contract, it's only about a dollar or two a month.

Generally I figure if someone doesn't want me to see their stuff I don't look at their stuff.

If I'm telling someone they should fuck off and die then they can fuck off and die.

This is the U.S.A., supposedly a free nation, right??? Right?

Make it free.

If you've got some dangerous whistle-blowing to do a VPN isn't going to help.

I use the app on my phone, and on my computer. It's reliable and easy to use, haven't gotten any nastygrams from my ISP, and I don't notice any loss of internet speed.

fyi

Or is it even possible to keep bad stuff from getting into your computer?

If you're talking about keeping malware and viruses off your machine, using a VPN doesn't really help.

A VPN service basically hides the internet address of your computer, so the computers you connect to can't tell where you are coming from. They see that your traffic comes from the VPN server ... instead of from your actual network address.

Using a VPN service also encrypts the traffic between your computer and the VPN server. If you're only using modern web servers that are already encrypting traffic, this doesn't mean much. But if you are communicating with some old/neglected servers that don't use "https" ... then using VPN will add a little bit of security.

Bottom line is that using VPNs adds privacy and anonymity but is not a replacement for anti-malware and anti-virus software.

And the biggest danger is from clicking on links you get in email, or accepting that offer to update your flash player from any site other than Adobe :/

I've been reading for years about how much people like their vpn thing, but I didn't know what it actually did.

You're welcome! I should also mention then that people can use VPNs to confuse a content provider's guess about where they are located. E.g. if you connect to the BBC through a VPN server in the UK, you may be able to fool the BBC into thinking you are in the UK ... and thus able to watch normally restricted content.

So of course the content providers try and figure out if you're using a VPN server and still block you ... but it's a bit of an arms race.

And it's not surprising that what VPNs do is a mystery. I've heard a lot of over-the-top ridiculous ads by VPN providers trying to scare you into thinking you really need to buy their service.