Microsoft is preparing to deploy Edge Secure Network, its integrated VPN, in the stable version of its browser. Practical for hiding your IP address on the Internet, this tool is however limited to 1 GB of free data
This time it’s good: Microsoft is finally integrating a VPN into Edge, its next-generation web browser, which comes standard with Windows 11 and 10 – but also available for other versions and even for macOS, Android and iOS. Called Edge Secure Network, the feature had been in development for almost a year. As a reminder, the publisher had announced in a post published on May 12, 2022 on the site of its technical community the launch of this tool in a pre-version of test distributed via the Canary channel, for the attention of a small group of guinea pig users (volunteers), the idea being, as always, to collect notices before wider deployment. At the time of this writing, the VPN is not yet available in our stable version of Edge, but it should be soon, with some users already having access to it, as noted Neowin.
Secure Network: an integrated but limited VPN
Secure Network establishes a “private” connection to the Internet by passing a relay server and encrypting the data in transit – this is the principle of VPN (Virtual Private Network in English, or virtual private network in French). By using a VPN, the user can hide his real IP address (which is replaced by that of the relay server) and therefore his precise location, while protecting the information that circulates (visited sites, identifiers, etc.) from prying eyes. . It is a practical tool for surfing in a more “anonymous” way on the Internet, especially from public places, with open networks (stations, airports, trains, bars, media libraries, etc.) but also for circumventing the geographical limitations put in place. place by certain services, in particular video streaming (Netflix, Disney+ and others) in order to take advantage of theoretically inaccessible content. Finally, a VPN prevents Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from knowing precisely the activities of their users while limiting the tracking of websites, which do not hesitate to track their visitors, generally to deliver targeted advertising. So many reasons which, combined with the concern over hacking and theft of confidential data, explain the craze for VPNs that have been flourishing on the market for the past few years.
However, Microsoft’s solution is not strictly equivalent to commercial VPNs. On the one hand, it is limited to Edge, and therefore to what is done through the browser. On the other hand, it relies on a set of secure relay servers from Cloudflare – an American company specializing in networks and the Internet – which has the particularity of only offering “virtual” IP addresses close to the real IP address. Advantage, we keep the location functions used by default by the browser for the services, during searches in particular. Disadvantage, you cannot position yourself in a country on the other side of the world to thwart the restrictions… Finally, Secure Network requires you to go through a Microsoft account, which will probably not be to everyone’s taste, to obvious reasons of confidentiality even if the editor promises that the connection is used only to authenticate to the service.
Secure Network: Use VPN in Microsoft Edge
To activate the VPN, go to the Settings menu, then to Privacy, research and service, and choose from the three security levels offered by Microsoft: Select sites, Optimized and All sites. The first enables the Edge Secure Network feature only for a specific selection of websites, while the second enables it only when using public Wi-Fi, unsecured networks or in a site without a certificate. valid (HTTP). Finally, the last allows you to activate the VPN for all browsing traffic, including the distribution of streaming audio and video content, and is therefore greedy in terms of data consumed.
The free version is limited to 1 GB of data traffic per month: enough for surfing the web, making payments and checking emails, but certainly not for streaming videos or downloading large files. However, you will have to wait a few days to find out the price of the paid version. This economic model is hardly surprising, Microsoft already having the habit of managing paid solutions such as Microsoft 365, its office suite offered as a subscription. And operating a network of servers and VPN services involves a significant cost, both in terms of investment and maintenance.