A fast, no-frills feature for (more) private web browsing

Firefox’s free VPN rollout finally reached me – is it any good?

Firefox recently added a free built-in VPN to its desktop browser, but access to the feature is rolling out gradually.

It hit my Ubuntu machine last night – and I’m last to be invited to anything, so I thought I’d write a quick rundown of what it actually does, what it doesn’t, and how to set it – assuming you have it.

If you’re waiting for it to roll out to you, there’s no special update or download to look out for as this is a progressive rollout feature – Mozilla enables it remotely, in stages. There was no fanfare when it arrived for me, the toolbar button just …appeared.

Firefox’s free VPN will initially only be available to users in the UK, the USA, France and Germany. It’s also desktop-only; you won’t find it in the latest versions of Firefox on Android or iOS.

Firefox’s free VPN uses a Fastly proxy

Firefox’s VPN is free. The only ‘requirement’ is that you need to sign in to your Mozilla account to use it. Don’t have one of those? They’re free, and it keeps your browsing history, tabs and passwords in sync between different devices, which is handy.

Why has Mozilla added a built-in VPN?

The cynical answer is to help promote Mozilla VPN, its paid-for, system-wide, cross-platform VPN service.

A less cynical answer is that it simply wants to provide an extra spoke to the browser’s privacy offerings, since each time you visit a website, your IP address is visible to the web host/site owner, and to your internet service provider.

Firefox’s built-in VPN routes your browser traffic through a proxy server run by Fastly (Mozilla’s partner for this feature). Traffic is routed through Fastly’s servers under an encrypted TLS connection, so websites you visit see the proxy’s IP address, not your real one.

To your ISP, they can see you connected to the proxy, but not any websites you visited from there, and the websites you visit see the proxy’s IP address, not your real one.

However, Mozilla say some “essential […] services are excluded from VPN routing to ensure sign-in, VPN reconnection, and screens needed to sign in for public Wi-Fi work properly. All other browsing activity in Firefox remains protected when the VPN is on.”

As this is a browser-only VPN and not a system-wide one, it only hides your real IP address in your internet traffic. It will not mask your activity in other apps on your device when active. For that, you’ll need a proper system-wide VPN (which Mozilla offer for $9.99/m).

Firefox VPN gives you 50 GB of bandwidth per month, which resets automatically. The browser will warn you if you’re near to your limit, and ask you to confirm whether you continue browsing if you go over and it’s disabled – that way, you’re not ‘leaking’ your IP unawares.

How to enable Firefox VPN

Once the feature is available to you, the setup is simple:

1. Click the VPN button in your toolbar
2. Sign in with a Mozilla account (free to create)
3. Click the VPN icon in your toolbar again
4. Turn protection on or off

You can exclude specific websites from the VPN from the toolbar applet, which is useful if a particular site won’t work or display content correctly with it enabled. You can also manage your settings via Settings > Privacy & Security > VPN.

An overview of your current monthly data usage is shown in the applet too, letting you stay in top of your usage.

Don’t want to use this feature at all? You can right-click the VPN icon in the toolbar and choose Remove from Toolbar. To get it back at a later date, add it from the Customise Toolbar palette.

Worth using?

Unlike paid-for VPN servers (and dodgy ‘free’ browser add-ons) you don’t get to choose which country your traffic is routed through. Mozilla selects the server automatically.

If you were hoping this would help you access geo-restricted content or skirt age verification checks, no joy.

Many “free” VPN services fund themselves by selling user data or injecting ads. Mozilla has explicitly said it doesn’t.

And while it receives data volume from its proxy provider to keep track of your data allowance, it doesn’t see which sites you visit.

Mozilla’s own support say using the VPN doesn’t affect your browsing experience, since it’s a proxy-based service rather than a full VPN tunnel.

Ideal for every day browsing (the kind that doesn’t need specific features), and adequate for protecting browsing activity when using a public Wi-Fi point. The 50 GB data allowance is plenty for web reading, but heavy streaming may eat through it.

Is the feature enabled for you yet? Have you hit any issues in using it? Let me know what you think about this, how it works and if it’s enough to tear you away from a different provider by leaving a comment.