Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secure third party network that people use to protect their web activities from other prying eyes on the internet.
Initially, VPN was invented to connect business networks but it is today used by individuals for personal purposes. You may be interested in getting a VPN subscription if you don’t want people to know what you are doing online. You will want to first understand what is a vpn and how it works.
What is a VPN
After you have set up a VPN, all your web traffic will be redirected to another server that is owned by the provider. The server may be located in a different country so that your traffic will be seen as if it comes from that country. When people check your IP address, they can normally know where your ISP is located and where you are located while visiting the website. With VPN, people will not see your actual IP address but a fake IP address provided by the provider as well as the fake location which is the location of the third party server.
How Using a VPN Can Help You
VPN can help you to bypass geographical restrictions if your IP address is blacklisted in a website that you want to surf. Geoblocking issues are often faced by people who use a subscription service like Netflix. Some subscriptions offer different content collection for people who surf in different countries. You can also face geoblocking issues when the webmaster of the site doesn’t want traffic from your country. For example, in China, the people cannot use WhatsApp, and Skype because they are banned by the government.
You can use a VPN to access your own network securely when you are traveling. While traveling, you may be using the internet in your hotel which is an insecure connection. In hotels, a lot of people work there and some of these workers who control the network may pry into your remote computer if you don’t know how to secure the connection. Signing up for a VPN solves the problem. VPN allows you to access a remote desktop on the computer in your home and play games securely. You don’t want people to be able to access your computer and know the files you keep there.
VPN can be handy for protecting your web activities from hackers in public wi-fi hotspots like coffee shops. All kinds of people can sit in the coffee shop and someone may be watching you when you frequently use the internet in the same wifi hotspot. Therefore, it is worthwhile to sign up for VPN if you frequently use the internet in the same place. You will be able to maintain your internet freedom not allowing websites to use cookies to track you and collect records of your internet activities.
VPN can protect you from becoming a victim of cyber crime. Nowadays, a lot of people are conducting transactions on the internet including filing tax returns, online shopping, and logging into online banking. Whenever you enter your sensitive information online, there is a chance that they can be possibly accessed by a third party. Getting a VPN can enhance the security of carrying out transactions online as it can protect the information you share when on a public WiFi network.
VPN can be useful for downloading files from torrent sites. Some ISP will throttle the bandwidth when they know you are using a torrent site. In these circumstances, using a VPN to download your files on a torrent site will allow you to enjoy faster speed. Besides, if you use a VPN, your torrenting program will not be traceable when you are uploading files that you want to share with others.
Selecting a VPN
When selecting a VPN, you should always check if they have a no log policy. No log policy means that they will not keep a record of your online activities. Besides, also check the protocol it is run on. Ideally, it is run on the most current protocol such as PPTP. You can find a VPN that provides unmetered bandwidth and data limits so that you can use it to connect to the internet for as long as you want. You’ll have to decide where you want the server to be located. You’ll also want to be able to use VPN on multiple devices.
You may be concerned about the cost of owning a VPN and wonder whether you should get a free VPN. Free VPN lacks a lot of important things for example, it is not run on a secure protocol, it is not current, it puts caps on the bandwidth, it frequently disconnects, and it may not have many servers in different countries. Paid VPN is better as it offers better security and privacy than a free VPN.
