We live in a modern world where everything happens online. Whether you want to upload a new picture, open a work email, or submit your task, it all goes through the web. But with the variety of opportunities, there are some hidden threats – hackers, cheeky advertisers, and country regulations that could ruin your browsing experience.
And here comes the unsung hero of our 21st century – the virtual private network. It is a tool that helps mask your online activity and secure your identity. By routing your internet traffic through a dedicated server, you can encrypt your web traffic and prevent third parties from tracking or accessing your information.
What is a VPN?
We kind of explained what a VPN is in the previous paragraph. The most important thing to know is that the virtual private network uses an encrypted tunnel which makes “the magic” happen. As a result, your traffic is re-routed, and ISPs, advertisers, governments, and hackers will have a very hard time passing the wall.
But before we move on to the advantages, let’s see how a VPN works in practice.
The way VPN works
Virtual private network is extremely straightforward for the end user. The latter should install an application (download it), then launch the app, and switch the VPN on. Depending on the service provider, there will be beginner and advanced options, recommended server locations, and other good tools.
Once you switch on the VPN service, you will get a new IP address, and your traffic will be encrypted.
Pro tip: Always choose a server that is closer to you unless you plan to get an IP from a specific country. The closer your server connection, the faster your speeds.
The 6 advantages of using a VPN
VPN services offer a multitude of advantages. Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones.
Advanced security
Without a doubt, most VPN customers are choosing this new technology because it offers outstanding protection from external threats. If you’re browsing on a public Wi-Fi network, there is a good chance the network might be corrupted.
Potential threats that VPNs tackle:
By default, using a VPN masks your IP and it doesn’t look like “wow, this tech might revolutionize cyber security”. But don’t forget that all that traffic is encrypted, and by encrypted, we mean military-grade encryption (256-bit AES encryption, security protocols, etc.). Most VPNs have multiple protection mechanism, and could even include ad-block, and even defend you against malware.
Secure connection for remote work
It may sound weird, as we’ve already explained the advanced security options, and we may step in the other paragraph’s “territory” a bit, but we believe it’s a point worth mentioning – remote work has become a new trend. But there are potential issues that come with it. But when using public Wi-Fi to access the internal database, a simple man-in-the-middle-attack can expose the whole company network, and exploit company resources, causing employers and employees a lot of stress and could yield a major financial loss.
Using a VPN will make it extremely hard for hackers to break into your system, and you can rest assured that you won’t become a subject of any malicious attempts. Still, we recommend that you don’t visit suspicious websites, as even antivirus software might not be able to cope with those.
Prevent Internet throttling
It’s naive to think that you can use your max speed and stream content 24/7. Many gamers who are live-streaming, or people who watch TV series in 4K, will fall into the trap of ISPs who will be quick to turn down “the heat”. In order to maintain good bandwidth for all users, they can easily throttle your speed, and you will notice it quickly – your Netflix can start buffering, the 4K quality will become 480p, and other unpleasant events might ruin your online experience.
A VPN can protect your from Internet Service Providers that throttle your speeds. This is because a VPN encrypts your data, making it unreadable to your ISP. It practically means that they can’t slow down your connection because they can’t see what you’re doing online, so you can keep doing what you’re doing without being limited.
Stream content from abroad
Imagine you are touring in Egypt but you have a couple of free hours in the hotel. The first thing you might want to do is watch your favorite TV series. Well, that’s not possible under normal circumstance, as there are two things making such thing impossible: first, you are assigned an Egyptian IP address, thus you cannot access geo-blocked content, and second – Egypt is a country that doesn’t allow everything to be run from there.
A VPN can help you access regional content without any issues and some VPNs are great at blocking country firewalls. This can be extremely useful if you want to view content that may not be available in your area or when you travel abroad for either business, or pleasure.
Bypass censorship
We already mentioned that some countries (like Egypt) have firewalls that restrict certain websites and social media platforms. But the truth is – many less democratic states are banning lots of sites, and it gets annoying for local users or visitors.
There are many benefits to using a VPN, but one of the most important is that it can help you bypass firewalls. This is especially useful if you’re trying to access websites that are blocked in your country. With a VPN, you can browse securely and access any website you want.
Get better deals
Different ecommerce websites offer regional prices, which means that users from different countries pay different amounts. However, you may fall victim to this and end up spending more than you need to. To avoid this, it is important to check the prices of items on different websites before making a purchase.
But you can also save tons of money if you just use a VPN connection. You can connect to countries that offer low prices, and hence save up lots of money on airplane tickets, different products, etc.
Which VPN should you choose?
There are many different VPNs available on the market, and it can be difficult to choose the right one. However, there are a few things you can keep in mind that will help you choose the best VPN for your needs.
First, you should consider what you want to use the VPN for. If you just want to browse the web anonymously, then any VPN will do. However, if you want to use your virtual private network for streaming or downloading content, then you will need to think twice before you make your choice – would you rather open many libraries, or you would prefer speeds over anything else?
Second, you should consider the security features of the VPN. Some VPNs offer more security features than others. If you are concerned about your online privacy, then you should choose a safe VPN that offers robust security features and more advanced options.
Third, you should consider the price of your service provider. Some VPNs are more expensive than others. However, you should remember that you get what you pay for. A more expensive VPN is likely to offer better speeds and better security features than a cheaper option, but that is not always the case.
Finally, you should read some reviews of different VPNs before making your decision. Reading reviews will help you see what other people think about a particular product. This can help you narrow down your choices and choose the ultimate package.
How to set up a VPN?
Fortunately, setting up a VPN isn’t a hard process.
Final words
VPNs offer plenty of advantages that make them well worth using. For example, they can help keep you safe when browsing the internet from either your computer or mobile phone. They can also grant you access to exclusive content that you might not be able to access otherwise. Last but not least, VPNs can save you money by helping you avoid costly data overage fees. They are also easy to install, which makes them even more convenient to use.