Why Use a VPN?
VPNs can help you secure your traffic against spies, spoofs, snoops, and any other person who wants to monetize or steal your data. Use the virtual private network to protect your data from prying eyes and regain privacy with all your online activities, especially while handling transactions using credit cards or online payment methods. Read VPN Reviews to find the right VPN service provider for your online business or home network.
How VPN works
VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a remote server operated by a VPN service provider. All your traffic will be routed through the tunnel so that outsiders cannot pry their eyes along the way. When your traffic exits the VPN server, your computer assumes the IP address of that server masking your location and identity online.
It will take a real-life example to fully understand how a VPN works. Consider public Wi-Fi at a restaurant or an airport. Many people might connect to the network without a second thought. Why? Because it is free and many of us like freebees. But we are not sure who might be prying on the traffic of that network. You can’t even be sure if that Wi-Fi network is legitimate or honey pot! Or it may be operated by a hacker who is interested in your data like passwords, bank details, credit card numbers, or any other private data you send when you go online.
But if you are to connect to public Wi-Fi using a VPN, you will have less to worry about because hackers will not be able to intercept your data. Not even the owners of the network can pry eyes over your data or information you are sending through that network. It is important to keep in mind that not all those public Wi-Fi with popular names belong to the said enterprises. If you are working from home, you might think you are secure enough, but VPN can help here. ISPs have insight into what you do online and can monetize your data by selling to their customers who need to do their marketing surveys. But through VPN services you are protected from such misuse. It means that the company you pay for internet service provision is making money off your data. While it is true that large companies like Facebook and Google make their income out of online user behavior, you are not forced to use their services either and if you certainly stop using their services, you might miss out on a lot of trending stories and politics which disadvantages you in a way. It is one thing to opt for these services and definitely another to have no other choice.
Another scenario where VPN is important is if you are visiting other countries and find that you cannot access the websites you used to due to a change of language or varied access policies for different countries. Here is the solution. You can use VPN to spoof your location and still access what you wanted regardless of restriction policies. You will have access even to blocked sites using a VPN and that is the beauty of using a VPN.
Do I need a VPN on all my devices?
Yes, you need to use a VPN on all your devices. If you are looking more alienated towards the fruit over windows, VPN is the way to go. But there are marked differences in using VPN on both platforms. Mobile devices specifically are crucial because we often use them to access public networks like Wi-Fi. So, there are more VPN apps developed specifically for Android and iPhones. For the benefit of all your devices, you can configure your router to use a VPN so that every data leaving your home network is encrypted and every device you use within your home network enjoys the services of a VPN.
Is a VPN a final solution to online threats?
Not really. There are multiple ways your online behavior can be tracked by third parties or outsiders. Remember things like cookies can be used by companies to track your internet usage way after you left their websites. If you want your anonymity online, you won’t rely on VPN to guarantee you that, other services like TOR will do. TOR guarantees anonymity by bouncing your traffic through different nodes to make it hard to trace. Some VPNs will connect to TOR to improve their security. TOR is a free service operated by non-profit organizations and it is free of charge.
The flipside of using a VPN
VPN usage has its practical drawbacks. Some websites look at VPN traffic as suspicious and won’t let you in. And that’s the real challenge, especially if it is your bank you are trying to connect to. In such cases, you may be forced to reach without using a VPN. Another outright drawback related to using VPN is speed. Your speed will reduce drastically because of the increase in latency.
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