Seven valid reasons to set up a VPN
In the previous installments of this sporadic series of posts dedicated to the subject of virtual private networks (VPN), we explained how to set up a VPN in Windows using the built-in client, and gave you a list of 10 VPN services, highlighting their most important characteristics (latency, jurisdiction, coverage, and pricing). This piece takes you up a level and gives reasons to consider using a VPN in the first place.
1. Better security with VPN
A VPN service creates a tunnel between your computer and one of its servers, and whatever data travels through this tunnel is encrypted. This means the sensitive info you may exchange with websites and web apps – personal details, passwords, payment credentials – is shielded from wrongdoers who may have tapped into your connection. This is especially relevant in those situations when you have to use a public Wi-Fi network (cafés, malls, airports, etc.). While encryption doesn’t guarantee 100% safety of the data – nothing does – it makes decrypting it so difficult the fruit of the process will likely not be worth the effort.
2. Private browsing
As mentioned above, a VPN connection involves a tunnel between you and the server operated by the service provider. This means that whenever you access a site on the web, it perceives you as if you have the IP address of the VPN server, and never learns your real whereabouts. Thus, your online activities are more anonymous, and tracking them – for ad personalization or other reasons – becomes pretty much senseless.
3. Access to restricted content
Regardless of where you reside, you have probably faced a “Sorry, you’ve been blocked” message in the browser when attempting to visit some website. The thing is, for an array of reasons, many webmasters and service owners (games, videos, etc.) restrict access to their content based on geographic location. A VPN helps to circumvent such restrictions: just select a server in a country that’s not on the no-go list, and there you have it, access granted. This also works in situations with sites that are unreachable from your geography due to some bans imposed on the national level and enforced by ISPs.
4. Remote work
Nowadays, after the recent pandemic, many employers accept remote workers as a natural occurrence. If the business involves handling of sensitive information, the company will likely set up a VPN service of its own, seeking to protect the transmitted data. Plus, there is such a thing as a hybrid schedule, when you work from home (or anywhere else) part of your time, and spend some days of the week in the office. And, of course, there are business trips. In all these cases, connecting to your corporate resources would likely require a secure tunnel, and this means joining a virtual private network.
5. Prevention of bandwidth throttling
You may have noticed that whenever you download something via the P2P protocol (torrent), or stream videos, or play online games, your connection seems to become faulty, making the process awkwardly slow. The reason behind such a behavior is a practice adopted by many ISPs: bandwidth throttling. Essentially, it caps the speed of connection for certain activities. A VPN service can help with that by masking the type of traffic transmitted.
6. Online shopping safety
You have certainly heard stories about stolen credit card credentials and hefty sums of money lost as a result. Another scenario is small amounts shaved off the account on a regular basis, going under the radar for years. One of the possible causes of such problems is interception of data in transit: paying at an online store with a card, you enter everything needed for the purpose, and these essential bits of data can be “overheard” by wrongdoers. Using a VPN enhances security during online transactions by encrypting the sensitive information sent.
7. Prevention of price discrimination
Online shopping is very common nowadays. According to Statista, e-commerce sales of 2024 will likely exceed $4.1 trillion, and the upward trend doesn’t show any signs of a direction change. Some retailers adopted the practice of price discrimination based on geographical location. Simply put, the price you get in a store depends on where you are from, or, rather, your geography as perceived by that store. A VPN service can help you alter that, so if you are offered to pay more than a guy across the border from you, try changing your IP address.
One of the most popular VPN programs is OpenVPN, a free solution that covers all the basic and some advanced needs associated with setting-up a virtual private network. You can download OpenVPN here:
Informer – Network Tools – OpenVPN
Alternatively, consider using the built-in Windows VPN client, we’ve described how to set it up in this article.
