What Is A VPN?

In this content, I will be talking about VPN, which is a tool that all Internet users should know about and have. I will discuss what VPN is in the easiest way possible, as well as its benefits in your normal life and at your workplace. I will also explain how it protects your identity and believe me, you will find it really interesting.

What is VPN?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

VPN is not a type of internet connection. Rather, it’s a tool that establishes a secure connection between your device and another network over the internet.

Think of it as a smaller tube inside a tunnel that connects your personal device to multiple servers around the world. Imagine the entrance of the small tube as your device and the exit as the server. The whole tunnel represents the entire Internet. Instead of sending your data freely in the tunnel where other people can see, you use the smaller tube instead to send and receive files to a specific server. This will ensure you can explore the Internet from end to end safely. This is the power of VPN. It also keeps your data safe through encryption technology while protecting your identity at the same time.

What is the main purpose of VPN?

VPN protects your identity on the Internet.

To help you visualize how it works, imagine this scenario.

Websites can see your IP address which reveals your approximate location. So, every time you post on social media, email, or Google search, you leave a trace and in the long run, this data trail can be used by hackers or advertisers for unthinkable purposes.

Before you know it, even the details you don’t intend to share were obtained by these creepy strangers lurking on the internet and that could be terrifying.

When you use a VPN, it tricks the internet into thinking that you are in a different location. For example, when you log on to your computer at home, let’s say in Sydney, Australia but with a VPN you can spoof your location to San Francisco or Rome.

In short, hiding your browsing activity prevents internet service providers from selling your information to advertisers and your data from being compromised.

Why should you use VPN?

VPN is very helpful at work

Privacy at work is very important. When you use VPN to connect to your company’s network, you can be confident knowing that you can access files and devices privately and without a trace from your laptop or mobile device. So, whether you are in a hotel room or in a cafe on the other side of the world, you are consistently secure and safe inside your smaller tube in the Internet tunnel.

Say your boss picked you to attend a work-related meeting in China, which is a country with strict censorship, using VPN still allows you to get around firewalls and access all information on the entire Internet!

You can use VPN to stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and many more!

Travelling overseas? If the Netflix series you are watching isn’t available in the country where you will be going, you’re in for a tough time. Guess what? VPN can actually save your day.

If you need to access geo-blocked websites like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Pandora and more, all you need is a VPN to change your location and enjoy these services in full.

You can use VPN to download in Torrent

If you are downloading things from the Internet using Torrent, you can use VPN to connect to a server in other parts of the world where Internet speed could be faster and where your geographical location is secure. Additionally, no one will know what you are downloading since VPN guarantees full privacy while torrenting.

What if you don’t use VPN?

You’ll be okay, but maybe not for too long. You may have used the Internet for quite a while now before bumping into this video and you haven’t had your security and privacy compromised. Good for you if that’s the case, but you don’t want to wait for one bad hack to happen before taking action.

It’s true that there are steps you can take to protect your identity and you could already be doing these things. These include creating strong passwords, regularly deleting your browsing history, deactivating unwanted profiles, or faking information on unimportant websites. But at the end of the day, you still leave traces and they could pile up.

Additionally, when you connect to a public wifi, securing a seat where there are no passersby is not enough. No matter how hard you try to cover your laptop screen, the worst enemies are inside your laptop. So, you might need to take those into consideration if you aren’t using a VPN.

Summary

If you are already thinking about setting up a VPN but you don’t know where to start, you might find my VPN software review videos handy as it will save you a lot of research time when trying to decide on the best one for you. 

But just to let you know, I recommend ExpressVPN as the best VPN software overall. They beat most of their competitors in the important categories of speed, price, streaming and privacy. If you wanna know more about ExpressVPN, then check out the link in the description below.

If you are out to do some testing, there are also VPNs that you can grab for free, meaning you don’t have to pay for a subscription plan. Just keep in mind that these free VPNs are not as good as the paid ones as they are slow and not as secure. So clearly, it just defeats the purpose of having a VPN so keep that in mind.