VPNs are one of the essential tools in today’s world. It is not like the initial days of the Internet like in the past decade, where it was relatively safer, and websites never wanted to peek into your personal lives. There used to be a lot less censorship, but today, the Internet is a little dangerous. Websites and government agencies are trying to track and censor stuff for you always. There are hackers and whatnot. In this article, we have the ultimate guide to Virtual private networks; make sure you read this article till the end as we will cover all the relevant information you need to know while beginning with VPNs.
What Are VPNs And How Do They Work?
Virtual Private Network’s or abbreviated as VPNs are tools that make your internet traffic private, as the name already suggests. It redirects your internet traffic and becomes the source of it; what they do in the course of it is that they hide your actual IP address and provide you with a new virtual one. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic, making it impossible for your ISP to track you; this makes your web surfing experience more pleasant. The role of your ISP here will only be restricted to sending the data to the VPN server. The VPN server will do the rest and take care of your privacy.
In laymens’ terms, VPN will allow to virtually surf the internet from another country being in one country, in a more secured, private, and tracking and censorship freeway.
Well, now that you know a lot about how VPNs work, let us look at some of the benefits and reasons why you should be using a VPN.
What Are The Benefits Of Using VPNs?
There are countless benefits of using VPNs, and we certainly can’t list all of them; it is recommended that you start using it and find the best use cases for you. Anyways, here are some benefits of using VPNs:
- Censorship And Tracking Free Internet: There are trackers all around; whether you are using some of the Google apps, Facebook, Or just any website or even your phone, your behavior, and preferences are being tracked. These are used to serve you ads and make you buy things. You can get across this with a reliable VPN. You can also visit the websites that your government doesn’t allow you to visit with a VPN.
- Save Money: With a VPN, you can save money and even make some if you are clever enough. Many websites, including popular e-commerce websites like Amazon and airline sites, use your IP location to decide relevant pricing for you. You can change your IP address with a VPN and get better prices.
- Security On Public Networks: You can’t be on your secure home network all the time, you have to face the world outside, but it is not that safe. Hackers usually target people connected to public wifi. You can prevent them from doing so by encrypting your internet traffic with a VPN.
- Skip Or Remove Ads: Let’s face it, nobody likes ads!! You can skip these ads by using an adblocker VPN. These VPNs will not let ad data download on your network and ensure a smooth web browsing experience.
Check out more on VPN Privacy and benefits on https://www.privacysharks.com/
After reading the benefits, we believe you want to set up a VPN on your device right away, and we’ve got you covered on this; let’s read the steps.
How To Use A VPN?
Using a VPN is one of the simplest things, and you certainly do not need to be a tech pro in any way to start using a VPN. You can use VPNs on your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, and you can also use a VPN on Windows, Mac, Linux, or virtually any OS computer. You can either install software or an application for the purpose. This software will do their setup pretty much automatically, so you don’t need to do much here; if you wish to set up a VPN manually, here are the steps:
Set Up VPN On A Computer:
- Open Settings
- Select Network And Internet Option from the left menu and open the VPN menu.
- From the VPN menu, select add VPN option.
- A window will open where you will be required to fill in all the details provided by your VPN provider for the manual setup.
If not, most VPNs come with software that you can use without going through all these hassles.
Set Up VPN On A Smart Phone:
- Go to the settings and open the connection and sharing menu
- Look for the VPN option in the menu and click on it
- After opening the VPN menu, you will see a + button; click on it
- The + will open a window where you need to enter the details provided by your VPN provider for a manual setup.
Having questions about the legitimacy of VPNs is natural; we have the answer to that as well; let’s read it.
Are VPNs legal?
Our world is a vast place, and things aren’t the same everywhere, but VPNs are entirely legal for most parts of the world. Some countries have been trying to ban VPNs, citing security reasons, but have not done it yet.
If you are using a VPN for privacy and other completely legal reasons, you should be worried the least. Please use the internet responsibly.
Is VPNs Free To Use?
Many apps and services provide free VPN, but these services will have certain limitations on bandwidth and use. For the best experience, using paid services is recommended.
Can VPNs Improve My Internet?
Some VPNs can improve your internet speeds by eliminating unnecessary spam and ad data in your traffic. It will provide for a fast and smooth web surfing experience.
Can I Use VPNs To View Geo Restricted Content Legally?
Yes, using VPNs for viewing geo-restricted content is entirely legal. You can even watch all of Netflix’s content from other countries as well.
Once you start using a VPN, you will taste the level of privacy and security you get with these. You should be using a VPN, and if you are not sure whether to pay for it or not, start using one of the free VPN services, and you’ll know. I hope you like our guide to Virtual Private Networks