A VPN or a Virtual Private Network can do a lot of things from securing your online identity to unblocking some of the regional-restricted websites that aren’t accessible in your region. Most people still assume that our use of a VPN is only limited to these two benefits. Well, that’s not entirely true. A VPN can do much more than that.
In fact, according to Statista, the main motivator of using a VPN is to access better entertainment content such as unblocking the American Netflix library. In this guide, I will be discussing many benefits of having a VPN that you didn’t know about.
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1. Watch Favorite Shows Abroad
As I said, the main motivator of using a VPN is to access better entertainment content. We can use the example of accessing American Netflix library from anywhere. Netflix content or Netflix library vary one region from another. US Netflix has about 40% of the entire Netflix library that is available throughout the world. Only US residents can have access to it.
But here’s a twist. Not all VPNs can get you through Netflix restrictions, but only those that have a residential IP address. Since these IP addresses are expensive, not all VPNs are able to afford it. Certainly not free ones. But still you can manage to use a VPN that offers free trial and try it first-hand without having to spend any money.
2. Browse Anonymously
Browsing securely and privately is one of the main reasons why you use a VPN. But has anyone wondered why it is the most secure way of browsing the internet? A VPN uses the most advanced encryption i.e. 256-bit encryption that keeps your internet data flow through an encrypted tunnel.
Not even a skilled hacker can get pass through this encryption. Also, it replaces your IP address with the IP address of a VPN server, so it’s impossible to trace your identity.
3. Stay Secure On A Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi’s can be very dangerous. If you’re visiting to a nearby café, mall, or an airport, it’s a friendly advice to never use a public Wi-Fi. Even if it’s so urgent, then you must try connecting to a VPN and then start using a public internet. The reason why I say this is because it is too easy to hack you if you’re on a public Wi-Fi.
Even a rookie hacker can get access to your phone, computer, or any device you’re using. It happens a lot to tourists who visit these public places and then their banking details are compromised.
4. Anonymous Torrenting
Torrenting has a bad reputation. Understandably so, you can share copyrighted content such as Movies, TV Series, Music Albums, Games, Books, and a lot others for free. Not to mention, downloading torrents is illegal even if you’re trying to download something that is also free over the internet. We don’t promote neither condone such practices.
However, it’s still an efficient way to share large files, but it’s not the safe way to do it. To make it safer and secure, simply use a VPN. VPNs have P2P servers that completely hides your internet traffic keeps your P2P activity anonymous.
5. Bypass Government Censorship
If you’re available in a country that has internet freedom, then it’s a blessing that most people around the world don’t have. Countries like China, Russia, UAE, Iran, and North Korea have internet restrictions that are hard to bypass. These countries have blocked websites like YouTube, Google, Facebook, and other similar websites.
To bypass government restrictions without being identified that you accessed these websites, you will need to use a VPN.
6. Bypass ISP Throttling
Your Internet Service Provider knows everything that you do over the internet. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Your ISP is the one to hand you out IP address and it knows your exact location. If it finds out that you’re using too much bandwidth, it can throttle your speed.
No, it’s not legal to throttle someone’s internet speed, but that’s what they do if they think too many people are trying to access the same website. VPN is a great tool to bypass ISP throttling. By using split tunneling feature of a VPN, you can guide some of the internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel and some of the traffic through your ISP.
This way, your ISP won’t be suspicious of you using a VPN to avoid throttling of speed.
7. Avoid Hackers
The greatest weapon for any hacker is your original IP address. Everything starts with an IP address and that leads you to your original location. The best way to completely hide your IP address is the use of a VPN. Get an IP address of a location that is thousands of miles away.
Lead hackers to a different location and never to find out your true identity. A VPN also protects you from malware and viruses.
8. Shop Online
Online shops around the world have set different product pricing in a different region. For example, if you check out Amazon US page to buy a Fire TV Stick 4K, you will get it for $49.99. However, if you buy it from the Amazon UK page, you’ll get the same device for £49.99. That’s a lot of money you saved.
This can be said for many other websites that are globally available. It even works on buying PPVs for UFC fights.
Buying PPVs from countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, or Australia, will get you a cheaper price than from buying in the US.
9. Use VoIP Services
In countries like Dubai or in all of UAE, they don’t allow the use of free VoIP services such as WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, or any similar apps for calling purposes. That is because these countries have invested heavily on mobile networks that they want people to use.
Using a VPN can let you access such apps freely for calling purposes. It will work as a cheaper alternative to buying those expensive mobile networks.
10. Make Online Gaming Faster
Many games you play require a VPN to bypass ISP throttling that I just mentioned above. Your ISPs can throttle your speed if it thinks you’re playing too much games because gaming can consume too much bandwidth.
As a result, ISPs tries to slow down the speed and prevent you from playing those games. But having a VPN, you can prevent ISPs from slowing down your speed and reduce ping.
11. Use Social Media Apps Securely
Social media apps like TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is still banned in many countries. These countries have blocked these apps so as to prevent social influence of other countries among their own people.
A VPN is used to access any social media apps or websites that are restricted in any country region.
To Sum it Up
VPNs have a lot of uses and that makes it worth using a VPN once you find that out. However, the responsibility that falls upon every individual is to use it for legal purposes. You never know which VPN can store logs while you browse the internet so they can keep record of what you’re doing over the internet.
The information can easily reach authorities and can get you in trouble. To find out which VPN can store logs and which don’t, read their privacy policy thoroughly. VPNs open up a lot of opportunities and can save you a lot of money. It’s good to have a VPN of your own.
If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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