There are plenty of reasons travelers need to use a VPN when away from home. When it comes to your connection to the internet, there are several factors regarding why you should use a VPN. If the networks are public, this means other people connected to the network can see your personal information, and that makes you a target for hackers. If you are in another country – a country that is much more restrictive with the internet than most Westernized nations – then there are some strict limits about the websites that you can access. In many countries Netflix is banned, so this means there needs to be a way around these filters, The way around the filters and for keeping your information secure is using VPN.
This guide will get you set up with using a VPN to protect you while you are traveling, also checkout websafetyadvice to know more about best VPN
Using Your VPN While Traveling
A VPN will function on your smartphone and a computer with the simplicity of an app and the good news is you don’t have to be especially tech savvy to use a VPN. For many VPNs, there is a toggle switch on the app where all you do is open up the VPN and flip the toggle switch. This turns on your VPN. For all intents and purposes, you are protected – that said, there’s a lot that goes on when you turn on the VPN.
When it comes to actually using the VPN, what happens is you will turn on the VPN and the first time you use it, it will ask you to select a server – otherwise known as an end point – and this will function as your connection to the internet. Seems simple? Hardly. Your connection to the server has a lot of beneficial things going on. The first is that your connection to the server creates an encrypted code of everything that you do. So, whichever ISP you’re using will only see a series of letters and numbers that make no sense whatsoever. This encryption is why the ISP is not able to catch on to the different places that you are visiting.
The other thing that your VPN will do once you connect with the endpoint is it will assign you a dummy IP address. All this does is create an IP address that has nothing to do with your computer, and therefore if someone tries to use your IP address to access your computer’s information, all they access is an encrypted connection spewing a ton of nonsensical letters and numbers.
Once you have connected with the end point, the dummy IP address is what’s shown to the website when you access it. Meaning that the site will not necessarily send cookies and other trackers to your computer – they send it to the dummy IP address. This means if you are accessing a site that has a certain amount of free content – for example, newspaper sites that only do a certain number of free articles every month – then changing to a different endpoint means you can keep accessing different materials.
Using a VPN doesn’t affect streaming services either. The streaming service, Netflix for example, will recognize the VPN and will allow the streaming to occur. The difference is a good VPN will not keep logs of what you are doing. While it may log activity as you are using the VPN, once you disconnect, the VPN will then wipe its logs clean, thus keeping everything you do private.
Key Factors for Choosing a Good VPN
Choosing a proper VPN for your traveling needs means that you have to do your homework. That being said, you should use the VPN at home also. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the VPN and at the same time make sure that you are getting a paid VPN. The reason or a paid VPN is simple – free VPNs have much adware and this creates problems with reliability because the ads may not be native and that could get in the way of the connection and thus create a situation where for all the wise security measures you are taking, there is one glaring hole in your system that hackers can exploit – the ads.
Here are some of the key things to look at for choosing a good VPN.
The first thing you should look for in a proper VPN is how easy the VPN is to install. The worst thing for people who are not too tech savvy is having to play with the VPN connection protocol in Windows, so having a system that is easy to get started is the best way to make sure that you have exactly what you need when you need it. If something installs easy and lets you get to work in a couple minutes, then this is a great VPN for you.
Coverage area is critically important when you are traveling and there are some VPNs that will not work in areas that you travel to. As part of your research, you should look into which VPNs work best in the most countries. When heading to places like China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other countries that are notable about restrictions on the internet, coverage is the thing that could help sway you towards a certain VPN.
There are many VPNs that will slow down the speed of your internet connection and that is because the data is getting sent to another server before that server relays it back to you. Having good speed is important – the last thing you want to deal with a slow connection despite it being a secure connection.
Make sure that your VPN works with all your devices. There are some that only work with Windows while others only are compatible with iOS. Make sure that your devices will work on your VPN, especially if you have different types. And speaking of devices, make sure that you have a VPN that will work on multiple devices. This way you can avoid having one device that secured and another that is not.
When you are having a hard time and need tech support, make sure that you get a VPN that offers 24/7 tech support that can help in a variety of ways. This will make your VPN experience much more smooth and satisfying.
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