Why You Need VPN and What It Is

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When we think of the internet, we usually associate it with freedom, anonymity, and globality. Yet on closer inspection, these attributes we ascribe to the internet prove to be merely idealistic. In today’s reality, the internet is heavily censored not only in totalitarian but also in the most democratic countries.

Our online presence is meticulously monitored. Every step we make on the internet leaves behind so many traces that the most detailed biographies can be written about every one of us. Global internet usage is also nonexistent. Not only do 52 percent of people in the world still have no access to the internet but we also face geo-restrictions that companies and governments impose upon our movements. While net surfing, we constantly knock on the closed doors of websites located outside of our geographical region, online university libraries, and Netflix’s movie depositories. As our experience teaches us, the internet is neither free nor secure, nor even global, having all these attributes only potentially rather than in actuality.

The good news is that the internet can live up to our idealistic vision of it, if helped from the outside. Indeed, we can glide through its vastness uninhibited and unobserved, if we resort to the help of a service called a Virtual Private Network. Specifically designed to bring the internet back to a lost ideal, the VPN enhances our internet experience on all counts: it helps us circumvent geographical restrictions, retains our anonymity, and preserves the security of our data. In the space below we are explaining why people need VPNs. If you are interested in knowing what VPN is considered the best, you can read the review of ExpressVPN that explains how it stands out among its competitors.

The VPN is a service that enables you to access the internet privately and safely by routing your connection through a server and concealing your online actions. With the VPN, you can shield yourself from censorship, interference, and snooping on untrustworthy Wi-Fi hotspots. You can also get protected from being logged while you are torrenting. Armed with the VPN, you can securely watch movies and TV from any of your devices and use those parts of the internet that are blocked in certain countries. Whatever you do online, all your traffic will remain private.

To have this protection, you need to start the VPN software from your VPN service. The software will encrypt your data long before your Internet Service Provider detects it. After it has been encrypted, your data will stream to the Virtual Private Network. From the VPN server, it will go to your desired online destination, be it Google, Chase’s website, Netflix American library, Vimeo, or Torrent. What the VPN in effect does to your destination is throwing it into confusion. It tricks it into thinking that your data comes from the VPN and its location rather than from your computer and your location. To understand the process better, think of the VPN server as the third party that connects to the internet on your behalf.

Imagine that your vacation in Thailand overlaps this year with the Cricket World Cup that takes place in London from the 30th of May to the 14th of July. You have been waiting for this event for four years and feel annoyed now that no Thai media company broadcasts the tournament. But you know that ESPN is streaming the Cricket World Cup in Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad & Tobago, among other Caribbean countries. To enjoy the games together with Grenadians, you will need to connect to some VPN server that is located in Grenada.

Once you have connected to it, you will automatically receive a Grenadian IP address. After this, you will gain unlimited access to ESPN and other content geographically limited to the Caribbean region. Enjoying the Cricket World Cup will not be a problem from this moment. Even though you are physically located in Thailand, you will watch all the matches of the championship, because the VPN will make ESPN think that you are situated in Grenada. In between the matches, you will enjoy the most popular shows and movies streamed online by Netflix in Grenada, since the VPN will let you circumvent Netflix’s geographical restrictions as well.

There are plenty of VPNs out where, in addition to ExpressVPN. What you need to pay attention to when choosing one for yourself is whether it is a free version or a paid VPN. The jury is still out on which is better. Some people prefer paid VPNs, because they have a better bandwidth, better protection, and better customer service. Virtual Private Networks offered without charge, they claim, cannot afford these luxuries. They are slow; their customer support is nonexistent. While these accusations are not ungrounded, only free VPNs give customers the full anonymity they seek when resorting to this software.