Why Use a VPN?

Is it really necessary? Here we want to give you a few reasons why you should run VPN on all your devices...

Why Use a VPN?

There are many reasons why you should use a VPN on all your devices — not just your computer. In this article, we want to provide you with a few reasons why that is a good idea. Specifically, we’ll give you 5 reasons…

1. VPN protects your privacy

We would argue this is the most important reason for getting a VPN but we know there are folks getting it just to be able to access streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ from anywhere.

The infamous Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is still looming large in the minds of many folks, and they don’t want to see their data being used for political purposes ever again.

Also, there is no good reason to share what you do online with Google and Facebook, let alone government agencies. With a VPN, you make it harder for them to keep track of you online. It will mask your digital footprint and let you select the virtual location you want/need at any given moment.

2. VPN lets you bypass content restrictions

US Netflix users can’t access the service while visiting other countries. It has nothing to do with Netflix — and other streaming services for that matter — and everything to do with the way content rights are bought and sold on the international market, with some companies getting exclusive rights for certain regions.

This limitation could be bypassed with a VPN running on your computer, smartphone, tablet or whichever device you decide to use to watch Netflix. VPN routes all traffic through its servers that are placed all around the world. The U.S. — unsurprisingly — is a host to the majority of servers so there are plenty of options (locations) to choose from.

Similarly, for business purposes – you could use a VPN to securely connect to your office network.

3. VPN lets you access blocked websites

And we’re not necessarily talking about adult content here, with some workplaces preventing users from accessing sites like Facebook and YouTube. Similar rules are imposed on many schools and universities where admins don’t want students to have fun online.

Related to that, access to these same websites and services — as well as major media companies — tends to be blocked in many high-censorship countries. And again, a VPN can help you bypass these restrictions with local ISPs seeing nothing but a regular HTTPS traffic — which the country censors can’t snoop into.

4. VPN protects your communication

While it is not an anti-virus replacement, VPN does keep you safer online. This is especially true when connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots where a malicious actor connected on the same network could snoop into your web traffic and potentially get ahold of your personal data. This can happen if you’re not using a VPN; otherwise, a hacker wouldn’t be able to get any meaningful information from a secure connection that is established between your device and a VPN server that routes the internet traffic. This way, a VPN prevents the so-called “man in the middle” attacks. These attacks, in case you wonder, have been growing in popularity in recent years.

5. VPN helps you save on airfare

You may have noticed how airfare prices change during the week and even during a single day? Airlines are using dynamic pricing that is influenced by a number of criteria, your perceived interest in purchasing some tickets being one of these factors.

For instance, try searching for a ticket between Chicago and San Francisco on one airline a few times during the day. Chances are you will see how the price keeps growing and sometimes — this increase is hard to justify. The airline’s software has detected your interest and is now checking to see how much you’re willing to spend. And to that end, the software will dynamically be raising prices to entice you to buy-in ASAP.

With a VPN, you can connect to different servers throughout the day to always get the best price, which is typically reserved for new customers. This way, you can potentially save some serious money on air travel and, we would add, quickly recoup the cost of the VPN subscription.

Final word

This was just a tip of the iceberg with VPN letting you do much, much more. Nevertheless, the reasons outlined here should help you realize why to use a VPN. We suggest you start by checking our page with Best of the Best VPNs that has all the field-tested services. Check them out and do let us know if you have a comment, question, or something else…