by When it comes to the advantages and disadvantages of VPN services, you’ll usually find that the pros significantly outweigh the cons:
1. A VPN Hides Your Online Identity
Since a VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your online traffic, it essentially makes sure your digital footprints can’t be tracked on the Internet. Online hackers won’t be able to use your real IP address to find out personal details about you, and government surveillance agencies and ISPs won’t get to monitor what you do online by snooping on your traffic.
Besides helping you elude government surveillance, that also helps keep your privacy safe from advertisers. Don’t forget – in the US, ISPs are free to sell user data to third-party advertisers. If you’re not in the US, that might not be a huge concern, but do keep in mind that you can’t 100% know that there are no shady deals going on behind your back between your ISP and other advertisers. Also, that can still happen to you if you visit the US as a tourist.
Even if you ignore the “ISP selling your data to advertisers bit,” there’s still the fact that platforms like Google can share your personal data with third-party advertisers. Also, advertisers can track your online movements to a certain degree through ads and other means.
2. VPNs Help You Bypass Geo-Blocks
Don’t know what geo-blocks are? Well, did you ever try to access a website only to be met with the following message (or a variation on it): “Sorry, the content you requested is not available in your area.”
Geo-restrictions
That’s geo-restriction technology in action. It’s basically a way for content providers to control which geographic areas their websites, movies, music, and TV shows are available in. They normally do that because they need to comply with copyright regulations, licensing regulations, and various legal procedures too.
How does a VPN help with that issue? Here’s something you need to know first – websites can normally hide content behind geo-restrictions because they can see your geo-location when you’re online. Essentially, the platform you want to access sees the connection request your device sends – and also the IP address the request comes from. Once the website knows your real IP address, it can track your geo-location easily. If it’s blacklisted, you will be denied access or redirected to a different page.
Since a VPN can hide your real IP address, it can easily help you bypass geo-blocks since the platform you want to access will think you’re from the “right” geographical region.
For example, if you are from Bulgaria, and you connect to a UK-based server, you’ll be able to access platforms like BBC iPlayer and NOW TV.
So, a VPN can be very useful if you’re looking to unblock content from anywhere in the world, or if you travel or work abroad often.
3. VPN Services Secure Your Online Connections
WiFi is everywhere nowadays, and it’s extremely convenient to use – especially if you have a tight mobile data plan. The only problem with free WiFi is that it’s often unsecured, meaning you’re putting your personal data in danger whenever you use it. After all, cybercriminals can find out a lot about you – which can lead to them stealing your:
Credit card details
Bank account details
Email login credentials
If you use a VPN, though, you won’t need to worry about those dangers. Why? Because a VPN uses encryption to secure your online communications, effectively making sure nobody can monitor them. Basically, if any hacker would try to look at your connection traffic, they’d just see gibberish.
This is also why VPNs are such a good choice for accessing work files remotely too. If you ever need to check a client file while you’re taking a break at a coffee shop and using their WiFi, your best option is to use a VPN to make sure no would-be hackers can compromise your connection and work data.
4. A VPN Can Prevent Bandwidth Throttling
Haven’t heard of bandwidth throttling, yet? It’s basically when your ISP limits your bandwidth, effectively lowering your online speeds. They might do that regularly, or just once a week or month. Usually, ISPs do that to improve their services by getting rid of network congestion and making sure there’s enough bandwidth for all users.
However, they most often engage in bandwidth throttling as a way to “convince” users (like you) to purchase more expensive subscriptions and data plans.
Well, the good news is that since a VPN encrypts all your Internet traffic, your ISP won’t be able to see what you’re doing online. They won’t know if you’re using up “too much” bandwidth to play online games, download files, or stream TV shows. So, they won’t be able to throttle your bandwidth for doing any of those things.
5. VPNs Can Bypass Firewalls
When you’re at work, school, the airport, or even in a hotel, you might have to deal with annoying network firewalls that prevent you from accessing certain websites. Network admins do that because they often need to comply with various regulations, but that doesn’t make it fair for you.
Luckily, you can easily bypass any firewall you encounter with a VPN since it hides your IP address – the address the firewall restrictions have been applied to.
And yes, a VPN would even let you bypass government-enforced firewalls (like the Great Firewall of China, for example), so you won’t have to deal with any government censorship while browsing the Internet.
6. VPNs Offer Secure Torrenting
Torrenting isn’t really dangerous if you know what you’re doing, but it can endanger your privacy if you’re not using a VPN. You see, all the members of the Swarm (all the people downloading and uploading a torrent) can actually see your real IP address. That means you’ve got unwanted strangers being able to see what country and city you are from, and potentially finding out what your ZIP code and who your ISP are.
What’s more, don’t forget that torrenting can be illegal depending on your country’s laws. Using a VPN is a smart way to ensure you don’t end up in legal trouble, get DMCA notices, or have your ISP terminate your contract just for downloading a simple torrent.
1. A VPN Hides Your Online Identity
Since a VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your online traffic, it essentially makes sure your digital footprints can’t be tracked on the Internet. Online hackers won’t be able to use your real IP address to find out personal details about you, and government surveillance agencies and ISPs won’t get to monitor what you do online by snooping on your traffic.
Besides helping you elude government surveillance, that also helps keep your privacy safe from advertisers. Don’t forget – in the US, ISPs are free to sell user data to third-party advertisers. If you’re not in the US, that might not be a huge concern, but do keep in mind that you can’t 100% know that there are no shady deals going on behind your back between your ISP and other advertisers. Also, that can still happen to you if you visit the US as a tourist.
Even if you ignore the “ISP selling your data to advertisers bit,” there’s still the fact that platforms like Google can share your personal data with third-party advertisers. Also, advertisers can track your online movements to a certain degree through ads and other means.
2. VPNs Help You Bypass Geo-Blocks
Don’t know what geo-blocks are? Well, did you ever try to access a website only to be met with the following message (or a variation on it): “Sorry, the content you requested is not available in your area.”
Geo-restrictions
That’s geo-restriction technology in action. It’s basically a way for content providers to control which geographic areas their websites, movies, music, and TV shows are available in. They normally do that because they need to comply with copyright regulations, licensing regulations, and various legal procedures too.
How does a VPN help with that issue? Here’s something you need to know first – websites can normally hide content behind geo-restrictions because they can see your geo-location when you’re online. Essentially, the platform you want to access sees the connection request your device sends – and also the IP address the request comes from. Once the website knows your real IP address, it can track your geo-location easily. If it’s blacklisted, you will be denied access or redirected to a different page.
Since a VPN can hide your real IP address, it can easily help you bypass geo-blocks since the platform you want to access will think you’re from the “right” geographical region.
For example, if you are from Bulgaria, and you connect to a UK-based server, you’ll be able to access platforms like BBC iPlayer and NOW TV.
So, a VPN can be very useful if you’re looking to unblock content from anywhere in the world, or if you travel or work abroad often.
3. VPN Services Secure Your Online Connections
WiFi is everywhere nowadays, and it’s extremely convenient to use – especially if you have a tight mobile data plan. The only problem with free WiFi is that it’s often unsecured, meaning you’re putting your personal data in danger whenever you use it. After all, cybercriminals can find out a lot about you – which can lead to them stealing your:
Credit card details
Bank account details
Email login credentials
If you use a VPN, though, you won’t need to worry about those dangers. Why? Because a VPN uses encryption to secure your online communications, effectively making sure nobody can monitor them. Basically, if any hacker would try to look at your connection traffic, they’d just see gibberish.
This is also why VPNs are such a good choice for accessing work files remotely too. If you ever need to check a client file while you’re taking a break at a coffee shop and using their WiFi, your best option is to use a VPN to make sure no would-be hackers can compromise your connection and work data.
4. A VPN Can Prevent Bandwidth Throttling
Haven’t heard of bandwidth throttling, yet? It’s basically when your ISP limits your bandwidth, effectively lowering your online speeds. They might do that regularly, or just once a week or month. Usually, ISPs do that to improve their services by getting rid of network congestion and making sure there’s enough bandwidth for all users.
However, they most often engage in bandwidth throttling as a way to “convince” users (like you) to purchase more expensive subscriptions and data plans.
Well, the good news is that since a VPN encrypts all your Internet traffic, your ISP won’t be able to see what you’re doing online. They won’t know if you’re using up “too much” bandwidth to play online games, download files, or stream TV shows. So, they won’t be able to throttle your bandwidth for doing any of those things.
5. VPNs Can Bypass Firewalls
When you’re at work, school, the airport, or even in a hotel, you might have to deal with annoying network firewalls that prevent you from accessing certain websites. Network admins do that because they often need to comply with various regulations, but that doesn’t make it fair for you.
Luckily, you can easily bypass any firewall you encounter with a VPN since it hides your IP address – the address the firewall restrictions have been applied to.
And yes, a VPN would even let you bypass government-enforced firewalls (like the Great Firewall of China, for example), so you won’t have to deal with any government censorship while browsing the Internet.
6. VPNs Offer Secure Torrenting
Torrenting isn’t really dangerous if you know what you’re doing, but it can endanger your privacy if you’re not using a VPN. You see, all the members of the Swarm (all the people downloading and uploading a torrent) can actually see your real IP address. That means you’ve got unwanted strangers being able to see what country and city you are from, and potentially finding out what your ZIP code and who your ISP are.
What’s more, don’t forget that torrenting can be illegal depending on your country’s laws. Using a VPN is a smart way to ensure you don’t end up in legal trouble, get DMCA notices, or have your ISP terminate your contract just for downloading a simple torrent.