Why should I use a VPN? That is a good question and one that many newbies to the world of Virtual Private Networks ask. In fact, anyone who uses a computer can benefit from the services offered by a VPN provider. A Virtual Private Network pays for itself in the security and peace of mind alone that it offers.
However, a Virtual Private Network offers much more and here we are going to look at the top five main uses.
So, without further ado let us move on to the five great reasons why you might want to use a Virtual Private Network.
Whereas, in the beginning, VPNs were only used to access remote network, their use-cases have massively changed over the last few years.
Nowadays, many people use them for other reasons and this is what we’ll see in this article.
We’ll go through 5 of the main uses of a VPN. Why should you use one ?
1. First reason will be to surf the internet anonymously. With the encryption and the new IP address you’ll have, you’ll be like a ghost online !
2. Second one will be overcoming censorship. You want to keep access to your favorite websites in China, UAE, Iran and other censored countries ? No problem, a Virtual Private Network can help !
3. Third one will be remaining secure on the internet. Protect yourself from hackers and any other people which may harm you.
4. Fourth will be related to torrenting. Download torrents in P2P is safe and secure if you use a VPN.
5. Finally, the fifth use of a VPN could be to unblock restricted websites. At school or at work, if a website is blocked, you’ll be able to unblock it with no hassle !
Is there really a need to surf the internet anonymously? Actually, there are many reasons why you might want to remain anonymous online. In fact, this is one of the main reasons when answering the question why should I use a VPN?
Disturbingly freedom of speech is something of the past in some parts of the world. Say the wrong thing, even if you did not mean it to be derogatory, and you can be faced with lawsuits and even time in jail in some countries.
Despite the fact that you might use a pseudonym when online and an ad hoc email address, people can still find out who you are. This is due to the IP address of your device.
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Anyone without any skills can find out your location using websites specifically designed to find out information about IP addresses. If the average person can do this, imagine what a hacker can do.
Taking the above into account are you still asking why should I use a VPN?
To be able to browse the internet anonymously you can sign up with a Virtual Private Network provider and connect to a server anywhere in the world. When you do so your IP address is masked and you take on one from the server to which you connected.
When this happens no one, not even your own ISP, can track down your actual location.
Why should I use a VPN to overcome censorship?
If you are asking this question, you are obviously blind to the plight of people living in such countries as China.
China is not only known for the Great Wall but also the Great Firewall.
Hundreds, if not thousands of websites and apps are blocked in China. These are apps and websites millions of people around the world use on a daily basis and take for granted.
Censorship is usually down to governments, at least in China. Any websites or apps that are seen to have content the government does not approve of are blocked. Along with this, the government also restricts the use of Virtual Private Networks.
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A VPN can help anyone visiting or living in a country with high censorship to overcome any restrictions. However, the sign up and installation process should be undertaken outside of the country imposing censorship.
Therefore, the answer to the question, why should I use a VPN to overcome censorship is plain and simple, to be able to get around strict censorships in countries such as China.
One Virtual Private Network provider highly recommended for overcoming censorship is ExpressVPN. The provider is one of very few that still works in the country. Of course, China is not the only country where censorship is high. As you can read in our review, Surfshark is also good match for this task.
With ExpressVPN or Surfshark, you can connect to any of the thousands of servers available outside of the restricted country and take on an alternative IP address to beat the censorship.
One question that is frequently asked is why should I use a VPN to remain secure online when I have virus and malware protection installed.
With virus and malware protection installed, it should be enough for anyone to remain safe and secure online, right. Well you might think so, but in fact, this isn’t true, although they do help.
Virus and malware software can help to protect against malware and viruses getting onto your computer and doing damage. However, they do not offer protection against hackers gaining access to your personal data.
Every time you send information from your computer out over the internet, that information is at risk of being exposed. While this can apply when using the computer at home, but more so if you connect to a public Wi-Fi network when out.
With a Virtual Private Network such as ExpressVPN, you not only take on an alternate IP address from a server half way around the world but you also benefit from military grade encryption.
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A Virtual Private Network provides the tools needed to put a virtual tunnel between your computer and the internet.
You enter data on your computer, for instance, your credit card details, name, and date of birth and before it goes out onto the World Wide Web it goes down a tunnel and is encrypted.
The data goes out onto the internet onto its destination and even if it was intercepted before arriving, no one can read it. When it reaches its destination, it is unencrypted.
This means your information is totally secure and kept away from prying eyes.
You might be asking why should I use a VPN to download anonymously? The answer is that your ISP sees what you are doing online.
You might not realise it but every time you connect to the server of your Internet Service Provider, your provider has eyes on you.
Yes, your own ISP knows every site that you browse online and what you download.
If you like Torrenting you need Virtual Private Network in place because if not the provider will know you are visiting such sites and downloading copyrighted content.
While you can use a Torrent client to download files and music that is not copyrighted, using it to download the latest copyrighted movies or music is illegal.
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Eventually, your Internet Service Provider will send out a warning.
Should you ignore them and continue downloading illegally your internet service may be limited or stopped. Worst-case scenario, you could end up in court and receive a hefty fine or even jail time.
Now you have the answer to the question of why should I use a VPN to download anonymously? With the answer being to keep yourself away from the prying eyes of your ISP by connecting to a server from around the globe and taking on an alternate IP address.
There is a wealth of content to stream online but not all countries have access to the same catalogue of content. Along with this, not all countries can access all websites.
If you use the internet on a daily basis, you will have surely have visited at least one website that has nothing but a notice telling you that content is restricted in your country.
So in answer to your question of why should I use a VPN? In this case, it is to gain access to websites that are restricted. Of course, you also gain all the benefits above too.
For instance, Netflix is offered in wide range of countries but they do not all offer the same catalogue of content.
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You might not realise it but only people located in the USA get access to the entire Netflix catalogue of content and this includes thousands of movies and shows. The UK only has access to half this content and worse still if you are located in Italy; you can only watch a fraction of the content offered.
A Virtual Private Network provides the tools needed to overcome the restrictions and anyone anywhere in the world can overcome those restrictions and gain access to the entire US Netflix catalogue.
All that’s needed is to connect to one of the servers based in the USA via a VPN provider and you have an American IP address.
Of course, the same applies to overcoming any geo-restricted websites, not just streaming from Netflix. You can watch channels only available to residents of the UK and USA such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, HBO, ABC and many more.
After asking the question why should I use a VPN, your next question might be which Virtual Private Network provider should I choose? We highly recommend ExpressVPN, CyberGhost or NordVPN.
All three are great all round providers with ExpressVPN offering thousands of blazing fast servers, making them a perfect choice for streaming HD content and unblocking geo-restricted content.
ExpressVPN is also among the few providers who still work in countries with heavy censorship such as China.
All three provide military grade encryption to keep you safe and secure online whether browsing or streaming.
So as you can see there are numerous answers to the question of why should I use a VPN?
You can take out a single subscription with a Virtual Private Network provider such as ExpressVPN and use the connection to undertake any or all of the following:
Yes, take out one single subscription and you can surf the internet in complete freedom avoiding any censorship and without your ISP knowing what you are doing.
At the same time, you remain safe and secure online and your personal details remain yours. Of course, you can also overcome any geo-restrictions on any websites and streaming portals.
So in fact, the answer to why should I use a VPN is simple! You can use it for just about every online activity you undertake.
A professional writer with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Since his youngest age, he loves everything related to internet, technology, fitness, games, and dogs! He joined our team in order to bring his deep knowledge in security services, among which VPN is of course a key component.