Have you ever wondered what the benefits of VPNs are? Well, our goal is to answer all your questions with this comprehensive article.
We will start by showing the main advantages in a clear and optimized list. For those of you who want a deeper look at the benefits of VPN services for specific scenarios, we cover it in the rest of this article, for example, how a VPN can help your business, how a VPN service can make traveling more pleasant, and other interesting things like that.
Feel free to use our table of contents to jump to the section that interests you if that makes it easier.
What Are The Benefits Of VPNs?
- Enhanced Online Security– Most VPNs use strong encryption protocols to ensure that your internet traffic and online data is protected when you browse the web. As a result, you won’t have to worry about cybercriminals stealing your sensitive information, even on unsecured networks.
- Access to Any Online Content– A VPN can mask your IP address and replace it with one from a different country, allowing you to bypass geo-blocks, and giving you access to any website or online service you want.
- Online Privacy– Since a VPN hides your IP address , it can make you anonymous online – to a degree, of course. This is a good way to ensure your freedom of expression online if you live in a country with more oppressive laws.
What Are the Benefits of VPNs for Businesses?
Before going into detail, we must make a clear distinction: there are remote access VPNs and personal VPNs.
Remote Access VPNs(also known as “corporate VPNs”) are in-house tools that large companies typically set up and set up on their own. They are used to enable secure, remote employee access to company resources.
Personal VPNsare offered by third-party providers, and are generally used by all types of internet users to access online content safely and without restrictions.
However, smaller companies that don’t have the time, financial resources, and manpower to set up their own internal VPN can also use a personal VPN from trusted providers.
To keep things simple, we will use “VPN” to refer to a personal VPN, and “corporate VPN” to refer to an internally configured remote access VPN.
Dealing with Geographic Restrictions
With that out of the way, one of the main benefits of using a VPN for your business is being able to deal with geo-restrictions. They can be a problem if you need to access websites that are not available in your country.
Here’s a good example: Let’s say you run a content and copywriting business, and your agency is based in Europe. One day you will get a new client who needs editing work on his website. The only problem is that only users from the United States can access their website.
Fortunately, a VPN can make it look like you and your employees are connecting to the website from the US, helping you avoid that problem and retain a customer instead of potentially losing them due to those complications.
However, a corporate VPN may not help with that, as it typically relies on one or multiple dedicated servers on company premises. Unblocking foreign content with a corporate VPN is only possible if the company uses servers outside the country.
Now, if any of your employees need to access their own company website when they are abroad, and the website is only available to people from their country, a VPN and corporate VPN will help them avoid that problem.
Reduces the Risk of Falling Prey to Hackers
VPNs and corporate VPNs make it easy to reduce the risk of your business falling victim to hackers or hackers. How? Ensuring that employees access your company’s network and files securely using encryption standards.
For example, that would be really useful when your employees are on a lunch break at the restaurant across the street. If they realize they need to connect to the company network to resolve an issue at that point, they will have to use the restaurant’s WiFi, which can be very risky as cybercriminals can monitor WiFi traffic or simply spoof Wi-Fi networks. Well, if your employees use a VPN or corporate VPN to connect, all traffic and data will be fully encrypted.
On top of that, the security aspect will also help put your customers at ease as they will be happy to know that you are taking extra precautions to make sure their data is well protected.
Lastly, VPNs and corporate VPNs would make it easier for your company to give employees the opportunity to work remotely (either from home or abroad), thus increasing their productivity and saving money on office rent.
What Are the Benefits of VPNs for Video Conferencing?
Video conferences are quite common nowadays, especially if a company works with freelancers or employees abroad. If that’s the case for you, you’ll be glad to know that a VPN can be very helpful with these types of calls.
For one thing, if you’re from a country like Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, or South Korea (to name a few notable examples), there’s a chance that many VoIP tools you’d like to use, like Skype especially, could be blocked by the government. The same goes if your employees are from those countries.
And while VoIP lockouts aren’t constant all the time, the government tends to lockout VoIP tools spontaneously and for long periods of time, which can be detrimental to your business, especially when it comes to data-sensitive projects. weather.
The good news is that a VPN can help you bypass any restrictions that stand in your way. No matter what firewalls the government uses, a VPN will help you bypass them so your business can video conference without a hitch.
Besides that, there are 3 other ways a VPN can help improve video conferencing:
- It could help you get better prices when it comes to calling rates and monthly plans.
- It can help prevent ISP bandwidth throttling, which can happen if your conference calls tend to go on for hours each day.
- It can help secure your VoIP traffic to ensure that no one, especially cybercriminals, can snoop around to steal sensitive information.
In case you want to read more about VPNs and VoIP calls, please read this article we wrote a while back on this topic.
What Are the Benefits of VPNs for Working from Home?
If you run your business from home, are a remote employee, or just a freelancer whose office is at home, you’ll be pleased to know that a VPN can benefit you too.
For one thing, it can help you bypass geo-blocks that can interfere with your work. For example, let’s say you do market research for a customer, and he/she wants you to search US car dealer websites. Well, some of those websites might be restricted if you don’t access them from the United States
Fortunately, a VPN can make it look like you’re connecting to a website from the US, so you’ll be able to get your work done without a hitch. That would also be useful if you live in a country in Asia and want to appear to be working from the US (or any other Western country).
Another good example would be being a freelance SEO researcher and having to search multiple localized search engine results for a client. A VPN could easily help you by hiding your geographic location and allowing you to view results from multiple countries or cities
On top of that, a VPN (and corporate VPN) can encrypt your online traffic and personal data, including business-related information. That can be really useful if you need to access company data from home securely.
And obviously a VPN would come in handy if you need to use VoIP calls and attend video conferences to talk to your employers or clients.
What Are the Benefits of VPNs for Personal Use?
When it comes to browsing the web at your own pace, a VPN can be invaluable. In fact, one of the most popular benefits of VPNs for everyday browsing is the fact that they allow you to access any online content you want.
Since a VPN can mask your IP address, there are no geographical restrictions that prevent you from watching your favorite shows or listening to your favorite music, no matter what country you live in.
And if you like to talk to friends and family using VoIP calls, you’ll be glad to know that a VPN can help you get better call rates, unblock VoIP services that may not be available in your country, and also secure call traffic.
Speaking of protecting your traffic, you should also know that VPN encryption can adequately protect your internet traffic and personal data to make sure that no hackers can steal sensitive information. At the same time, your ISP or any government surveillance will not be able to monitor your online activities.
Oh, and a VPN might help you combat targeted ads to some extent by helping you use search engines without your searches being recorded. So if you had to search for sensitive topics like “divorce” or “anger management,” you wouldn’t have to worry about Google tracking you down.
Plus, you don’t have to limit yourself to the benefits of using a VPN at home. Such a tool can also help you bypass restrictions at work or school – firewall restrictions, to be exact. For example, if you can’t listen to music on YouTube or check Twitter at your workplace or on your campus network, a VPN will help you get around that hurdle and directly access anything you want.
On top of all that, a VPN is also a great option for those of you who like to play video games.
What Are the Benefits of Gaming VPNs?
Yes, a VPN benefits gaming enthusiasts too. Here is exactly how you can improve your overall experience:
- If you like to game online for hours every day, a VPN can help prevent your ISP from throttling your bandwidth, basically limiting your online speeds in an attempt to buy bigger data plans or more expensive subscriptions.
- A VPN can help you play some games sooner. For example, it’s not uncommon to see some video games get a later release date in Europe than they do in the US. Well, a VPN can make it look like you’re from the US to give you access sooner.
- VPNs can help you reduce ping time and delays by allowing you to connect to a VPN server that is physically closer to the game servers you play on.
- VPNs can help you avoid IP bans, both permanent and temporary.
- Most important of all: a VPN can protect you from DDoS attacks. Your IP address will be hidden, so you won’t have to worry about flooding your network with tons of unwanted traffic.
If you want more information on this particular topic, feel free to check out this article we wrote about it.
What are the benefits of VPNs when traveling?
A VPN can be a surprisingly useful tool to have by your side when you travel, especially abroad. Here are the top 4 reasons why:
1. A VPN Helps You Access Blocked Content
Depending on the country you go to, you may have to put up with the government of the country blocking all kinds of websites. For example, going to China probably means you won’t be able to access Facebook due to the government’s Great Firewall , while visiting Turkey might mean you won’t be able to access your online reservations if you’ve used Booking.com.
And while other countries don’t block certain websites continuously, you never know when the government might decide to restrict access to a specific website (or more), like Vietnam did in 2016 , when the country blocked Facebook for 2 weeks.
Don’t worry though, a VPN could help you bypass any government-enforced firewall by masking your IP address and online traffic.
In addition to that, a VPN can also help you deal with geo-blocks. For example, if you’re from the US and traveling somewhere in Europe or Asia, you won’t have access to things like Netflix US, Pandora Radio, or all kinds of news sites.
That can be quite annoying, especially when you consider how important entertainment is to pass the time when you’re traveling by train, bus, or car, or just want to relax in your hotel room with your favorite shows.
Fortunately, all you need to do is use a VPN, connect to the appropriate server, and start enjoying your favorite online content, no matter where you are.
2. A VPN Can Help You Find Cheaper Flights
If you travel by plane frequently, you’ll be glad to know that a VPN could help you get a discount on your tickets. It’s not 100% secure, but because a VPN hides your real IP address and geographic location, it could help you combat price discrimination online.
If you’re not familiar with that concept, it’s basically airlines displaying different prices depending on the geographic location from which you connect to the website. Also, the price may vary if the airline’s website has previously logged your IP address and sees you as a returning visitor.
In terms of how much money you can save, that can vary a lot. According to many online publications, the money saved can range from $20 or $30 to hundreds of dollars.
Oh, and for best results, don’t forget to also delete tracking cookies on the device you’re using.
3. A VPN Can Protect You From Cyber Threats
We all need to check our bank accounts, send money, or just access our emails on vacation. However, very few people realize how dangerous WiFi networks can be when traveling abroad. Actually, here are 3 ways cybercriminals can exploit them:
- They can spoof WiFi networks, effectively creating fake copies, nearly identical to the original network. Once you connect to a fake WiFi network, hackers can easily steal all your data. And yes, this can also happen with hotel WiFi .
- They can infiltrate unsecured networks and steal user data or exploit the KRACK vulnerability that has been found to affect both WEP and WPA2, meaning even protected WiFi networks are not 100% secure. WPA3 has already been announced to combat this problem, but it may take some time until it is fully integrated into most devices. Even then, who knows how long it will take each hotel to get a WPA3-certified networking device.
- They can use Man-in-the-Middle attacks to intercept your communication with another person, insert themselves into it, and start listening to any sensitive information you share.
Fortunately, one of the main benefits of VPNs over Wi-Fi networks is that they can offer a decent degree of protection in this case, as they encrypt all your internet traffic and personal data when you connect to the web over Wi-Fi. (yes, even one without security), effectively protecting everything from hackers.
4. A VPN Protects Your Online Privacy
This is one of the most useful benefits of VPNs abroad. Essentially, when connecting to any WiFi network, it’s best to use a VPN if you want to make sure no one can snoop on what you do online.
After all, when you travel, it’s extremely tempting to use your hotel or restaurant’s WiFi to access the web. When you’re out on the town and need to check the map, but you’ve used all your mobile data for the month, even random public WiFi hotspots seem like a good idea.
However, doing so opens up the risk of a potential cybercriminal monitoring your internet traffic. Don’t forget: many public WiFi networks are not secure. Sometimes even hotel WiFi can be insecure. And, with a little technical knowledge, anyone could see what he is doing or saying online when connected to those networks.
For example, a hacker could monitor what you’re looking for to see what your itinerary is. With that kind of information, they could follow him. Pretty creepy, right?
Yes, it seems a bit far-fetched, we know, but is it worth the risk? In our opinion, it is better to be safe than sorry.
On top of that, a VPN can help protect you against intrusive ISP behavior. Don’t forget: when you connect to a hotel’s WiFi, the ISP the hotel works with will be able to monitor your internet traffic if they wish.
So if you’re searching for or accessing sensitive topics online (stuff that’s only for you, an ISP will know about it). In case that’s not a concern for you, maybe this is: If you travel to the US, ISPs won’t just investigate your browsing activities. They will also collect and monetize your data by selling it to third-party advertisers .
What Are the Benefits of VPNs on Phones?
Let’s face it: you’ll probably never leave home without your phone. It’s a useful device that’s a part of our daily lives, after all, whether you use it to check the time, keep in touch with people, or simply entertain yourself for a few minutes or hours at a time.
Why would a VPN be necessary on a phone, you ask? Well, one of the main VPN benefits to consider in this case is the fact that it can protect all your sensitive data (such as credit card and bank account information, email passwords, email attachments, etc.) ) when you are connected to the internet using a Wi-Fi network.
Using your phone to bank online on the WiFi network of your local coffee shop while you sip your morning drink can be convenient, but it’s also very dangerous.
We already talked about how WiFi networks can be exploited by hackers (if you missed that, go to number 3 in “What Are the Benefits of VPNs When Traveling?”), and the main idea is this: the encryption of a VPN can protect your online traffic and data on any WiFi network to make sure it doesn’t get stolen.
So if you use a VPN on your phone, you can securely connect to any account you want without worrying about falling victim to cybercriminals.
Another reason why a VPN might be useful on a mobile device is the fact that it can help you bypass geo-restrictions, allowing you to enjoy whatever entertainment you want on the go, whether it’s geo-blocked websites and services, or geo-restricted apps. .
What Are the Benefits of Adding a VPN to a Router?
It is possible to set up a VPN on a router, and there are several benefits to be gained from doing so, such as:
- Being able to use the VPN on multiple devices, such as an Xbox, PlayStation or Smart TV; basically any device that can connect to the router on which the VPN is configured.
- Not having to activate the VPN every time you want to use it, since it will be activated by default once it is configured in the router. Plus, only one setup is needed: you won’t have to do it multiple times on other devices (as long as the devices can connect to the router).
- Be protected from the consequences of Wi-Fi poaching: the act of someone using your Wi-Fi without your permission. Basically, you won’t risk a hacker collecting your geo-location data and using your network for illegal purposes to intentionally track you.
However, it is worth noting that adding a VPN to a router is not without its drawbacks. If you want to learn more about that (and anything else related to setting up a VPN on a router), feel free to check out our full guide on that topic .
What Are the Benefits of Torrenting with a VPN?
The main way a VPN can help you share files is to keep you safe from legal and DMCA issues. Unfortunately, in countries like the US and Canada (to name a few examples), torrenting is a touchy subject, and can easily land you in court (or worse) if you’re not careful.
Basically the problem is that it is extremely difficult to know if the file you are downloading is a legal torrent or not. Let’s face it: who has the time to do hours of research with every file they download to make sure everything is in order?
But since a VPN can mask your IP address and encrypt your traffic to prevent your ISP (or anyone else) from monitoring you, you won’t have to worry about getting angry letters from your ISP or copyright agencies.
Well, as we already said, VPNs hide your real location, which makes it almost impossible for everyone to track everything you download online.
Oh, and as a clear disclaimer: we do not promote copyright infringement or anything like that. However, we are aware that many people rely on file sharing to gain access to files that they would not normally be able to access, either because they are not available to them or because they cannot afford them, especially when it comes to them. school and work projects.
What Are the Benefits of VPN Providers?
The main advantage of using a VPN provider is that you get access to a VPN service directly, without having to install or configure anything complicated on your end. Yes, you can enjoy multiple servers, encryption, and unlimited access to content, all for just a few dollars a month.
Another added benefit is that VPN providers usually also offer access to their service through many apps. And one of the main benefits of VPN apps is that you can enjoy VPN features on multiple devices, not just your computer.
Also, VPN providers usually offer you access to tons of useful tutorials that help you better understand how a VPN can specifically benefit you and how to set up the service on all kinds of devices (if using the apps isn’t enough for you).
Are There Any Benefits of Using a Free VPN?
Apart from the fact that the service is free, at least in theory, there are really no other advantages to speak of. In a nutshell, here are the main risks you will be exposed to if you choose a free VPN:
- malware infections
- Selling your bandwidth for a profit
- Selling your personal data to advertisers
- Not having your traffic and data properly encrypted
- Receive spam with ads
Why do free VPN providers do things like this? Because, after all, they need to make money somehow to keep their services running. If you want more information on this topic, feel free to check out this article .
