A lot of people may have heard about a VPN but never bothered to install or buy one, the most obvious benefit of using a VPN is saving yourself from having your data readable when you’re using public Wi-Fi and improving your privacy, but did you know that a VPN can also save you time, money and faff? Here are 10 ways a VPN can help make your life easier:
- Secure and encrypt your internet connection, especially on public Wi-Fi
- Get around geographic restrictions
- Save money on hotels, airfares, rental cars etc
- Browse the web anonymously
- Protect yourself from advertisers etc
- Bypass government censorship/restrictions
- Escape data-throttling or bandwidth throttling
- Stop wasting time on buffering videos
- Get around pesky firewalls
- Have search engines treat you differently
- Which companies should I go with?
1) A VPN can save you time by encrypting your data and making it unreadable to anyone who tries to intercept it, meaning you don’t have to waste time on security measures.
With a VPN, you can save lots of time and worry. Your data is secure and encrypted so that it is unreadable to anyone trying to steal it. With the additional layer of protection, you don’t need to waste your valuable time setting up security measures, letting you move on to more important tasks. So why not be sure your data is safe – with a VPN, it’s quick and easy.
2) Get around geographic restrictions (e.g. viewing UK websites when on holiday)
Using a VPN can also be beneficial when travelling. By connecting to a server in the country you are visiting, you will be able to access websites and services that may otherwise be inaccessible due to geographic restrictions. For example, if you are on holiday in the US and wish to view UK-only content such as streaming TV services or vise versa. Just double check the terms of service from any streaming sites you do this on. This is because your internet connection will appear as if it is coming from a server in the UK, making it look like you are actually located there. With this newfound access, you can experience all of the content you would normally be restricted from viewing due to geographic restrictions. Using a good quality paid-for VPN will enable users to stream anything from anywhere quickly and easily, this means that no matter where in the world its being streamed from, you’ll be able to watch it hassle-free.
3) A VPN can save you money by giving you access to cheaper rates on flights, hotels, and car rentals, as well as allowing you to avoid currency conversion fees.
When looking to save money on a trip, one often overlooked method is using a VPN. Have you ever gone online to book a flight or hotel room, then went back a few hours later only to find that the price had skyrocketed? A VPN helps prevent this from happening by hiding your IP address and making it look like you’re in another country or browsing from another device – giving you access to better deals abroad or even from back at home. So if you’re wanting to save money on travel without compromising security, then investing in a quality VPN is definitely worth it!
Similarly buying flights/train tickets etc in the country, you’re visiting (e.g. India) are likely much cheaper if buying directly in India Vs buying in the UK. Many others also buy software in other countries as it’s generally cheaper (although you should check the Terms of Service before doing this).
4) A VPN can also protect your privacy by hiding your IP address and location from websites
If you’re trying to remain anonymous online, a VPN is the perfect way to do it, not because you’re the next master scammer or viewing illegal content but just because you don’t want everyone knowing what you’re doing and viewing. A VPN literally tunnels your traffic, masking your IP address and location from websites. That way, when you’re surfing the web, no one knows who you are or where they reached you from. With this heightened level of security, you can stay private while browsing or enjoying other benefits such as safe file-sharing and unblocking websites all over the world.
5) Online advertisers will struggle to track you
You know when you see an advert showing a product you recently viewed or researched, this is where online advertisers use cookies and IP tracking to track you across the internet pushing adverts to you, using a VPN makes this much harder as the advertisers cannot view or track your online activity.
6) Bypass government censorship/restrictions
If you’re unfortunate enough to live in a country that enforces censorship, using a VPN can help you bypass those limitations and access sites that are otherwise blocked, of course, if this is illegal in that country you wouldn’t be able to do it but it’s something to consider.
7) Escape data-throttling or bandwidth throttling
Using a virtual private network (VPN) to improve website load speeds and video playback buffering is an increasingly popular solution for those who want to maximize their online experience, this is normally because an ISP will use data-throttling or bandwidth throttling because in their eyes you’re watching too much video content or downloading too much data per day. Using a VPN will mean that you’ll be able to enjoy faster speeds and uninterrupted access to the websites and video content. Additionally, by rerouting your internet traffic through a secure server your data will be encrypted so nobody from the ISP or similar can snoop on you!
8) Improve your internet speeds (in some scenarios) by routing your traffic through a server in a different location.
Not only does it keep your activity and data more secure from hackers, but it can actually make browsing the web faster, especially when browsing non-local websites! By connecting through servers located closer to specific locations (i.e., closer servers), many people have reported increased download speeds due to faster connections between those two points on the internet – perfect if you want quicker downloads or to can cut down on the time it takes for websites to load or videos to stream.
9) Some websites are wrongly blocked by company, school or university internet firewalls
Get around pesky Firewalls using a VPN, these often restrict the access to sites such as social media or gaming sites – but by using a VPN connection, this won’t be an issue anymore!
10) Have search engines treat you differently
You may not realise but Search Engines Treat You Differently: Ever wondered why search engines show different results for different users? Well by switching regions with your VPN connection ,you can make them treat you differently by receiving tailored search results based on where they think you’re from.
Conclusion:
A VPN can save you time, money, and faff, to the point that it’s basically a no brainer to use (and pay) for a decent VPN system, so if you’re not using one already, what are you waiting for? Get started today and enjoy the benefits of a safer, faster, cheaper and more convenient online experience!
Which companies should I go with?
- NordVPN UK (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ on Trustpilot based on 24000+ reviews) – This is the one we would recommend to 97% of people, you will not go wrong here, the only thing to watch with Nord is that you ensure you know when your subscription payment is coming out)
- SurfShark (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ on Trustpilot based on 17,000+ reviews) – Similar to the above two, we would go with whichever is offering the best deal at sign up and go with that one.
I’ve seen free VPNs, are they worth it?
“If something is free you are the product” rings true here and despite their perceived convenience and free cost, free Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are not always worth the faff and limitations in our experience, while they might be appealing to users who are looking for a quick and easy way to browse the web anonymously or evade geographic restrictions on streaming services, there can be serious consequences to using a free VPN, primarily the main issue with free VPNs is that they lack the same level of trustworthiness, security and privacy as a paid service. As such, free VPNs can potentially have weak encryption protocols, user logs and no-logging policy which can make it easier for hackers to access your personal data. Furthermore, since many free VPN services use limited bandwidth or slow speeds, users can experience significant lag times and reduced performance.
