6 Awesome Things You Can Do on the Internet When You Have a VPN

A virtual private network is a powerful tool. When you have a VPN, to anyone monitoring your connection, it looks like you just go to the website of the VPN. What you’re doing, however, visiting whatever site you want through the website of the VPN. It’s a neat trick that can be used to get past your employer’s firewall in order to reach Facebook at work, for instance, or to download peer-to-peer flies without your ISP knowing. Most people realize how powerful VPNs are. These are magic tools that let you get so much done that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Here are six wonderful things that you can do with a VPN subscription that costs no more than $5 month.

Keep hackers out while you use public Wi-Fi

Using a VPN is simply the safest way to protect yourself when you go online. It prevents snooping of all kinds, including by hackers looking into your phone or computer when you use public Wi-Fi hotspots at airports, malls or anywhere else. Anyone who uses one of these hotspots technically has the ability to snoop on anyone else sharing it. With enough perseverance, other users can access your computer and rifle through its contents. When you’re on a VPN, however, other hotspot users don’t actually see you, your computer or your phone; they only see the VPN site. There is very little they can do.

Watch movies on an airplane

If you subscribe to a service like Gogo Wireless to be able to use the Internet on airplanes, you probably know they don’t let you stream videos. They don’t want you using all the available bandwidth. If you would like to sidestep that block, a VPN is the way to do it. Again, with a VPN, Gogo only sees you access a simple, static VPN website. They can’t see that you’re logging on to YouTube and watching an HD video once you’re inside the VPN’s website. If you’re wondering why Gogo can’t block VPN websites, it’s because VPN websites are way ahead of them— they offer stealth mode services to sidestep that problem.

You get to unlock region locked content and even save money

Wherever you may be in the world, you probably want the best content. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the priority at Spotify, Netflix or any of the other streaming services. They either charge higher prices for viewers in different regions, or they don’t offer you service at all. When you login through a VPN, however, you can pretend to be in any part of the world and unlock whatever service you want at the best possible price.

Comment or publish anonymously

It may irk you that websites require you to sign in to comment on anything, or review a product. Why can’t you just write what you want while anonymous? With a VPN, you can. When you log in to a VPN, it hides your true IP address and location. To the sites that you are commenting on, it appears as if you’re at the location of the VPN. With your location hidden from sight, you can say whatever you want, knowing that no one can track you.

Keep everyone off your case

So you like to visit websites that you would be embarrassed to publicize this information. This is hardly unique behavior, as millions of people are partial to some of these websites. Or maybe you have a secret friend that you like to talk to, and would like to keep this activity away from your family. In both cases, a VPN gives you industrial-strength security. Your browsing activity would be protected and private. Not even your ISP will have a list of sites that you visit.

Keeping your ISP’s nose out of your browsing has an added advantage: speed. ISPs have an unpleasant habit of throttling your speed when you go to Netflix, YouTube or other data-heavy sites that drain their bandwidth. When you go to YouTube or Netflix through a VPN, however, your ISP simply cannot throttle anything.

You can even save money

It is well-known that travel websites offer different prices depending on your location when you book. If you buy a ticket for New York to Miami while in the US, you get charged a higher price than if you buy from somewhere in Asia. With the help of the VPN, however, you can pretend to be in less expensive Asia.

You can even get more out of news services that turn on the paywall after a certain number of free articles or videos. When you turn on a VPN and pretend to have another IP address, however, you get to go on reading.

There is a lot more

Need to advertise at multiple locations on Craigslist? A VPN can help. If you would like multiple accounts on a forum, its possible with a VPN, too. From streaming anonymously on services like Kodi to going nuclear with PokemonGo, a VPN is a secret pass to a better Internet. At only a couple of dollars a month, it’s something everyone can have.