What on earth is a VPN?

I don’t know about you, but I am not very tech savvy. I have heard people on Facebook, friends, more and more people, and a couple of the more technologically advanced family members, talking about something called VPN. At first, I will admit that I thought perhaps it was a government department, something a doctor might prescribe a cream for, and even at first, I got it confused with VPL (where you can see someone’s knickers through their clothing!). Popular VPN services include ExpressVPN, PrivateInternetAccess and NordVPN, I’ve personally tried the first two with varying degrees of success and after reading this NordVPN review, I decided to give the latter a try as well!

To cut a long and rather boring story short, VPN stands for virtual private network and this is what it means. Instead of logging onto a site via your own network connection using your own IP address, you can access another network (the VPN) and use that to access the site of your choosing. It is sort of like a piggyback, but for internet connections!

“But why would you want to use a VPN” I hear you ask?

Well there are many reasons really, such as wanting to shield your IP address if you are visiting a website that is banned, staying anonymous if you are downloading torrents, encrypting information if you are sending or receiving it, accessing a work network from home, or even trying to access a catch-up service in another country- you can use VPN for this!

A lot of businesses use VPN services so that their employers can gain remote access to the company servers when they are abroad, or at home for example. It is a very secure, safe, and private way of sharing data and information without any pesky hackers showing up and trying to spoil the fun!

When it comes to media, how many times have you tried to watch a video on YouTube and you have been told- “hey, no you can’t do that! Your country doesn’t support this!” or words to that effect? Annoying isn’t it! That is another way that a VPN can help you.

These perks aside, in a world where data and personal security are really important when we are browsing the web- a VPN is a service that everyone should consider using. From just a few dollars a month, you can browse peacefully and to your hearts content without worrying about any breaches!

Now I understand what a VPN is and does, I can fully understand why people invest in them- it is becoming more and more of a necessity and is really easy to set up! Most internet users stream, download music or films, share personal information, and use their home PC’s for work, and with a VPN this can be done so much more securely. I don’t know about you, but I am totally sold!