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VPN uses: 20 ways to get the most out of your VPN

VPN uses: twenty means to get the most out of your VPN

VPN uses
(Prototype credit: Shutterstock)

So, you're wondering what the best VPN uses are, and you've ended up on this comprehensive folio. Thankfully, it's the only place you'll need to be. Below, nosotros'll be running through pretty much all the top VPN uses you might have thought of – plus some yous might not accept.

Because it'south pretty long, at the top of this folio you'll find a list of 'Jump To' tabs – start your journey there and click on the VPN uses you'd like to know more about. You lot'll exist transported to that section without having to gyre for miles to detect information technology. Or, feel free to scroll if that's your mode.

We'll beginning off with a brief introduction about how VPNs actually work, and and so nosotros'll dive into a whole bunch of the best uses of VPN. We think it's good practise to non only know what something does, but how it does it, too.

If you're already well-versed in the tech, once again, just click on the tabs above to explore what a VPN can exercise for you.

And so, how does a VPN work? In simple terms, a VPN works by encrypting all your information and sending it through a 'tunnel' to its destination. Information technology does this by redirecting your internet connexion from your isp'due south (ISP) servers to its own.

The almost impressive VPNs have thousands of servers all over the globe – our summit-ranked provider ExpressVPN, for example, has effectually 3,000 servers in 94 countries. This means that not only can you make sure all your data is encrypted and secure, merely y'all tin also virtually relocate yourself and surf the web as if you were actually in those countries.

This is great for streaming (click 'stream blocked content' up tiptop to acquire more) and avoiding government censorship (click 'avoid censorship' up top to read further on that topic).

If you're satisfied with just staying on home turf, using your VPN's secure encryption likewise allows you to browse anonymously and by and large have a more private experience when online – and who doesn't want that?

And then, browse the tabs upward top or scroll on to discover out more near all of the most popular – and some unusual – VPN uses.

PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY

An iOS- style app with the name 'VPN' below it.

(Image credit: OpturaDesign / Shutterstock.com)

VPN uses: Protect your identity

When near people recollect of a VPN, they think of a privacy solution start and foremost – and with proficient reason. The original primary VPN employ is to protect the user and their data, ensuring safe internet utilise whatsoever the activity.

A core element of a VPN is tough encryption – usually AES-256 combined with a secure protocol – and this means every last bit of traffic sent through the VPN is unreadable by anyone who intercepts it. That interceptor might simply exist your ISP trying to log or limit what you use their connection for, or information technology could be a malicious individual or programme looking to steal your data.

Who or whatever they are, VPNs avoid them by using a 'tunnel' that starts at your device and ends at your destination – be that Netflix, a geo-blocked social network or your online banking.

In between your device and your destination is where your data is at risk, so a VPN eliminates that by both encrypting your information and routing your connectedness through i of its own servers, masking your IP address and any other identifying data. If y'all've chosen a quality, nix-logging provider, y'all should be able to trust your VPN's servers more than your ISP's.

In essence, a VPN removes or encrypts whatsoever information that could link you or your device to your activity on the web. It's a i-stop store for taking back personal privacy online.

Almost private VPN – Come across which VPN offers the best privacy features

STREAM BLOCKED CONTENT

VPN uses: Stream geo-blocked content

It'due south now the norm to go all our content from online streaming services, and while there's more pick than ever earlier, a VPN can expand your amusement options immeasurably. This VPN apply is both bully for those on holiday or concern trips, and for the more adventurous couch potato.

Netflix has different libraries of content for subscribers in different regions, which means that no one can actually lookout everything – in that location's always going to be some serial or picture show that'due south blocked in your state. Yet, with a Netflix VPN, you can connect to a server in a detail land and Netflix will respond by serving you the library of that region.

Other services – like BBC iPlayer or Hulu – are only available to people in particular countries, with those elsewhere not entitled to picket annihilation on them at all. In the case of an iPlayer VPN, for case, you lot can change your location to the UK and watch everything bachelor like a true Brit.

There'due south a catch, though – all streaming services are consistently trying to stop VPN usage, and simply the best can actually get users admission to everything they want. Thankfully, though, there are some fast VPN services that consistently stay ahead of the curve and tin get you watching whatever you want, wherever you are.

Streaming VPN – explore the most reliable services for accessing Netflix and more

ACCESS SITES Abroad

VPN uses: Access sites when you're abroad

Much like streaming services, many other sites serve up unlike content to users in different countries. All the same, if you're on a trip you'll want to access your regular version, simply you'll be faced with a site that might be totally different – and quite peradventure in a linguistic communication yous don't speak.

If y'all've got a VPN, it's simply a example of relocating your connexion so you appear back home, and y'all'll be able to access your familiar site like magic.

This is especially useful for online cyberbanking, too. If you've gone away on a weekend jaunt and forgotten to tell your bank, yous might face existence locked out of your account. If this is a possibility, information technology'south worth flipping that VPN switch on and near heading home for a moment just to make sure your business relationship isn't blocked, leaving yous penniless abroad.

Best US VPN – explore the all-time services for use in the States and away

Scout Live SPORTS

VPN uses: Watch more live sports

If you're a sports fanatic, you'll know that watching live events tin can become expensive pretty chop-chop. Still, with a VPN and lilliputian bit of inquiry, you could save a ton of cash – and perhaps fifty-fifty find a pay-per-view outcome for free.

This is due to the fact that some sporting events are free-to-air in certain countries, while they're paid-for in others. In contempo times we've found cheaper or even free ways of catching the NBA, Super Bowl, Euros and Olympics with a VPN, so if there's a big upshot on, it'southward well worth checking out global dissemination options for a meliorate deal.

All you need to do is connect to a server in one of those countries and get watching. Plus, Tom'southward Guide runs downwardly all the big events and how to watch them, so check elsewhere on the site for info on where to catch a cheaper (or even costless) stream.

Apply FREE TRIALS

VPN uses: Brand sure to use your free trial

This one'south not so much a use, but a way of making your coin go further. If you scour the market place, you'll see there are tons of VPN gratis trials available – and if your chosen provider offers one, make sure to use it!

Plus, all our elevation-rated providers offer money-back guarantees, ranging from 30 to 45 days. If you lot're not sure near a service and it doesn't offer a truthful trial (for instance, our #ane provider ExpressVPN), y'all can all the same trial it risk-costless. All you lot need to do is buy a plan, and showtime using it. If you're non happy with it, don't be shy – just virtually every one of our favorite providers will refund yous hassle-free.

SPEED UP GAMING

PUBG Mobile being played on an Android device

(Image credit: Lukmanazis/Shutterstock)

VPN uses: Speed up your online gaming

When people talk virtually VPNs, they often mention how all just the best inevitably slow down your cyberspace connectedness. Even so, this is not always the case.

Your Internet service provider may 'throttle' your connection, pregnant it slows downwardly your net when it detects certain activity – oft those that use a lot of bandwidth. Prime suspects are online gamers, and while the same can happen when torrenting or streaming, in those situations a slow connection isn't a case of life and death.

Whether you're withal playing CS:Go, have moved on to PUBG, Apex Legends and Phone call of Duty, or prefer to humiliate your friends on the digital football pitch rather than shooting them in the caput with an AK-47, a VPN tin can make sure your connexion remains stable and reliable, and aid you go along up your winning streak for every bit long as possible.

Read more about the best gaming VPN services

STAY SAFE ON HOLIDAY

VPN uses: Stay prophylactic on holiday away

If y'all're heading to a different country, data laws may be different and government censorship could be mutual. In these cases it's clear you'll desire to use a VPN (for instance, a Turkey VPN), only even if you're heading to a more 'friendly' land, a VPN could still be useful.

You'll exist able to access sites as y'all would at home (no more guesswork if you're Googling in Nippon), and stream content you're used to back abode.

The merely issue is that y'all might not find that you lot've got much of a employ for your VPN when you become domicile. We'd disagree with that (just look at all the reasons to a higher place and beneath!), but if you don't want to continue paying for something you'll never use, check out a monthly VPN plan. They're inexpensive and require no delivery – perfect for staying condom on a holiday.

Avert TRACKERS

VPN uses: Avoid trackers

Your data and net history is simply that – yours. So, it's quite understandable that many people take issue with the fact ISPs and governments collect this data and use it for their own gain.

While many may argue that government tracking is legitimate, the techniques used are like a trawler fishing boat. Yes, they might catch what they need to, just the past-take hold of is vast. If you want to avoid getting your information defenseless upward in that net without your consent, a VPN is the answer.

Even so, your Internet service provider's uses of your data might be rather less noble. While they already brand money from your internet subscription, many elevation up their pay bundle by selling users' personal information to advertisers. If yous want to avoid targeted advertising and feel a little more free to search for what you desire without people keeping tabs, using a VPN can make that happen.

SPOOF YOUR GPS LOCATION

VPN uses: Spoof your GPS location

While this VPN use isn't as well-known as others – and won't be useful for anybody – spoofing your GPS location can be made extra reliable with a VPN

If you want to get a fake GPS location for Pokemon Become, for example, you lot'll demand to either combine a VPN with a GPS spoofing app, or apply Surfshark, the only VPN with a born GPS changing tool.

As the best false GPS VPN, Surfshark combines solid VPN operation with a GPS spoofer on Android, which means you don't take to rely on any third parties to modify your location. This isn't merely good for Pokemon GO, though, and can be very handy for ensuring your exact location isn't existence tracked past any number of apps.

Salve MONEY

NordVPN server locations

(Image credit: NordVPN)

VPN uses: Avoid location-based price targeting

Most prevalent amongst automobile rent and airplane ticket merchants, beingness offered unlike prices depending on where you are and what you've searched is more than common than you may recall.

If y'all're thinking of purchasing a digital product – whether that's Microsoft Office, a game, or Spotify – taking a moment to check prices from around the earth might save you a good wad of greenbacks.

Those in lower-income countries are usually offered a cheaper price, but that's not ever the case. In practice this process is often more trial-and-error than exact scientific discipline, then having a VPN with plenty of servers worldwide is worth the investment and could end up paying for itself.

This also ties into the earlier do good of avoiding trackers. If you lot've searched for a product a number of times without purchasing, the seller volition often inflate the price to urge y'all to buy sooner rather than later – this is nigh commonly seen with plane tickets, merely not unheard of with other products. With a VPN, y'all'll be seeing the true price and potentially saving yourself serious money.

Cheap VPN – save coin on your VPN also as avoiding toll targeting

PROTECT YOUR MOBILE

VPN uses: Protect your mobile devices

If yous sign up to a good provider, yous won't merely go a Windows 10 VPN – most all top-quality services take apps for Android and iOS, and some even still support BlackBerry.

Past using a VPN on your mobile device, yous'll exist able to stay protected both at habitation and when you're out and near, and because the device you lot'll be connecting to public Wi-Fi the near is likely to be your telephone, information technology'southward a sensible conclusion.

All our recommended VPNs allows at least five simultaneous connections, with some offer upwardly to ten, and in rare cases unlimited connections. So, if you've got a lot of devices you want to keep condom, brand sure that your chosen provider tin can offer enough simultaneous connections for your needs.

AVOID Internet service provider RESTRICTIONS

VPN uses: Avert ISP restrictions

For those who don't have control over their internet provider – students, those living with parents, or renters whose utilities are provided for them – a VPN could be the but way to admission content that's restricted. While parental control tools certainly have their place, for many they're imposed when they actually have no correct to be.

We're not only talking about adult content, either – these controls are often heavy-handed in their censorship and regularly block innocent sites. Also, they can limit in-app purchases and impose restrictions on how much time is spent on the web, and when.

Some other section of the spider web that's usually blocked by ISPs regardless of whether yous're subject to parental controls or not is torrenting sites. We in no way condone the use of torrents for downloading content that breaches copyright laws, but for legal utilise, VPNs tin give you lot access to torrenting sites and services.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to bypass ISP restrictions – and as long as you're legally entitled to – a VPN is a simple manner to get access to the uncensored internet everyone else can view.

TORRENT SAFELY

VPN uses: Torrent safely and anonymously

Equally mentioned above, we practise not condone the apply of VPNs or torrenting software to download content that breaches copyright laws.

P2P sharing is an efficient manner to share large files with ease, but it also puts users at gamble. When downloading or seeding a torrent, your IP address is visible to others who are connected at the same fourth dimension. Torrents also open ports that are usually inaccessible to exterior parties, and both of those things are opportunities for hackers admission your data.

While only the best antivirus tin can protect you from the threat of malware hidden in torrents, a VPN will requite you the peace of listen that your data is safe and yous won't be personally identified.

However, while existence victim to a hacker is somewhat unlikely, the biggest downside to torrenting is the fact your Isp is likely to throttle your connectedness speed if it detects P2P activeness. That means not simply volition your torrent slow to a crawl, but your general browsing will also be affected.

A VPN anonymizes all your traffic so your ISP can't tell what y'all're using your bandwidth for – that means it tin't tell when you're torrenting, and subsequently yous'll have full speeds all the time, no matter what you lot're doing

Torrenting VPN – keep yourself protected and avoid network throttling

SAFELY Use PUBLIC WI-FI

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

VPN uses: Stay rubber when using public Wi-Fi

Using unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots is another risky practice that'due south rendered harmless past simply using a VPN.

If you visit public spaces similar cafes to work, or connect to Wi-Fi in the supermarket, public transport or bars when you're out and about, there's a genuine possibility that your data is at risk.

If the connection you're on is unsecured (possible) and unencrypted (likely), there'southward a existent run a risk that data thieves will have identified information technology and are using it to steal your personal information.

That's usually done past a 'Man in the Middle' assail, which works by intercepting any and all the data yous put out over the connectedness. That could include social media and email logins, credit carte details and even your online cyberbanking credentials.

If you want to protect yourself from this, using a VPN will encrypt all the traffic going to and from your device – even if your connection is intercepted, the details will be totally unreadable and useless to any criminal.

Read more virtually the all-time Android VPN and the best iPhone VPN to stay safe on the go.

MAXIMISE YOUR BANDWIDTH

VPN uses: Maximise your bandwidth

Expanding on the torrenting section above, your ISP is quite likely to impose bandwidth restrictions or 'throttling' on you at some bespeak.

If you notice your internet speed slowing to a crawl when doing certain things on the internet, or at acme times, your ISP may be reducing your speeds based on your activity. This is easily remedied by using a VPN.

No matter what you're using your connection for, if y'all're using a VPN your internet provider won't exist able to tell what you lot're doing, and subsequently won't be able to make the determination to throttle your connexion.

While VPNs tin can minimally reduce your peak speeds (past as piddling as five% for the all-time, and unlikely to be noticeable unless you have a gigabit line), throttling can exist far more severe than that. If y'all want to exist able to rely on your connection 24/seven, a VPN can aid you get the near out of your net service.

Avoid CENSORSHIP

VPN uses: Avoid government censorship

For many, internet freedom might seem similar a given, simply those living in Cathay, UAE, Iran, Syrian arab republic and many more than accept severe internet restrictions imposed at a governmental level.

For citizens of those countries, a VPN is the only way to admission sites others accept for granted – Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, not-country news sites, Google... Nonetheless, not every VPN is powerful plenty to sidestep these regimes, so information technology's worth doing your research.

As well, while those living in these countries are permanently subject to this censorship, holidaymakers, business travelers, reporters and many others spending fourth dimension in these countries will also discover their access to everyday sites reduced. For those that rely on Gmail or Slack to get work done, a VPN is an absolute essential.

Our Communist china VPN list details services that tin can bypass the Smashing Firewall, but should also work to evade other regime censorship effectually the world.

Employ VOIP

(Image credit: ExpressVPN)

VPN uses: Access free VoIP services like WhatsApp

Strict national governments with huge stakes in mobile networks will oftentimes restrict access to free VoIP services like WhatsApp, Skype, Messenger and more considering doing and so ensures they make more money.

This is a huge reason why you might desire a UAE VPN when living or traveling to Dubai or elsewhere, and while rules change frequently, it'southward been known for UAE residents to have to utilize a VPN to even access voice conversation on video games.

Paying for a VPN and using gratis VoIP services usually ends up costing much less than spending money on the monopolized telephone networks. For those who are short on coin, a inexpensive service like Surfshark – less than $2.50 a month – is a great manner of saving cash and staying in contact with loved ones.

KEEP MESSAGING Individual

VPN uses: Keep your online chats individual

While there are a number of secure messaging apps available (Bespeak and Telegram to proper noun a couple), many popular apps don't offering encryption, or require you to opt-in rather than opt-out. If your messaging isn't encrypted at that place's a chance information technology could be intercepted past an outsider.

By using a VPN you tin can ensure that your messages are seen merely by the intended recipient, pregnant you tin can be as open as you want to exist.

Also, while it won't affect your regular cell signal, a VPN can help protect your VoIP calls. And, even if your service provides encryption every bit standard, using a VPN every bit an actress layer of protection will give you lot the reassurance that you really tin speak your mind.

Read more well-nigh the all-time mobile VPN apps bachelor today

Access Domicile NETWORKS

VPN uses: Access home networks securely

Unless you lot take all your hard drives out with yous when you go to work or on holiday, your entire repository of files and data likely lives on i computer at home (with a couple of backups, or course).

If this is the example, yous might have remote access set up up and so you can access this machine and the info it contains when yous're away from it. Still, keeping that information safe should be a priority, so using a VPN to encrypt your traffic when remote accessing your primary PC in a no-brainer.

ACCESS COLLEGE NETWORKS

VPN uses: Access piece of work or university networks

Access to your schoolhouse, college, or work's network may exist limited geographically, and many institutions formally or informally implement VPNs to allows users to access intranets or other information repositories. This is commonly done through the apply a static IP, something the best business organization VPN volition offering.

However, we've likewise heard stories of students moving back home – to Canada from the US, for case – and ending up unable to access their school'southward networks from exterior the country, while others plant that their location breached some kind of regulation.

By using VPNs, in this historic period of remote learning these students were able to essentially have their cake and consume it – they could consummate their studies while also living where they wanted to. If this sounds like you, we'd check out a VPN directly away.


  • Apple users should check out the all-time Mac VPN options
  • Keep it all in-browser with the all-time Chrome VPN extensions
  • These ad blockers and VPNs are spying on y'all: What to do

Mo is VPN Editor at Tom's Guide. Day-to-day he oversees VPN, privacy, and cybersecurity content, and also undertakes contained testing of VPN services to ensure his recommendations are accurate and upwards to date. When he's not getting stuck into the nitty-gritty settings of a VPN yous've never heard of, yous'll find him working on his Peugeot 205 GTi or watching Peep Bear witness instead of finally putting upward those shelves.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/features/vpn-uses

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