Internet users are divided into two camps who disagree with each other's arguments and constantly prove their case. I'm talking about those who use VPN and who avoid it. At the same time, people who use VPN from time to time do not belong to one category or another and, as a rule, remain neutral, taking the best from each camp. In fact, there are many advantages to this phenomenon, but many overly idealize the privacy opportunities they are given. As they say, everything is good in moderation. Now I will try to explain why it is necessary and why it is not necessary to use such an achievement of IT technologies. Simply put, why you need to approach everything wisely and not divide the world into black and white.
The right VPN is good, and the wrong one can only make it worse.
Why use a VPN on your smartphone
There are many different reasons to use a VPN on your smartphone. Whether it's hiding your location so you can view your information privately, or protecting your data when connected to public Wi-Fi hotspots.
Of course, there are countless VPN applications for Android, but this also has its own problems, which I will talk about a little later. But, with the right level of common sense and with so many options, you will have no shortage of choice.
Most applications are usually distributed by subscription. I'm talking about those applications that can be called reliable. However, there are those that provide a certain free traffic volume every month or once upon registration.
Despite all the advantages, VPN user data often leaks onto the network.
The main purpose of a VPN is to hide your real IP address, but VPNs offer a ton of other features, so there are other good reasons to use them on your smartphone Android. Here are five top reasons to use a VPN on your smartphone Android.
How to hide your IP address
Most people want to keep their IP address private when browsing the web. This is because hiding your IP address allows you to remain anonymous and browse the web privately.
You can hide the IP address for security reasons or to make the server think you are in a different country. In any case, VPN apps solve this problem by giving you the opportunity to select a country from a huge list. Chosen, you have been identified as a resident of Australia, and you can use.
How to use Google Play in another country
Using an app store from another country is a really good argument for a VPN because there are always apps and games available only in certain countries. With a VPN, you can bypass regional blockages quite easily. In general, without it, you can watch applications from other regions, but still not all. Some applications and games are blocked, as they say, tightly.
Turned on VPN and you're in another country.
However, there is one caveat. You need to create a Google account in the country you are trying to view on Google Play. For example, if you are trying to access the German Google app store, you need to set up a German account.
And if you are from the US and want to play a certain game, but still need the game to be in English, then you should search the Singapore Play Store because they usually run English games for that region.
Game servers in another region
We must not forget that some games distribute their servers to different countries and impose rather strict restrictions on them. Because of this, you, as a player, will only be limited to a certain area. Not many people think about it, but someone will definitely want to go beyond their “little world”.
Maybe you have a friend who lives in a different country and you want to play games with him on the same server he is connected to. In this case, VPN will be the real way out. You just need to turn on the VPN and select the server of the country that you need.
How to watch content that is not available in Russia
Some content in video and music services is blocked. This applies not only to our country, and is also associated with local restrictions on intellectual property.
For some, a VPN is just a feature, but for others it's a necessity.
If you love to use something like this and often come across situations in which you cannot watch the desired video, a VPN can help you. For example, Netflix has access to Studio Ghibli's movie collection. But only for certain countries.
Connect to the country where Netflix offers this content and then you can see what you are looking for. Not to mention, you save money by not signing up for yet another streaming service.
Data protection on the web
Perhaps the most important reason for using a VPN is security, which cannot but take its place on this list. VPN helps you protect your sensitive data. Most people these days use the Internet from their phones, do banking and much more.
VPN has a downside in terms of security, but this is worth talking about separately below. However, when connecting to questionable networks, VPNs can really be a great security solution. This is due to the fact that a VPN server can give you additional security guarantees. But it may not give.
Why NOT use a VPN
There are also plenty of reasons not to use a VPN. At the same time, there are reasons that do not directly prohibit its use, but call for more attention to the precautions.
Data can be stolen
You have to understand that nothing is free, and even more so in the field of communications. Maintaining a VPN server, or even an entire network, costs a lot of money, and no one will waste it just like that.
It's easier to do this than to do a completely free VPN
Considering that you are pumping your data through an extra server, no one can guarantee that the protection promised to you really works. Even if the data that applications exchange in an encrypted format is not stolen from you, the owner of such a VPN can collect other valuable information about you. Then it can be accumulated and sold.
If you choose a VPN app, pay attention to its reputation. Sometimes it is much better to pay 100-150 rubles a month, but be safe. It is much more interesting for such a VPN to consistently receive your payment for a subscription than to steal your data. They value their reputation and will not waste their money on espionage.
Low connection speed
Whatever one may say, an extra link in the data transmission chain cannot pass without a trace. In any case, it will impose its own restrictions on the connection speed and response time. If the VPN is good, then the effect will be small, but if it is so-so, then you have to put up with slowdowns.
Here it will no longer matter how fast your cellular network or Wi-Fi network works. It's just that the VPN server will impose its own restrictions. It's like transferring data from an HDD to the latest and fastest SSD. The speed will still be limited by the minimum read speed from the HDD, or even by the connector, if it's USB 2.0.
Your connection speed can be tremendous, but a VPN will easily bring it down to earth
Locating
There is one more point that rather belongs to the category “must be kept in mind”. I'm talking about the fact that it is often the correct determination of the user's location (of course, approximate) that is very useful in terms of providing the desired content.
If you hide your position, then the systems will not correctly target you. As a result, you will still receive advertising, but it will be something completely extraneous. You will still see news from other regions. And you will still see the weather report, but for some Japanese suburb. So you need to understand whether you really need a VPN, especially on an ongoing basis, or it is better to do without it and use it only in order, for example, to get a discount on an air ticket, which is only available for users from France. Everything should be wise!