A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a private, encrypted tunnel between your PC, tablet, or phone and an endpoint.
For example, let’s say you’re staying in a hotel in Anaheim, California, USA. You connect to the hotel’s wifi, and then connect to a VPN in Los Angeles. Once connected, all traffic between your device and the VPN is encrypted. This has numerous benefits:
- Any weaknesses in wifi security are handled because you’re only transmitting already encrypted data over the network.
- Your IP is hidden.
- Your ISP can’t spy on what you’re doing, throttle your traffic based on what you’re doing, etc.
- If you want to appear as if you are in Los Angeles, this is one way to do it because you’ll appear to have the VPN’s IP.
- Some VPNs have integrated ad blocking, malicious site blocking, etc.
- If you live in a country more prone to, shall we say, proactive investigation, you may find the privacy benefits of avoiding Big Brother helpful. Then again, if you’re using a VPN, it will be obvious so they may just come with a rubber hose.
Owner at LowEndBox
I'm Jon Biloh and I own LowEndBox and LowEndTalk. I've spent my nearly 20 year career in IT building companies and now I'm excited to focus on building and enhancing the LowEndBox and LowEndTalk platform.
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Because you are only sending data that has already been encrypted over the network, any vulnerabilities in the wifi security are effectively eliminated.