What is VPN? How to Set up and Use a VPN – A Detailed Guide

Last Updated on June 26, 2023

VPN (Virtual Private Network) industry is facing an incredible growth in recent years. The use of VPN service is unbelievably increasing. This is mainly because for years businesses and individuals who use internet often were much concerned about their safety and privacy.

There was no solution those days to protect their identity and provide them more privacy. This scenario has changed after the emerge of VPN in the market. By knowing its importance, the demand for VPN has skyrocketed. Especially during pandemic hit were most companies offered work from home option, people started to search for a reliable VPN.

In 2020, the usage of VPN in the US alone has increased 124% as 64% of adults in US are using VPN for their personal and official uses. Also 62% of VPN users are using their mobiles to access the VPN platform. Though VPN access is announced to be illegal in many countries, 27% of users admit that they use a VPN to hide their activity from the government.

All these clearly show that use of VPN has become inevitable for any individual or company. Now let us get into details about what is VPN and how it works.

What is a VPN?

VPN is the most recommended tool for internet privacy. The platform will encrypt your connection and will form a layer of protection that hides all your internet activities to government or any other third-party.

A secured connection is established between your computer and the internet and will let users to communicate through a private tunnel. Once VPN services were considered as novel tech solution but today it has become a necessary tool to all online users.

VPN re-route all your traffic through other hidden servers which means all your online traffic along with your physical location will be hidden. People who want to spy your online activities will not get any lead to your IP address.

Do You Need a VPN?

Most of us are online users and we may wonder that do we really need a VPN to access any online site. You will have numerous benefits by using a VPN as listed below. If you find any of the below-mentioned benefit you need desperately then you need a VPN undoubtedly.

• Working remotely with secured log
• Keep a secured shared network
• Gain control access and give authorization to selected people to use resources.
• By-pass geo-blocking
• Protect all financial transactions.
• Get connected to any public wi-fi confidently.
• Access wider library of games
• Avoid ISP slowdowns
• Improve buffering issues

How Does a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Work?

Every VPN connection works with an encryption tunnel that will carry the entire process. The encryption tunnel converts the normal text into an unreadable code. The receiving end will have the key or decryptor that will convert the scrambled text to normal content.

When you use a VPN, the decryption key will be available between you and the VPN provider. Any third-party that would try to spy your activity will only see encrypted, scrambled text and your online activities will get higher privacy. Different VPN providers provide different encryption quality. You need to understand the limitation of a VPN and should find the best VPN to use.

Features to look for Best VPN Service

You should not grab any VPN service randomly. You need to evaluate its features and find the best VPN to use. Here we have listed few features that are mandatory for any good VPN. Take a look and check with the VPN you want to have.

• Security protocols – Open VPN is the most common protocol and there are many other security protocols like IKEv2, PPTP, and many more. Check for the security protocol the VPN provider offers.
• Encryption technique – this is where the real process lies. All your data need to be encrypted to get protected. A good VPN provider will have 256 bit – AES encryption technique. Make sure your platform supports the same.
• Server location – the provider should have multiple server locations that will support you in getting a quick connection to the nearby server. To support faster connection your VPN provider needs to have more server location.
• Static IP – this will not be needed for all VPN users. If you want to use a VPN for business purpose then you can go for it. This feature will restrict all unauthorized access to your data and gives extreme data protection.
• Kill switch – this feature will assure users will not get connected with the internet when the VPN is down. It will automatically shut down the connection and will boost your security and privacy with a single click.
• Cross-platform support – you need to keep in mind that you may not be using your VPN service with just one particular platform. You may tend to use in multiple platforms like Windows, Mac, linux, and many more. So, the VPN service should support all platforms.
• No log policy – most VPN servers keep your logs and defeats the purpose of using a VPN service. This happens mainly with free VPN services. So, it is always advisable to go for paid services and also you need to check the VPN provider guarantees no-log policy.

All above-mentioned features are very crucial for any good VPN and users need to take time in analyzing these aspects before subscribing the VPN service.

How to Use a VPN in Simple Steps

To make it simple, we can identify in setting a VPN service with easiest steps that will be clear to all users who are non-technical.

• First find the best VPN to use by studying all its features and pros. Once you found your best VPN move on to next step
• Download the VPN app in your device and install and start the setup process.
• Once installed, you can connect the VPN from your device and start surfing safely.

You can be a beginner, but using a VPN service is not as difficult as you think. Try these steps and have a great browsing experience.

Our Top Picks & Easy-to-use VPN services

Though there are many VPN providers available in the market, it is quite difficult to find the best VPN to use. After a serious market research and feature analysis, we have listed out top picks that will help you to decide easily.

Best ways to use a VPN

Multiple benefits are connected with a VPN usage. People have different purposes to use a VPN service. you may not why you need a VPN and how to use a VPN to fulfill our requirements. Below, you will find a few reasons that are common for using a VPN.

Use a VPN for better privacy and security

Around 67% of VPN users use a VPN service mainly for privacy and security. They trust a VPN service to hide their identity and have better security from hackers and spies. It is very sure that while using a public wi-fi we are prone to malware attacks and identity theft.

With the help of a perfect VPN service, you can confidently hide your IP location and can make difficult for any spy to find out your browsing activities. No log policy will protect all your online tasks by not storing anything on cache memory.

Use a VPN for streaming

Streaming is one of the core entertainments for most of the audience. Every day 45% of streaming platform users use 4 hours per day on streaming videos. But there is main problem which is geo-restriction. Not all vpn for streaming
platforms support all video content for streaming.

There is a wide need for a VPN to access geo-restricted streaming content. VPN will change your IP address and it will trick the streaming page. This will result in allowing users to watch whatever content they want from any part of the world.

Use a VPN for torrenting

Today 85% of online content provide by any provider do not hold copyrights or any license. So, viewing them is illegal and subject to punishment under law. In this case, users want to view all those non-licensed content without any legal issues.

Torrenting will let you watch all video content but if you watch any illegal content then you will be tracked easily. To avoid any legal issues, you need to protect your IP address being identified by any third-party so, using a VPN will be the best choice.

Use a VPN for solid Internet speeds

Getting a high-speed internet connectivity is not possible especially when play a 4K video or go for online gaming. The ISP will intentionally stop the bandwidth and throttles that will affect the viewing or gaming experience.

To get hold of the internet connectivity, you can make use of a VPN that will hide your online activities and avoids ISP throttling. ISP cannot get to know whether you are using web for normal surfing or for viewing HD content. You can enhance user experience by maintaining the internet speed.

Use a VPN for gaming

Online gaming has become more serious among youngsters in recent days. They spend more in getting powers for their game characters and some may even go further to attack their opponent through DdoS attacks.

If you are a gamer then you need to protect your system and data from any such malware attack. For this, you exclusively need a VPN support that will hide your IP address and will never let any attack happen to your device.

Best VPNs for Devices

Whatever device you have, VPN can do its role perfectly. Most VPN providers have dedicated mobile apps for different platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux and many more. Let us check it out how to use a VPN on different devices.

Use a VPN for Android

75% of users use their smartphones for surfing the net. Most online transactions take place through VPN for Android mobiles. More security is needed for your mobile. By following the below mentioned steps you can easily setup VPN and start browsing safely.

• Check with the VPN whether it supports your mobile version.
• After confirming you can install it on your mobile.
• Now connect the nearby server of the VPN service.
• Start surfing the net with more confidence.

Use a VPN for Windows and Mac devices

Most business officials use their computers or laptop for browsing internet and will send and receive email through their PCs. Business personnel needs more security on their transactions as they need to safeguard their data from their competitors. Follow the easy steps and protect your business.

• Download a VPN service that is compatible with Windows/ Mac OS.
• Install the VPN platform on your PC.
• Get connected and start your online activities.

Use a VPN for streaming devices

Today we can find multiple streaming devices like Firestick, Roku, Kodi, Apple TV, and many more. We cannot be sure that all VPN providers will support all streaming devices. You need to check and confirm with the platform by specifically searching VPN for Firestick, VPN for Roku, and so on.

• Check the VPN to work with your wi-fi router
• Install the VPN platform and get it connected to your router.
• The device gets connected to the nearby server.
• Now you can start streaming videos on your device.

How to Choose a VPN

Choosing the right VPN needs more attention and market observation as you cannot take risk with your privacy and security.

• Check for reviews and this will guide you towards best VPN to use as you can easily identify how the service would be and you can select the platform accordingly.
• The number of devices that can be connected simultaneously vary platform to platform. You need to how many devices can be connected through your VPN application.
• Check whether the VPN service provider allows Bit torrent or P2P traffic through its server.
• Compare pricing with other VPN platforms and check all features that are allowed in the package.

All these tips will help you in identifying the best VPN to use for both official and personal purposes.

Conclusion

Learning to use a VPN is a good start for your online security and privacy. You can spend your time in understanding the functionality of a VPN service and implement the service and avail all benefits the platform offers. 

Only top-class VPN providers will offer the best customer service and user-friendly interface. Many of them are compatible with all operating systems. So, you need to pay more attention in choosing the best VPN provider that will fulfill all your demands and expectations.

Frequently Asked Questions