Learn Quickly How to Use VPN – A Guide

Hijackers, Hackers, and spies; OH MY! If Hollywood produced The Wizard of Oz today, this is what Dorothy would have said. And much like the “Great and Powerful Oz”, hiding behind a curtain to cloak his identity, a Virtual Private Network does the same for your online identity, cloaking it behind an encrypted firewall.

Individuals and businesses alike value their privacy and their right to it. Using a VPN keeps that privacy safe and the reasons for using a VPN are as many as there are providers of VPN Services. Let’s look at how to use VPN:

Wi-Fi hot spots

Mobile access is by far one of the best applications of the internet we have today. Gone are the days of having to find a pay phone (anyone older than 40 still remembers what a payphone is), or wait until they get home to weed through the dozens of messages on their answering machines. We have phones and tablets that allow us to connect where ever we are. Wi-Fi hotspots have made that little slice of heaven possible.

However, they are notoriously unsafe. Having a VPN service that offers mobile protection gives your hotspot connection a firewalled encryption, allowing you to connect from anywhere safely.

File Sharing/BitTorrent Downloading

Want to share a file with your boss from London to New York? Found the latest cheat codes for your favorite games on a bit torrent site? Don’t do it without a VPN. File sharing and downloading from bittorrent sites leave your internet connection wide open. Bittorrent works by users sharing their files with other users, leaving you open for all kinds of cyber mischief.

And file sharing over an unprotected connection is much like leaving your house for the day and leaving your windows and doors wide open, anyone can and will get in. Using a VPN allows you to share that file or download that code without fear of having someone else run interference or worse, embed a virus in a file that will infect your system.

Web Censorship and Surveillance bypassing

Censorship; a word that is frequently talked about in any group of people these days. From the days of police escorting rappers offstage for obscene lyrics to the internet, censorship and surveillance on the internet is fast becoming the new normal. And the scary thing about this new form of governance?

Many people do not even realize it is being done. Many countries have strict restrictions in place and web surfers are not even aware of it. Using a VPN service bypasses the censorship and surveillance and allows the user to surf securely from anywhere to anywhere.

Unblock Restricted Sites like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube

Have you ever received an email from someone that has a link to a YouTube video attached to it and you click on the link but you cannot view it because the video restricted? Want to watch the latest season of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix but you live in Australia and do not have access to Netflix or Hulu? Using a VPN will allow you access to Geo-restricted sites and blocked content, anytime, anyplace as well as streaming content in HD.

Safe/ Secure VOIP calling

Video conferencing is an international business’ lifeline. Offices in Singapore can conference with offices in Dublin. Grandmothers in the US can Skype with their grandchildren in Dubai. Gamers in Canada can Lync with gamers in Brazil. But all this comes with a small price: easy access. VOIP is not at all difficult to hack. Any mid-level hacker can do it. Fortunately, many VPN services offer VOIP protection for a slight bit more than the monthly service. Protecting yourself on the internet call has never been easier.

Now more than ever before, the reasons for using a VPN service are becoming increasingly obvious. No one should be left out in the open exposed to attacks. The cost of using a VPN service is minimal; how to use VPN service are priceless.