Without a VPN, search engines, Internet service providers (ISPs), and website owners can know where you’re located geographically because of your computer’s unique IP address, and they typically store this information for years. VPNs are great for public hotspots as well as for wired connections and home use.
VPNs were once used mainly by businesses, but now they’re appealing to consumers, too. In addition to increased privacy, VPN connections can be useful when trying to access services that have been geo-blocked in your country.
They sometimes require the user to log in with a password for authentication. You can activate a VPN by using free software, such as Hotspot Shield, immediately before you start surfing. Either way, VPNs are designed to keep your Internet use — web surfing, online shopping, filling out forms, downloading files — invisible.
If you’d like to surf the Internet in complete anonymity, whether you’re at home or on the go, then you might want to try one of the many VPN solutions available.
Some of the most entertaining apps available for iPhone and iPad are only accessible from within the United States. These restrictions are mainly due to international copyright issues surrounding the content. What if you could make it seem like your iPad or iPhone was in the U.S., even if it’s not? That’s exactly what a Virtual Private Network or VPN can do — and more.
But how do they know where you’re accessing the internet from? Every device which accesses the internet is assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address. While an IP address is just a series of numbers, each is also registered to the Internet Service Provider the device is connected to. Databases are available for looking up which Internet Service Provider an IP is registered to and what geographical area that ISP operates in. This process won’t lead anyone to your doorstep — but it usually does reveal what country you’re in.
A VPN allows you to create a virtual tunnel through the internet; apps and sites won’t see where you enter the tunnel — only where you emerge. If that tunnel emerges at an IP address inside the U.S. then apps and sites will identify you as being located in the U.S. and allow access to U.S.-only content.
If you know someone in the U.S. who’s technically inclined and wants to share some bandwidth, you could have them set up a VPN for you to traverse. Most folks aren’t too keen on sharing their bandwidth though.
There are some free VPN services as Marc and while these can be useful in a pinch they do have some downsides. Free VPN services are usually ad supported, meaning you’ll have to put up with ads on your desktop, or injected into websites. Since the goal of this article is to access U.S.-only content we need a “gateway” that emerges in the U.S., many free VPN services don’t allow you to select a specific gateway. Speed and stability can also be issues with these services; as with anything free — there are no guarantees.
A paid VPN service is not only the most reliable, but the most secure. Companies such as WiTopia offer a year of personal VPN services for as little as $39.99 USD. WiTopia offers selectable gateways in over 30 countries, they also have many gateways throughout the U.S. In addition to gateway flexibility, paid VPN services take encryption very seriously. Encrypting a VPN connection will protect your connection from any “sniffing”, an issue becoming more and more concerning.
this is realiy helpful for the home pc users and bussiness men......thank you for the article...
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