Why Use a VPN?
VPNs are commonly advertised as tools to maintain online security, freedom and help users access blocked content on the web. However, these magic tools have other purposes and more advantages. In this article, we will explore 5 of the most advantageous uses for VPNs you probably didn’t know about to get the best out of your VPN provider.
1- Thwarting DDoS Attacks during Online Gaming
Esports have grown massively popular to become a global phenomenon with hundreds of millions of internet users and online gamers tune into follow esports competitions and tournaments. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Esports have also evolved to become a huge profitable business.
“According to the market intelligence reports from Newzoo, the value of the esports economy on the global scale was a little less than $500 million last year and has the tendency to grow to more than $700 million this year. This is an increase of value businesses can only dream about, and it’s happening right in front of our faces in the world of esports. Marvellous!” – source: domain.me.
On the other hand, the bigger the business, the more serious the danger becomes. One of the biggest dangers to Esports are DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks paralyse gamers from connecting to the internet, hence, massive loss. Hundreds of thousands of data packets overwhelm the targeted computer at the same time causing it to crash. Everything is jammed in a way where nothing can get in or out.
Using a VPN would protect you from these vicious attacks by encrypting your data traffic and routing it through an anonymous tunnel within the internet to make sure that your internet connection is ciphered enough not to be tracked by any attacker. This kind of tactic is excellent to maneuver your competitors while gaming online to gain control over your game.
You need to bear in mind that there are some gaming websites, such as: Steam that prohibit the use of VPNs while gaming. They strictly mention it on their website:
“ You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, Valve may terminate your access to your Account.”
2- Weeding Out Illegal Torrents
Is torrenting legal? Is it safe? Would you go to jail if you download torrents? There are never-ending questions about whether torrenting is ethical or not. In itself, torrenting is not illegal, however, it can be misused by many internet users for downloading pirated content. Sadly, ISPs are unable to distinguish if your torrent downloads are legal or not. For this reason, a VPN is the best choice to safely use torrents because when you use a VPN, your real identity online (real IP address) is masked with a fake IP to make you anonymous online. With a VPN you can be sure that you will not end up on Big Brother’s most wanted list for online pirates.
3- Online Shopping Cannot Be More Safe
Almost everyone shops online these days. Retail stores have made it very easy to get whatever you need from groceries to diamonds to your house with just a click of a mouse. What’s next, shopping from Mars? When you go online shopping, in order to confirm your purchase you need to provide your personal details, such as: full name, address, credit card details, etc. This sensitive data is what hackers and fraudsters feed on. For this reason, it is important to use a strong VPN provider to secure your personal information from potential threats. In addition, you can further strengthen your levelof security by making purchases through anonymous payment methods, like: Bitcoin.
4- Cleaning Your Sidebar from Unwanted Ads
Every time you go online, you leave a footprint and that is your IP address. There are numerous third parties that trace your footprints for marketing purposes. They collect data about your favourite things, like: sports, food, clothing, music, and so on, and then start sending you targeting ads accordingly. For example, if you start searching for news on Rugby, you will notice that wherever you go there are ads about Rugby matches, updates, etc.
A VPN comes in handy in this case as it anonymises your identity, hence, your personality online. Therefore, third parties will not be able to prey on your footprints online to bombard you with their ads.
5- Comparing Prices in Different Regions
Due to global inflation, things have become ridiculously expensive even a good cup of tea. Most people nowadays have started checking out currency exchange websites and search for the best deals on the internet in different regions. However, comparing prices may not be as easy as it seems and sometimes it wastes a lot of time to look for products and find out their prices online in your currency. That is why when you use a VPN, you can easily switch between servers to be able to navigate through websites in their local currencies. For example, if you want to know the price of an item in Australian dollars, you can connect to your VPN through a server in Australia and all prices will be displayed in the Australian currency.
