Truth and myths about Virtual Private Networks

Featured article by Derrick Meeks

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are getting more and more popular. You can hear that they are used by company employees, influencers or just ordinary users who want to see a serial that is not available in their country. However, the more people use VPNs, the more diverse myths surrounding them arise. Therefore, in this text it will be reviewed which information is true and which is false when it comes to VPNs. Let us have a look!

– A VPN is only for those who want to do something illegal. It is not true that VPNs are created for those who want to engage in illegal activities and are only relevant for criminals. While it is inevitable that good things might be used for illegal actions, statistics show that only a minority can refer to such cases. Most users use VPNs as means to protect their Internet tracking, data theft and keep their information private online. Using a Virtual Private Network encrypts your Internet traffic so that nobody can see it. It becomes invisible not even for hackers but for Internet service providers and government institutions as well.

There are lots of other ways to use a VPN and get the most out of it. For example, by changing your location, you can read news portals, play games or watch movies that are not available in your country. You can also buy airline tickets or other goods cheaper than in your own country. So why wouldn’t you take advantage of that, right?

– A Virtual Private Network is a substitute for antivirus software. This is a myth. Even though a VPN is an important tool that provides privacy as well as security, it is not a substitute for antivirus software. A VPN is not a magic tool that will not save you. If you do not follow security rules and click on suspicious links or entrust your personal information to scammers, there is no way to protect you from data loss no matter whether you use a VPN or not.

Therefore, it is important to note that a VPN is not a replacement for an antivirus program. We have to admit that VPNs do a great job of hiding your IP address and protecting the privacy of your connection. However, it is better to leave it to professional antivirus programs to recognize whether you are visiting safe pages or not.

– Your Internet connection significantly slows down when using a VPN. It is true. Connection speed might get slower because your traffic has to go through a VPN server, get encrypted and decrypted – it takes time!

Still, it has to be acknowledged that this is more the exception than the rule. There are a number of cases where users have been pleased that a VPN can improve their connection speed. That is because some countries experience ISP throttling while watching videos or streams. In this case a VPN masks the activity from your ISP and that is how your Internet connection gets faster!

– A VPN improves ping. Yes, a VPN can improve ping. Of course,  higher ping can often become a disadvantage for a player. This might prolong his reaction time, which directly affects the quality of his play. Still, that’s not a big deal. For example, you can forget about this problem by installing a ping reducer which will help to avoid ping.

Meanwhile, if specific games are relevant to you, then you can try them out by choosing to try different VPN providers’ services. This will allow you to compare the quality of service and choose the option that suits you the best. Finally, it should be noted that there are cases where the use of a VPN does not increase but decreases ping. So, you won’t be able to single out the best option, until you try it.

– With a VPN you may access any website you want. Unfortunately, this is not true. While most of the benefits of a VPN can be enjoyed by users, including music, movies, or articles that are simply not available in their country, this may not always be the case. For example, a VPN might not work with Netflix as it makes efforts to block VPN use in order to enforce restrictions for content.

Actually, this problem is not only the case for those who want access to content that is not available in their country. Even those who have no problem watching it in their own country, can lose it when they go for vacation abroad. It does not seem fair, especially if you have a paid subscription.

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