VPNs are useful tools when it comes to helping to protect your privacy and secure your connection from prying eyes, but they also provide a wide array of other benefits from improving download speeds to shopping from abroad.
On a basic level, VPNs create an encrypted tunnel that your data travels down, keeping you more secure and anonymous on the internet, but their features extend well beyond privacy and security, with additional features for travellers, shoppers, streamers, and more.
Below, we list the key benefits to take advantage of when subscribing to a VPN.
Shop from afar
Many online stores are only available within certain countries and, in efforts to avoid issues, they will block traffic from countries they do not serve. This makes perfect business sense, but for times when you are travelling abroad and want to buy a present for a friend back home or want to order something to arrive when you get back, these geo-restrictions can cause unnecessary disruption.
VPNs let you appear like you are accessing websites from any one of their servers, helping you avoid these restrictions with just one click. This useful tool means that even if you are surfing in Hawaii or trekking in Borneo, you will still have access to UK-based ecommerce stores, while also being secure in the knowledge that your personal data is encrypted using tools like those at surfshark.com/servers/uk.
Access iPlayer from abroad
BBC iPlayer has long been a major competitor in the video streaming market and for those of us in the UK that pay a license fee, it is free to access all the TV shows, films, and live sport the service streams. However, just like other streaming platforms, the BBC does not let people access the service from other countries, so if you are holidaying or working abroad you are normally prohibited from viewing favourites such as EastEnders, Line of Duty, and the wealth of other content on iPlayer.
Many people use VPNs to try and access the US version of Netflix, but no matter where you are in the world a VPN with UK servers can provide you access to your favourite UK television shows by making it appear that you are accessing the service from the UK.
Avoid ISP traffic shaping and speed up your downloads
ISPs like Virgin, Sky, and BT all manage massive networks of infrastructure to connect us to the internet and some use “traffic shaping” to provide some internet services a smoother connection than others, such as giving someone using Zoom priority over someone else playing online games, despite similar levels of bandwidth usage.
Traffic shaping will benefit some users to the detriment of others, but people using VPNs hide which services they are accessing from their ISP and so can often access faster download speeds as their connections are not being throttled.
Get around internet filters
The internet can be a wild and terrifying place, so it is right that many ISPs and other services provide filters to try and block some of the darker places online.
Some people will just switch these filters off, but for others who want a filtered internet without switching off filters for everyone else in the house, then a VPN can help with its effected use of encrypted traffic which will generally work around most content blocks.
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