Over the last few years, internet services technology has made tremendous advancements in a rather holistic manner. From the dot-com bubble that started in the late 1990s to the strong ongoing trends related to the internet in the present, there have been multiple groundbreaking breakthroughs that have shaped the internet services to be what it is today. Additionally, big internet companies especially all the participants of the Big Tech: Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are continuously proving that possibilities with internet services technology are limitless. Today the internet has come to encompass almost every aspect of our lives virtually from business, work, health, education, to even personal finance management.

What Are The Major Issues With Internet

Undoubtedly there have been so many improvements that have made our internet experience so much better, but there is one aspect on the internet that remains fairly dubious. Of course, you guessed it right! We are talking about internet security and integrity. Internet security is a major and threatening challenge that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. It is due to this concern that certain major activities still take place at a physical location such as vote casting and quality management of certain goods. Well, that is from a macro perspective, when we talk about individual internet users, the scenario in regards to online protection is worse. 

A general user of the internet is not expected to know the complex aspects of online safety. Besides, they may not even know the basic ways to protect their computer or mobile phone from the harmful sight of hackers and snoopers who are always on the lookout to make financial or other kinds of benefits at the expense of the user. Besides internet security concerns, there are some more aspects where the internet fails to give the user a nice experience and those include:

• Internet speed issues with certain websites and for some locations

• Unavailability of certain services for some locations

• Fears of exposure of children to inappropriate material

• Inability to make the best use of public networks]

• Threats of the breach in data privacy

Can Virtual Private Network Help

Although internet services are not impeccable, there are certain services online that you can buy to make your internet experience a lot better. The virtual private network or VPN is one such service.

The virtual private network is a service that allows you to gain privacy, anonymity, and security over the internet through creating a private network from the public network. The VPN encrypts every bit of data you send to your web server, hence creating and maintaining both authenticity and confidentiality of your data. 

How Does A VPN Work

During the earlier days of the internet, only people with technical know-how could make efficient use of VPN technology. But in recent years, VPN service providers have combined ease of use with VPN's genuine functionality - which has transformed it into technology for every internet user. In easy terms, a virtual private network is a separate/private network provider outside of the internet. The VPN's property that it's cut-off from the public network and uses encryption measures to protect your data - makes VPN a more secure way to surf and work over the internet. 

What Are The Types Of Virtual Private Network

Based on the nature of your requirement from the internet, the virtual private network can be broadly divided into 3 major categories - remote access VPN, intranet-based site-to-site VPN, and extranet-based site-to-site VPN. All three VPNs are fundamentally the same but are aimed at a different set of online users with different capabilities and qualities. Let's run through each one of them to understand better 

• Remote Access VPN 

 Remote access VPN is meant to assist individual internet users for example an accountant or a freelancer. Remote access is to provide you with online protection and secure your information by connecting you to a secure remote server. This type of VPN is easy to install, set up, and user-friendly to use. 

• Intranet-based site-to-site VPN 

This category of VPN is focused on large organizations and companies with two or more branches at different locations. As it typically happens, the branches need to share important data and resources over the internet. The intranet-based site-to-site VPN allows separate local area networks (LAN) of two different branches to get connected through a common wide area network (WAN). With this method, the communication that takes place does not interact with the public network but directly goes to one LAN from the other. Hence, information can be shared safely without any privacy threats. 

• Extranet-based site-to-site VPN 

Extranet-based site-to-site VPN is idealistic in a case where two intranets need to be connected. In other words, it is used to establish the connection between two different organizations that would like to collaborate to achieve a common goal. For example, if a company in Japan is working with a different company in Indonesia, they would need a VPN to communicate and share resources safely over the internet.

The site-to-site VPNs have a particularly complex structure and are not very easy to set up as they require more resources and specialized equipment.

What Should You Get A Virtual Private Network

A VPN brings along a string of benefits for both individual users and those sitting in a corporate environment. Every individual has a different expectation from the internet since the purpose of internet usage differs significantly from one person to the other. For example, one may be willing to get a VPN to protect their details online while the other may be seeking VPN services to unblock streaming services such as Netflix. The professionals at invpn suggest that before choosing your VPN you must go through customer reviews to understand the services and related-aspects better. Let us take a look through some of the top reasons why you might want to get a VPN:

Hide Your Information & Get Secure

The two major reasons why some cyberattacks do not fail are because - first, the bulk of the user's information online is extractable through some advanced hacking skills and second, it is easy as pie to discern. The VPN patches both of these breaches for you. First off, it takes you away from the public network to a secure private network where online threats are minimal - and then, all of your data on the internet is encrypted which cannot be understood by hackers, snoopers, or even your internet service providers (ISPs). 

• Privacy - Your crucial data in regards to the IP address, online behavior, location, and search history are all masked to be protected from being tracked by cyberattackers, hackers, websites, internet browsers, cable companies, and internet service providers (ISPs). There is hardly any chance of you being discovered as your identity is kept anonymous. 

• Security - Not only is your data encrypted, but it is also protected from eavesdropping or theft. The private network that VPN creates does not allow unauthorized access to intruders who may be willing to cause harm to you. 

If privacy and security are your first considerations, you can get higher-end VPNs that offer military-grade 256-bit encryption of your data. 

Eliminate Bandwidth And Data Throttling

The VPN can help you improve your efficiency over the internet in many ways and two of those ways include - eliminating bandwidth throttling and data throttling. Bandwidth throttling is the strategy of the internet service provider (ISP) to deliberately slow down the speed of the internet for particular web pages to minimize bandwidth congestion and improve network traffic. On the other hand, data throttling is a similar reactive measure to slow down internet speed when the user crosses the data quota defined in the data plan.  

A VPN encrypts your data in such a way that even your ISP cannot spot your total data usage and the details you put up on the internet. It is due to this confidentiality of data that your ISP cannot put a limit on your data bandwidth, data usage. As a consequence, the ISP cannot slow down your internet speed for any reason.

If you introduce VPN to eliminate throttling, you can improve your online productivity by using the internet at high speed at all times without any possible hurdles or slowing down. 

Access Region-Blocked Services And Much More

Multiple popular online services are not available at some locations such as Spotify and Netflix. Even if these services are available, some specific demands may not be fulfilled. For example, one may have the access to Spotify at a particular location, but there may be many songs that may not be available. In that case, you can make use of a VPN service to enjoy the services that are blocked for your region. This way you can also watch your favorite sport online even if the international coverage is not available. For instance, a UFC match is first telecasted in the United States and takes some time to reach other parts of the world, but with the help of a VPN, you can watch it at the same time as the United States. 

The VPN changes your IP address to match the IP address of a location where the service is accessible. This way the service provider cannot spot your real location and you can continue to use the services. 

Before you make any move to gain access, you must keep in mind the Terms & Agreements to figure out whether it is permitted for you to use a particular service through a VPN. Additionally, you should also go through your country's guidelines and regulations for VPN use to make sure what you do is legal. 

Get The Best Out Of The Internet At Low Cost

There are more than just a few ways to use many services at subsidized prices if you have a VPN in place. One would not use a lot of interesting internet facilities due to security issues, but with a VPN those issues are eliminated. Let us understand this with the help of some examples: 

• Voice over Internet Protocol, also known as VoIP, is a revolutionary service that allows digital voice communications at a lower cost than traditional phone lines by routing calls through the internet. The reason why many people do not use VoIP is that the VoIP calls can be acquired and analyzed in bulk - and nobody wants that. When you make a VoIP call through a VPN, your entire call is encrypted and cannot be accessed unless the snooper has highly advanced decryption knowledge. In a nutshell, you can enjoy VoIP to the fullest by using a VPN

• Messaging from your device when VPN is backing you up is more secure than most other top-secure platforms. Whether you use Skype, Wattsapp, Snapchat, or any other messaging service, you can easily secure all of your conversations with a VPN. 

• People who play games online know that the trust factor is not constant and may be completely missing from certain gaming platforms. However, VPN can help you play securely by masking your important data such as your details, bank account details (in some cases, and location, etc. As a consequence, everything that is available for others to see is indiscernible and you can play your favorite games without much threat involved.

• When you use a VPN you have an option to pay less for the services that cost higher in your region. For instance, if you are booking a flight, you may see the prices of tickets differ from one location to the other. In that case, you can use a VPN to change your IP address so the service provider will not know that you are from a different place - and you can get better deals.  

A VPN is very useful for every single internet user in several ways. While internet security is the main selling point of the VPN, the service does a lot more than just that. It improves your internet performance, helps you enjoy a variety of services, and can even unblock services that are not available in your region. The careful use of VPN can smoothen your entire internet experience.