Why should I use a VPN?
Also asked as: What are the benefits of a VPN? · Do I really need a VPN?
Direct answer
Use a VPN when you are on a network you do not control, when you do not want your internet provider holding a record of what you browse, or when you need to appear to be in another country. Those are the three real reasons. A VPN does not make you anonymous or protect you from malware, so do not buy it for those.
Three reasons that hold up
Untrusted networks. On hotel, airport, café and conference Wi-Fi, anyone on the same network can watch unencrypted traffic and can set up a fake access point with the same name. A VPN encrypts everything to a single server before it leaves your device.
Your ISP's record. In many countries internet providers are required to keep connection records for months. With a VPN up, that record is one encrypted connection to one server, not a list of the sites you opened.
Location. Services that route, price or gate by country see the VPN server's country instead of yours. That is useful for travel, for testing how a site behaves elsewhere, and for reaching home services from abroad.
Two reasons that are myths
"A VPN makes me anonymous" — it hides your address from sites and your traffic from your network, but any service you sign in to still knows who you are, and the VPN provider now sees what your ISP used to. "A VPN protects me from viruses" — it does not inspect or block anything; that is a job for the browser, the operating system and an antivirus.
If the answer is yes
VPNmine is free, shows no ads, runs its own servers in 68 countries and keeps no record of the sites you open. There is an app for Windows, Android, Android TV and Apple TV and a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox, and you can connect without creating an account.
Related questions
- Is a VPN safe?A VPN is as safe as the provider behind it. What decides it: who runs the servers, what is logged, how the service makes money, and whether you can leave.
- Does a VPN protect me on public Wi-Fi?A VPN encrypts everything before it leaves your device on café, hotel and airport Wi-Fi, defeating snooping and fake access points. What it does not cover.
- Does a VPN make me anonymous?A VPN hides your address and your traffic from your network. It does not make you anonymous: accounts, cookies, fingerprinting and the provider still know.
- Do I need a VPN at home?At home the network is yours, so the public-Wi-Fi case does not apply. A VPN still helps against ISP logging, for location, and on shared connections.