VPN connections are by no means an invention, but it is now that they are beginning to gain traction among the general public. A VPN connection allows you to create a local network without the need for its members to be physically connected to each other but through the Internet. It is the “virtual” component that we talked about before. You get the advantages of the local network (and some extra), with greater flexibility, because the connection is through the Internet and can for example be from one end of the world to the other. While its use was traditionally more common in the business environment, the great versatility of this type of connections and its multiple uses make them increasingly popular.
There are several good reasons why a student might want to use a VPN.
Avoid internet restrictions
Most universities offer free Wi-Fi for students both in their reading areas and in their areas of residence, which is obviously useful for those who study or live there. However, university networks tend to be extremely restricted in the way they can be used. Some of these restrictions are reasonable, such as prohibitions against using the university’s network to download something illegally. You can see why this rule would apply. But other times, these restrictions can be frustrating, for example, by not allowing access to certain websites that the university considers inappropriate or by prohibiting the use of legal torrents.
How a VPN can help? By connecting to the bestVPN, you can avoid these restrictions. It connects to a server at a location outside the university and routes all of your Internet traffic through this server, which means you can access even forbidden sites or file types.
Protect your privacy
When you use an Internet connection, whether provided by your university or by a private ISP, the network owner can track each site you visit or archive. If you want to keep your use and internet history private, especially if you are downloading illegal files, you must be careful. Your ISP or university can kick you out of your network or even pass your data to the authorities if they see that you are downloading illegally.
With a VPN, add a layer of security between you and the owner of your Internet network. When you connect to a VPN server, all requests you send for files or web pages are encrypted and then routed through the server. Then, the data is decrypted on the server and sent on its way. This means that using the Internet is the same experience for the user, but network owners such as the ISP or the university cannot track their individual use of the Internet.
Improve your security
University networks generally have good security measures for users, but it is worth taking their own measures to protect themselves. When you connect to a public network, other users of the network may pirate your device and steal your personal data, including emails, passwords or credit card details. It is particularly important to remember this when using public Wi-Fi networks such as those found in cafes or libraries.
Because a VPN encrypts your data before sending it over the network, even if hackers can observe the data that is sent over the network, they could not decrypt your data to view it, keeping it safe.
Access internet content from different regions
Sometimes you will need to access Internet materials from different regions, for example, you may need to find a document in Italian or search and compare news videos in the USA or Mexico. However, you will often find that some sites are only accessible from certain geographic regions. For example, a movie you want to watch on Netflix might be available in the United Kingdom but not in the USA and it is impossible to access UK content while in the USA.
There is a way to get around these region blockages, and that is to use a VPN. You can connect to a VPN server in another country, and then it will appear on websites as if you were browsing the Internet from the country where the server is located. For example, you only need to connect to a server in Italy and you could find documents in Italian, or connect to a server in Mexico to watch Mexican news, or connect to a server in the United Kingdom to view the version of Netflix in the United Kingdom. This can be useful both for your university work and for finding entertainment options once you have finished your work.
You can see the many reasons why college students benefit from using a VPN. What are the factors that are most important when choosing a VPN?
- Fast connection speeds – Slow internet is a nightmare, that’s not what you want at all! Although each VPN will slow down your Internet by a small amount due to the additional encryption step it requires, a good VPN with fast connections will be so fast that you won’t even realize it’s there.
- Strong encryption – For the sake of your security, you need encryption that is difficult to decipher to keep it secure.
- A no registration policy – Some VPN providers maintain records or records of their users’ Internet history, but this undermines the point of a VPN that provides privacy and anonymity.
- Support for different operating systems – You can use a VPN account to protect all your devices, including your computer, phone, tablet and smart TV.
- There are no bandwidth limitations – Some VPNs, especially free VPNs, limit the amount of bandwidth you can use per month or how many simultaneous connections are allowed, which means you may not be able to protect your smart TV, phone and computer at the same time.
- There are no types of restricted traffic – Another common restriction you’ll see among free VPNs is the ban on using certain types of traffic across the network, such as P2P downloads as torrents.
There are many reasons for university students to use a VPN, even to protect their privacy and security, and to access content from other regions or content that is blocked by their university’s network. Any of the VPNs will serve a college student well and is worth investing in.
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