VPNs perform various other functions like circumventing firewalls and preventing ISP throttling, making them a more vital tool for general internet usage. However, there’s a popular question among both new and experienced VPN users: Should I use a VPN all the time? The answer isn’t so straightforward, and so let’s discuss some situations when you will need to have a VPN on to ensure safety and optimum performance.
Six Situations When You Should Keep Your VPN Turned On
1When you want to be anonymous online
ISPs can observe everything you’re doing online. They can see the websites you visit at any particular time, and even what you’re streaming or downloading. While this may not seem like a big issue, there are some places you shouldn’t expose your online activities, especially if you’re in a country where the government is repressive. However, when choosing a VPN for privacy, you need to ensure that the VPN is registered offshore and that it keeps zero connection and usage logs. Additionally, the VPN should have IP or DNS leak protection, as breaches can easily expose you. One of the best VPNs that we would recommend for privacy is SurfShark. Get our SurfShark Deal Now
2When You Want to Access Blocked Content
Geo-restrictions have become the norm with various websites and almost every streaming service. These restrictions have either been implemented by governments through ISPs, or the streaming services have been forced to do so by copyright owners. To circumvent all these and restore your online freedom, you need to keep your VPN turned on. However, you won’t be able to load another video or even open another webpage if you were unblocking a website. However, only a few streaming sites allow that, and Netflix is not one of them. It’s therefore wise to get a VPN with unlimited bandwidth, and can unblock various streaming services as well as websites in high censored countries. One of the best VPNs at this is NordVPN. Get our NordVPN Deal
3When You Are on a Public Wi-Fi
While public hotspots are popular and useful, they pose a significant danger to your data and security. In 2016, Steven Petrow, a USA Today reporter, had his computer hacked while he was using American Airlines’ in-flight Gogo Wi-Fi. The hacker read every email he sent and received during the flight. CyberGhost VPN’s security features can help you deal with this effortlessly. Get our CyberGhost Deal
4When You Are Experiencing Bandwidth Throttling
ISPs have made bandwidth throttling a common practice. They do this when they see that you are consuming a lot of bandwidth streaming or torrenting, and when they want to ease network congestion, or even as a way of luring you to upgrade your plan. By leaving your VPN connected, you can easily circumvent ISP throttling. Get our ExpressVPN Deal
5When you want to make an online transaction
In 2017, an Austrian man had $117k in bitcoin stolen from his account while connected to a restaurant’s public wireless network. The victim had logged into the unsecured network to check the value of his Bitcoin holdings. Incidents like this highlight how risky it is to perform any financial transactions with a network you don’t trust or without a VPN. However, PayPal is a bit complicated, as it will lock your account as a safety procedure when they detect a sudden change in location. To avoid having to verify your account, always connecting using a server near you. Even better, get a VPN with a dedicated IP address like PureVPN and PayPal won’t realize it belongs to a VPN. Get our PureVPN Deal
6When You Want to Save Some Money
Various online stores usually have different prices for users in different regions and locations. Generally, this mostly happens with commodities like travel tickets, hotels, car rentals, but also with many other products and services, including Netflix.
How do I keep my VPN connected all the time?
Most VPNs provide an option of launching the VPN at startup and automatically securing your connections. To do this, you can open setting and set this up and the preferences or customization section (name varies with the VPN). You can easily configure your VPN on the router, or you can even get a pre-configured one at flashrouters.com. These, however, cost significantly higher, and so it would be cheaper to do it for yourself or ask a tech-savvy person to do it for you. Here’s a 57% discount to get you started.
Conclusion
VPNs have become a necessity if you spend a significant amount of time online. They can secure your data, offer privacy, circumvent geo-restrictions, and much more. Ultimately, whether you should keep your VPN turned on will depend on you. However, there are still some scenarios that will require you to turn off your VPN, for example, when accessing your bank or you want to access local news. In such a case, you can disconnect your VPN, and then reconnect later. Depending on your needs, you can also choose from our top five VPNs below.
