should you use vpn at home

Here’s What We Think Whether You Should Install VPN at Home or Not

Millions of people worldwide use VPN to maintain their privacy, stay anonymous, or secure online experience. However, these VPN services are promoted to those often traveling, working in an industry where privacy and security are important, such as a journalist researching something, or sending emails.

Using a VPN at home becomes a completely different thing. Though, it’s useful in some of the scenarios along with security and privacy. But, in the end, it all comes down to personal preference, whether someone should use a VPN at home or not. Like, if you’re someone who watches Netflix or other streaming shows of another country, which is geo-restricted and that cannot be viewed outside its regional country. Then a VPN solution can be helpful, as it can help bypass geo-restriction in a matter of few clicks. For example, some shows are only available to the US audience, and you reside in Australia, then VPN can help bypass such geo-restriction.

However, some of the common reasons to use VPN at home are like:

  • Bypassing Geo-Restrictions
  • Improved Online Security
  • Preventing Bandwidth Throttling
  • Best Deals for Online Shopping
  • Improved Online Streaming & Gaming

Bypassing Geo-Restrictions

Bypassing geo-restrictions to watch favorites shows is one of the major reasons why people prefer using VPNs. If you’re someone who loves streaming shows and movies of another country that’s not normally allowed in your region, then VPN can prove helpful.

It allows you to mask your real IP address and location and make you appear from the country of the VPN server you connected to make you bypass such geo-restrictions without any issues. So, if you’re questioning yourself that “Do I need a VPN at home?” then you’ve got the answer. If you like watching movies and often face geo-restriction issues, then yes, VPN is a good solution.

Improved Online Security

VPN helps in making the internet experience safe and secure. It secures the network you connect to and gives surety that your internet activity is end-to-end encrypted. No doubt, VPN is good for securing yourself when using public internet connection such as Wi-Fi at the Mall or Coffee Shop that is not safe. But it doesn’t mean that threats don’t linger when you’re using your home network. It often happens that users become victims of certain cyberattacks even when they’re using their network. So, it’s not justifiable to say that home networks are 100% secure. And, to avoid such scenarios, VPN can be a good solution.

Prevents Bandwidth Throttling

If you’re internet-savvy, then you might have sometimes noticed internet speed slowed down during day hours, without any specific reasons. It’s mostly because your ISP (Internet Service Provider) throttles your internet connection on purpose, making it slower than usual.

Now, if you’re wondering why ISP does so, then there could be numerous reasons. For instance, you might be using the internet heavily for streaming, downloading big files, and many other things that require a lot of bandwidth. Or else, your ISP might be regularly conducting bandwidth throttling during day time when the internet usage is most likely to stay high.

However, you’ve every right to know and avoid such situations. You’re paying for your internet connection. If the issues persist, you can solve such issues by getting a good VPN subscription. Because VPN hides your IP address, it makes it impossible for your ISP to know what you’re surfing on the internet, and they won’t be able to trace anything that they can throttle it.

Best Deals for Online Shopping

Many like to do online shopping, especially with their home network, as it’s quite safe and secure compared to those publicly available. However, you can use a VPN to find good deals because many times the different region offers a different price for the same product. You can take the benefit of finding the lowest price by simply connecting with a VPN server of a particular country and searching about that product from that location. For example, finding any product or even air tickets.

Improved Online Streaming & Gaming

If you love playing games online, then VPN can prove to be one of the best investments. By connecting to a VPN server, you’ll be able to get faster gaming experience. And VPN connections prevent bandwidth throttling, so there won’t be an issue of your ISP slowing your internet connection just because you’re into gaming. Apart from this, you’ll get access to those games that face geo-restrictions and not allowed in your region. Check our list of best Gaming VPN Service Providers.

Here’s the List of Best VPN to Use at Home

Now, which VPN to use is also a concern. Many VPN providers are available in the market place, and all are not equal. You might even come across the free VPNs, but you should avoid those if you’re a real privacy enthusiast. As most likely, these free VPNs get involves in tracking user information and sell it to third-parties for covering their VPN server maintenance expenses.

However, many respected VPN providers offer cheap subscription plans along with the trial version. So, if you want, you can take a free trial of those VPNs and make your own informed decision whether to go with this VPN provider or not. Here, we’ve listed the 5 best VPN providers that can be a good option to go with.

  • NordVPN
  • Surfshark VPN
  • ExpressVPN
  • IPVanish VPN
  • VyprVPN

NordVPN – Powerhouse of Robust Encryption Standards

NordVPN is one of the VPN giants that tops the list of many. And, there’s an obvious reason why it’s so popular. It’s one of the rare jewels that comes with the latest security and encryption feature at an affordable price range and a massive server list of 5200+ in more than 59 countries.

Features offered by NordVPN are like robust military-grade encryption to protect your data, CyberSec for blocking malicious websites. Double VPN to encrypt data twice, strict no-log policy, an automatic kill switch to block your device once VPN connection drops.

DNS leak protection to keep internet traffic private and secure, specialty servers like Dedicated IP servers, Obfuscated servers, P2P servers, simultaneous VPN connection for up to 6 devices from a single account. SmartPlay to bypass geo-restrictions of streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix US and much more.

nordvpn-rectangle
  • 5200+ servers in 62 countries
  • Use up to 6 devices
  • Next-generation Encryption
  • Double VPN Feature
  • Strict no-logs policy
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If you still have questions or would like to know whether to go with this VPN provider or not, we suggest going through the NordVPN review to help you decide whether it fits your requirements and budget.

Surfshark VPN – Best for Budget Oriented People

Surfshark is one of the new and all-round VPN providers that’s the best choice for Netflix, Torrenting, and anonymous browsing. So, if you’re one of those who are wondering do I need a VPN at home, and if I go with it, which one should I go for. Then without any regrets, we would suggest Surshark is the best choice to go with. It’s free from intrusive 5 Eyes intelligence alliance and super affordable that anyone can buy without thinking about its price.

Some of the exciting features offered by Surfshark VPN are like strong AES-256-GCM encryption, popular VPN protocols IKEv2/IPSec, OpenVPN, IP and DNS leak protection, rare unlimited simultaneous VPN connection, strict no-log policy, unlimited torrenting, decent 1000+ servers in more than 60 locations, access to Netflix and much more.

If you still have questions regarding their customer support service, pricing structure, or anything else, we suggest reading the Surfshark VPN review to help you make a final decision.

surfshark-rectangle
  • Connect unlimited Devices
  • AES-256-GCM encryption
  • IP & DNS leak protection
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Free Browser Extensions
  • Strict no-logs policy
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ExpressVPN – Get Your Job Done Without Compromising the Speeds

Founded in early 2009, ExpressVPN is one of the British Virgin Islands-registered VPN solutions known for its award-winning, leak-proof encryption apps and extensions. The VPN industry’s biggest contender offers a mix of proprietary security protocols along with popular VPN protocols such as IKEv2 and OpenVPN, which helps VPN bypass geo-restrictions of the most aggressive countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Some of the interesting features offered by ExpressVPN are like strong AES-256 encryption standard for data protection, split tunneling to exclude certain traffic from the VPN, unlimited bandwidth, own DNS for every server. Massive 3000+ servers across 90+ countries, IP address masking, unlimited server switching, and much more.

If you still have questions or would like to know whether it offers good customer support service, what’s their pricing structure, or whether it fits your requirements, then we suggest going through the ExpressVPN review written over here.

expressvpn logo
  • 160 server locations
  • Network Lock kill switch
  • Zero-knowledge DNS
  • VPN split tunneling
  • Stream Sports online
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IPVanish VPN – Rated As No 1 VPN Service by Lifehacker AU

Florida based IPVanish VPN founded back in 2012, is one of the VPN providers that has started with 32 servers and has presently expanded to 1300+ servers in more than 75 locations. It’s supported by various platforms, like Android, Fire TV, macOS, making it popular among privacy enthusiasts.

Other features that make it popular among the users include robust 256-AES encryption, strict zero log policy. Popular VPN protocols like IKEv2, L2TP/IPsec, PPTP, OpenVPN, unlimited server switching, deep packet inspection, easy to use interface with rich security features, etc.

If you still have questions or would like to know further about its features, subscription price, or whether it fits your requirement or not, we suggest going through the IPVanish VPN review written by our experts to help you make a final decision.

ipvanish-logo
  • 1,500+ VPN servers
  • 40,000+ shared IPs
  • Unthrottled speed
  • 256-bit AES encryption
  • Unmetered connections
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VyprVPN – Loaded With Cool Features Like Its Cool Logo

Switzerland-based top-rated VPN, VyprVPN, is a popular VPN like its popular logo among privacy enthusiasts. One of the respected VPN providers, known for its zero-logy policy, is a security-focused VPN, which is quite recommendable for those who want airtight privacy and anonymity.

VyprVPN is one of the strong contenders of the VPN industry that comes loaded with many robust security features like simultaneous VPN connection for up to 5 devices, 700+ servers in more than 70 locations. Chameleon technology to bypass internet censorship of countries who are heavily under Government surveillance like China, unlimited bandwidth, and much more.

If you still have questions or would like to know whether to go with this VPN provider, we suggest first reading the VyprVPN review written by our experts to help you decide whether to go with this provider or someone else.

vyprvpn-logo
  • 160 server locations
  • Network Lock Kill switch
  • Zero-knowledge DNS
  • VPN split tunneling
  • Stream Sports online
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Summary

Having a VPN is no compulsion, but for privacy enthusiasts or those in a profession where privacy is needed, such as journalism, VPN is a useful tool. And, it doesn’t matter whether it’s home or somewhere else. Because at home also you’re connected with the internet, and that internet connection is provided by an Internet Service Provider who’s capable of tracking your activity.

On the other hand, VPN can be a handy tool to use at home for those who like streaming movies and a series of other regions that are mostly geo-restricted. And also helps gamers to stream their favorite game online smoothly without being worried about the internet throttling.

Common FAQs

Is It Worthy to Have a VPN Subscription at Home?

VPN service is famous for offering proper encryption and a strict zero-log policy, which means no one can trace your internet activity, whether it’s Government surveillance or your ISP. Other than that, it also helps to bypass geo-restrictions, which is often an issue when someone tries watching their favorite movie or TV series of another region. In that regard, Yes, having a VPN subscription worth it.

Can Google Trace Me if I Use a VPN?

Using a VPN such as NordVPN or ExpressVPN, you can mask your IP address. So, once you connect with any VPN server, Google will only see the IP address you’ve connected. And will not be able to trace or monitor any of your internet activity as they won’t be able to recognize you as the user.

How to Tell if Someone Is Using VPN?

The best way to check if someone is using a VPN is to compare public IP addresses before and after connecting with a VPN server. If the IP address changes after connecting with a VPN server, it means the VPN is connected.

Can a VPN Steal Your Data?

Privacy is an issue with some of the VPNs, especially the free VPN solutions. Because free VPNs have expenses of their servers, and for that, they may trace your activity and sell your information to third parties. If you’re subscribed to a VPN that offers a strict zero-log policy, there’s nothing to worry about. However, for a strict zero log policy feature, you’ve to pay for the subscription though it’s not costly and within a budget that anyone can afford it.

Important Resources to Read