For some users, accessing certain sites is needed for various purposes. But unfortunately, various sites cannot be accessed by public networks.
This could be because the site is restricted or intentionally blocked. To access it, users can take advantage of a Virtual Private Network or VPN.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a private network that uses a virtual connection to connect users to the internet through a server provided by the VPN provider.
Reporting from Kaspersky, there are several other uses of VPN, namely:
- VPN can protect user data and privacy. This is because user data will be encrypted so that data traffic is only known by the user and the VPN provider server
- VPN can disguise the user's presence. By using a VPN, the user's location cannot be determined. Apart from that, the VPN service doesn't keep any logs of your activity either
- The VPN service connects to a private server and uses encryption methods to reduce the risk of data leakage. Therefore, a VPN is useful for safe data transfers
The VPN itself can be activated via a laptop or smartphone depending on the needs of each user.
For those of you who want to activate a VPN via a Windows-based laptop, the following AlfaFreedom summarizes how to use a VPN on a laptop, especially for Windows users.
How to use a VPN on a laptop
- Click the Windows icon
- Select “Settings” marked with a gear icon
- Select "Network and Internet"
- Click on “VPN”
- Click "Add a VPN connection"
- Enter the data of the VPN provider you have
How to connect VPN
- At the far right of the taskbar select the network icon
- Select the VPN connection you want to use
- Click "Connect"
- If prompted, enter username and password
- If already connected, the name of the VPN connection will display "Connected"
How VPN works
The way a VPN works is that when you activate the VPN, the server will give the user a new IP address. These activities create a channel between the user and the server.
Furthermore, user data will be sent to the VPN server to be encrypted before being sent back to the internet so that the flow of data traffic is hidden by other parties.
In its work, a VPN can use several different types of protocols such as PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, and others. VPNs can allow people to access sites blocked by the government.
But you need to be careful, free VPN users must think again because third parties (hackers) can steal user data. That's how to use a VPN on Windows, hope it helps.