I discovered VPN around 2012, it initially helped me to see there was a lot of unlearning I needed to do after being "educated" in school, and I really appreciated the freedom of being able to access different information. And yes, VPN was not about privacy protection for me at first. But as I keep using it, I am learning more and more about the benefits of using a VPN, and it has become one of the musts in my daily digital life.
However, after reading about many people who are still unsure about what a VPN is or why they should even use it, I am happy to share some of the things I have learned while using it.

Why Use a VPN?

VPN, short for virtual private network, not only encrypts your browsing data but also hides your IP addresses.
However, you might be wondering, I have NOTHING to hide, why do I need to use it? But here are some of the benefits of using a VPN:

Unlock Internet Freedom

I lived in places where Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp are all banned, could you imagine how it feels? But the interesting thing is if one hasn't tasted freedom, they wouldn't know what freedom is like. But with a VPN, you can unlock ALL censored content.
And one of the most common practices these days is to censor information whenever something serious happens, but how is it possible to make better decisions without reliable information? However, Imagine if you VPNed to China when the pandemic happened or VPNed to Ukraine when the war happened; maybe you would get to know what was happening? It's as simple as switching location to see what locals talk about instead of listening to BBC or CNN. Accessing first-hand information and knowing where to find it is a good way to get an information edge, especially in a time full of noise.
You might also sometimes find some content unavailable in some areas due to IP protections, like movies on Netflix or YouTube, but simply changing the VPN location often solves the problem.!

Hide your IP Address

Do you know that we are constantly being spied on and collecting data? All sites can collect our IP address, cookies, and even things we searched for and then sell us ads. For example, did you ever search for something on Google? Then, after a while, Instagram shows you exactly those products that you want to buy; how thoughtful! There's even a joke that the advertisers know you better than your boyfriend or girlfriend.
For those who travel constantly, using a constant IP address is a good way to avoid causing unnecessary attention because many services would flag your account or even log you out due to "abnormal activities". Also, it is a good way to stay safe on public Wi-Fi whenever you are in co-working spaces, cafes, or Airbnb, as you don't know who is watching, better be cautious than sorry.
Above are two basic uses for VPN, but what if I told you that choosing the RIGHT location could unlock some extra fun?
  • Digital Migration
I learned that most SaaS services price differently to meet local markets, a.k.a. localized SaaS pricing. For example, the chart below shows the pricing difference between a Turkish user and an American user.
Saving $40+ monthly just by switching locations is doable for most people ( stack more sats.! ), and sometimes all you need is a good VPN, and Turkiye, Argentina, and India are good places for these SaaS subscriptions.
*The data was from 06.2022.
  • Cheaper Flights
Did you ever experience that the more you searched for the same air tickets, the more expensive it would become? Because Airlines use dynamic pricing for the tickets, and thanks to all the cookies in our browser, they would easily get to know "us" and then decide how much they want to charge.
But with the help of a VPN, you can easily turn things into your favour. One interesting thing I learned is that it often shows cheaper tickets if you set the VPN into the flight destination. For example, here are the ticket prices when buying a return flight ticket from istanbul to Tokyo:
( the price in photo 1 is when switching the VPN location to Japan. )
( the price in photo 2 is when switching the VPN location to the UK. )
Do not forget to clean out browser cookies if you are using the same browser, and you are welcome to test things out.
These are some of the fun I have learned from using a VPN, and I would love to learn more possibilities from fellow stackers 🤓

Next, so Which VPN?

First, If you're not paying for the product, you're the product. How do you think those free VPNs make money when they aren't making money from you?
I used to use Proton VPN, but I was getting a bit annoyed that they are trying to do EVERYTHING. All I want is a reliable VPN, and the last thing I want is to rely too much on the same company. So, I spent some time digging some geeks' recommendations, I eventually moved to Mullvad last year, and I am quite happy with it so far.
  • No account registration is needed - log in with a number
  • No subscription, no upsell, and flat pricing: 5 euros monthly
  • Accept BTC, even with a 10% discount
  • Many locations to choose from
  • It can be used on up to five devices
  • Built-in blockers
  • Compatible with Wireguard App
I use the Mullvad VPN app on my laptop so that I don't need to log in Apple Store, and I use the Wireguard app on phones. Also, to make it more private, I pay it with Lightning ( Tor available ) https://vpn.sovereign.engineering/
From my understanding, the builder of this site brought a bunch of top-up codes and then offered this service. However, if you would like to use this tool, a better practice is to use the purchase voucher option and then redeem the voucher without even giving away the account number.

VPN is a Must

I think a VPN is a must for everyone. Otherwise, you are pretty much naked; you don't walk outside without clothes, so why is it okay to be naked online? But VPN is only part of the setup against digital surveillance 👁️
Stay tuned for more.
I must be crazy to share these on a site full of dev and hardcore techies 🥸 feel free to point out is there any mistakes or what other fun I am missing.
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You did great. Devs tend to lack beginners mind. They forget what it is like to be new to a technology. We need many people explaining things from different perspectives to different audiences.
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Good to know.! I would def love to help with that, because I found many articles written by devs are often too technical or many professions yet with too many big words; my favourite type is more hands-on, less technical but more practical, like I found @darchcoin' s guide about Bitcoin is so much fun and easier to understand.
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Darch starch!
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Very true. I had the same experience.
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I deeply believe the best writing is simplifying complicated things for others.
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But complicating easy things makes you sound so intellectual 🧐😅
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yes, unfortunately, that is why we have so many experts who are good at making things complicated and then selling people solutions without even solving the root cause.
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the devs must be so busy building stuff
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Excellent work here.
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thanks 🤓
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Very nice article right here 👌
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I’ve found a fair amount of services don’t work when I’m on Mullvad. Some of them I don’t care about, but others are more important. I wonder if changing locations might help with this.
Regarding streaming services like Netflix, doesn’t it change the content you receive if you use a VPN to access from a different country? I guess that could be good or bad depending on what you’re looking to access, but I don’t think it’s just a cheaper bill with no other changes?
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Its a constant war. Services ban IP addresses they believe are VPNs. Try switching up you IP.
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Yep that's what I was thinking, too. Will do!
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I’ve found a fair amount of services don’t work when I’m on Mullvad.
For example? It seems all fine for me 👀 but I am not using many services atm.
Regarding streaming services like Netflix, doesn’t it change the content you receive if you use a VPN to access from a different country?
Netflix uses algorithms to recommend shows for users. e.g. if you enjoy watching Korean shows, once you have watched or searched for one, it then keeps recommending similar shows; content-wise, there isn't much difference between a Turkish user and an American user tbh. However, as the post mentioned, some content is unavailable in some areas due to IP protections, but then what is stopping you from using VPN again?
But I'm only showing what is possible with a VPN, it's up to you to decide the best practice for yourself 🤓
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I’ve had people share Instagram links with me that won’t load until I’m off Mullvad. I don’t use it personally but I like to be able to see what’s being shared with me. Similar for Netflix, Ticketmaster, Hulu: I’ve tried to login and it just fails with various error messages. As soon as I turn off vpn and try again, it works fine. So I’ve just found it to be something to be aware of.
This definitely wasn’t a critique of your post, just adding another data point for folks to be aware of :)
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It’s the universe trying to tell you to stop watching shitty Instagram content.
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Hehe hard to argue with that
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Great post!, thanks for sharing those tips!
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thanks and I'm waiting for more tricks haha 🎣
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Nice work, I'll bookmark this
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Great tips!
I just switched to proton from mullvad :) It was mostly due to the fact of needing a new email provider combined with Mullvad ditching their port forwarding support. I miss the ability to pay in BTC but bitrefill kinda makes up for that.
BTW- does anyone know how to do clearnet lnd with proton vpn?
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I am using Mullvad VPN with Tutanota Mail, working nicely 👀
You can also pay Proton with BTC, but it is only available in yearly subscriptions.
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I'm not seeing that option. Yearly is a nice option bc you don't need to top off.
I miss Mullvad's leak detection banner, but I suppose the user shouldn't have to think about that, just being connected should be enough assurance you're protected if the defaults are sensible enough.
nvrmnd: https://protonvpn.com/support/payment-options/#bitcoin I wish they didn't bury it!
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ProtonVPN has a built-in thing similar to the "leak detection", rather it's called their killswitch feature. If you are using the GUI for Windows for ProtonVPN, go into the advanced section of the settings and enable the killswitch feature, it'll ensure that if you get disconnected from their VPN network that your computer will not send any packets whatsoever on any services. You can also set up split tunneling through the advanced section which will let you configure different services to either use Proton or use your regular internet, it's quite easy.
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Also, once you pay it yearly in Proton, BTC is non-refundable even if you feel like cancelling it.
I enjoy the flexibility in Mullvad, monthly available paid in BTC - if I do not like it, I leave peacefully.
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As I travel and ran into problems to subscribe to services which required me to switch my IP address just to access it, it's hard for me to disagree that VPN services are convenient. Yet when I see "VPN is a Must" I can't resist answering to say that a VPN is just a tool to connect distant networks. So without using a leased line, for 2 networks to be connected securely, VPN is the traditional way to access for example the local network of a company.
I think the most exciting things for privacy against digital surveillance networks like Tor, i2p, and probably others.
I think when using the WiFi of others the most important thing to do rather than connect to a VPN service is to shutdown all local services like samba or others which share data. When I was at the university, people using macbooks had a sharing service running by default (I guess) so I was listening music on their computers and could look at their holidays pictures.
That being said I use VPN services myself so my grain of salt: it is just connecting 2 networks together and I don't think that just changing our IP address is the best way to get privacy. For example users can be tracked with an account, cookies, fingerprint of the browser, etc.
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Tor - I agree, but then it is not so convenient for daily things.
Also, learning what is private is actually should be the first step, otherwise it's still useless no matter how many tools are being used.
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"I used to use Proton VPN, but I was getting a bit annoyed that they are trying to do EVERYTHING."
What's the problem? lol
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Because most miseries come from dependence 😂 I consciously remove my dependence on any companies.
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Hello friend, I found this because I was searching SN for posts about buying tickets with bitcoin. What do you use for booking flights? Skyscanner? Expedia? I'm interested to know. I'm flying from China -> SF Cal -> Florida -> Paris -> Jakarta -> China I wonder what VPN to use to plug this into skyscanner's multi-city ticket finder. I decided to buy legs of the flight though so that my bitcoin can keep appreciating rather than buy all the tickets at once. It's about $2400 a person though if I use skyscanner multi-city and let it plan the route for me.
P.s But while I'm here, just wanted to mention that the images aren't loading for me...
P.S.S. I use mullvad and love it. Paid in bitcoin
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Something to note regarding the suggestion of using alternate locations to get cheaper pricing on things -- yes, it is true that they price things differently for people in other countries; services like Steam for example are well-known for having much cheaper games in places like Argentina versus what they cost in the US.
However, it is not so simple as just changing your location and then purchasing things. First of all, if you already have an account with these services and you login from a weird random location (on an IP address that any business worth their salt is going to immediately recognize as belonging to IPv4 space that is leased to/used by Mullvad or other VPN services) you run the risk of having your account locked for 'security' purposes. I don't necessarily blame any company for doing that, after all, they are just trying to keep your account secured, imagine if it was some random person in another country logging into your account and trying to make a purchase, you'd be glad they did it in that case.
Aside from that, in many cases you will also have to have an actual bank card that is FROM the country you are trying to make the purchase from online, i.e. if you are setting your location to say, Turkey, and trying to buy some online service that has cheaper pricing for Turkish people, you aren't going to be able to just use your American or British (or whatever) debit/credit card information and take advantage of this, the purchase won't go through.
Also you are running the risk of having your card get flagged as being fraudulent use or the information having been stolen because a lot of anti-fraud systems will take the VPN service IP address + foreign credit card info = stolen details and report it back to your issuing bank. Something to be aware of. Also a lot of the cheaper plane flight thing doesn't necessarily work anymore, the airlines have caught on to this kind of thing years ago, it used to work like 5 years ago now you will be lucky to have it work every once in a while.
I think overall VPNs can be useful for some things, especially if you live in a country where the government themselves are restricting access to certain sites, but, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution for people, and too many videos advertising them online for example try to give people the false impression that they protect you from things when in reality they are just masking your IP address between you and the VPN provider. Your ISP can still see what you are connecting to from your computer to the VPN provider, and you have to trust the VPN provider.
Mullvad gets mentioned a lot on here for some reason, and while I don't have any reason to personally distrust them (I have used them before, they were fine), they do operate based out of Sweden which is kind of strange considering that Sweden are a party to the larger consortium of "14 eyes" reporting nations that all give data back to the US government agencies, so for anyone who is doing something even remotely shady you are taking that risk. Not to say that I would trust anything like ProtonVPN over it either, you are taking a risk by putting your trust into any of these companies. Best to learn how to "roll your own" and set up your own VPN, you can install and run Wireguard on a remote VPS very, very easily and have it up and running within a few minutes, for cheaper than what you'd pay monthly at any of these commercial VPN services. Of course, you lose the ability to hop around to different locations, so, these are things you need to take into account.
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🟠🟣⚡️📖🫡 🐐
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So the cheaper flight thing. Basically the airlines assume that you always have to return to your city of origin, so they tend to price the return ticket higher.
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I usually buy one-way tickets myself because I don't like putting restrictions up front, killing so much fun.!
The data above is for showing the Geo-pricing difference and how people could take advantage of it.
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well said.
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Tor is much better privacy wise than a vpn, but it's still better than nothing.
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Yes, or even better TailsOS all the way, but then they are not so convenient for daily things.
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yeah, also using one specific IP address with a particular browser or even one dedicated phone for anything related to the fiat identity is a good practice.!
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