What can I do with a VPN? 12 Key VPN Uses

While you may be familiar with VPNs essential security functions, they offer many additional benefits that can enhance your online experience. From bypassing geographical restrictions to protecting your data on public Wi-Fi, the applications of VPNs extend far beyond simple anonymity. In this article, you’ll discover the myriad ways what can you do with a VPN and how it can empower your digital life, whether you’re a casual internet user or a tech-savvy professional. Prepare to unlock new possibilities and take control of your online presence as we explore the diverse and practical uses of VPNs.

What Is a VPN, and How Does It Make These Uses Possible?

A VPN (virtual private network) sends your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server run by the VPN provider. From there, your traffic continues to the internet using the server’s IP address instead of yours.

That setup gives you two things, and every use in this guide relies on one or both of them.

Encryption. Your data is scrambled before it leaves your device, so your ISP, the Wi-Fi owner, or anyone snooping on the network sees only unreadable traffic. AstrillVPN protects that tunnel with AES-256 encryption.

IP masking. Websites and apps see the VPN server’s IP address and location, not yours. Connect to a server in another country, and you appear to be browsing from there.

Here’s how the 20 uses below map to those two functions:

VPN use	Encryption	IP masking
1. Hide your browsing activity from your ISP	✓
2. Stay safe on public Wi-Fi	✓
3. Cut down ad and tracker profiling		✓
4. Bank and pay safely on untrusted networks	✓
5. Protect every device at home	✓	✓
6. Use Tor with an extra layer of privacy	✓	✓
7. Keep sensitive searches private	✓	✓
8. Bypass internet censorship	✓	✓
9. Unblock social media and messaging apps	✓	✓
10. Make VoIP and video calls	✓	✓
11. Access home services while traveling		✓
12. Watch live sports during blackouts		✓
13. Compare prices across countries		✓
14. Find cheaper flights, hotels, and car rentals		✓
15. Avoid ISP throttling	✓
16. Shield yourself from DDoS attacks		✓
17. Share files over P2P privately	✓	✓
18. Work remotely over a secure connection	✓	✓
19. Reach academic resources from anywhere	✓	✓
20. Check localized search results and ads		✓

20 Things You Can Do With a VPN

VPNs are versatile tools that offer more than just privacy. Here are some of the best uses for VPN services that you might not have considered:

Privacy and Security

1. Hide Your Browsing Activity From Your ISP

Your internet service provider handles every request your device makes, so it can see which sites you visit and when. Depending on where you live, it can log that data, hand it to authorities, or use it for advertising.

With a VPN on, your ISP still sees that you’re connected and how much data you use. It can’t see the sites you open, the searches you run, or the apps you use, because all of that sits inside the tunnel between your device and the VPN server. The same goes for your DNS lookups, as long as your VPN doesn’t leak them. A quick DNS leak test will tell you.

You are shifting trust from your ISP to your VPN provider, so pick one with a strict no-logs policy. AstrillVPN doesn’t keep logs of your online activity.

2. Stay Safe on Public Wi-Fi

Cafés, airports, and hotels rarely lock down their Wi-Fi, and anyone on the same network can try to intercept your traffic. Two attacks come up again and again.

Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. An attacker slips between your device and the router to read or alter the data passing through.

Evil twin hotspots. A fake network named something like “Airport_Free_WiFi” routes everything you do through the attacker’s device.

HTTPS helps, but it doesn’t hide which sites you visit, and not every app handles encryption well. A VPN encrypts all your traffic before it leaves your device, so even on a rogue hotspot, the attacker gets scrambled data. Read more about the security risks of public Wi-Fi and how a VPN protects you on it.

Tip: Turn the VPN on before you open anything. Many apps start syncing in the background the moment you join a network.

3. Cut Down Ad and Tracker Profiling

The most valuable information advertisers and data brokers receive when your browser connects to a site is your IP address (your “home address” online). This can give away your physical location, often within a few miles.

As your VPN connects to the Internet, the server’s IP address (shared by many users) is seen by websites and advertisers instead of your real IP address. Additionally, our VPN contains an ad blocker that prevents most ads and trackers from loading in the first place.

However, cookies, fingerprinting and logged-in accounts will still identify you when using a VPN. Using a privacy-focused browser and regularly clearing cookies will highlight other possible areas for improvement. There are also obvious limits to using Facebook whilst logged-in and therefore identifiable.

4. Bank and Pay Safely on Untrusted Networks

Many online banking services have already implemented encryption on their mobile apps. Using a VPN on these types of untrusted networks adds an extra layer of protection to what is already secure and helps to hide the fact that you are accessing financial services online.

Two AstrillVPN features make this more practical:

App Guard. Astrill’s kill switch blocks internet access for the apps you choose if the VPN drops, so your banking app never falls back to the open network.

Dedicated IP. Banks and trading platforms are quicker to flag logins from shared VPN IPs. A dedicated IP is used only by you, so you get a consistent address and fewer security checks and CAPTCHAs.

If your bank blocks VPN IPs outright, you can exclude it with Smart Mode or Site Filter and keep the rest of your traffic on the VPN.

5. Protect Every Device at Home With a VPN Router

Smart TVs, cameras, speakers, and consoles are online all the time, but most of them can’t run a VPN app. Many also ship with weak security and send usage data back to the manufacturer.

The answer is to protect them at the network level. An Astrill VPN router connects to the VPN itself, so every device on its Wi-Fi or Ethernet is covered without installing anything. You can route every device through the VPN or only the ones you select.

No router? VPN Sharing lets you share your Astrill connection from a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer with phones, consoles, and smart TVs on the same network. For devices that do run the app, one AstrillVPN plan lets you connect up to five devices in your household at the same time.

A VPN secures the connection, not the device. It won’t patch old firmware or change a default password, so keep your gadgets updated too.

6. Use Tor With an Extra Layer of Privacy

Tor sends your traffic through three volunteer-run relays so no single point sees both who you are and what you’re doing. The weak spot is the start of the chain. Your ISP can see that you’re connecting to Tor, which alone can draw attention in some countries, and some networks block Tor outright.

Connecting to a VPN first hides your Tor use from your ISP, and the Tor entry relay sees the VPN server’s IP instead of yours.

AstrillVPN makes this simpler with Onion over VPN. While connected to any Astrill server, you can open .onion sites in your regular browser without installing Tor. If you want Tor Browser’s anti-tracking protections, run Tor Browser on top of the VPN instead. Our VPN vs Tor comparison covers when each setup makes sense.

7. Keep Sensitive Searches Off Your ISP’s Radar

There are some searches that you would prefer to keep to yourself – such as research into symptoms of illnesses, legal matters, or even job search activity whilst you are still employed. The ISP/Network Admin for a home, school or office connection can see what you have been visiting in order to research these topics.

A VPN encryptes your entire web access, within the tunnel of the VPN, so the owner of the network, like a home, school or office, will not be able to see where you go within your researches. Incognito mode does not do that. It only makes sure that the web sites you visit do not get stored in your history list on your computer. Your ISP and your Wi-Fi provider will be able to see where you go in your researches.

There is one exception to this rule: Work laptops monitored by corporate software may be able to tell what you are doing on a VPN-enabled connection on the laptop itself.

Access and Online Freedom

8. Bypass Internet Censorship With Obfuscated Protocols

Governments in countries like China, Iran, and Russia block news sites, social platforms, and messaging apps. Many also go after VPNs, using deep packet inspection (DPI) to recognize VPN traffic and cut the connection. That’s why a standard VPN often stops working the moment you land.

Obfuscation gets around this by making VPN traffic look like ordinary web traffic. AstrillVPN built two protocols for exactly this:

OpenWeb: makes your traffic look like regular website browsing, which DPI systems struggle to flag.

StealthVPN: adds an extra obfuscation layer on top of an OpenVPN-based connection, built to get past automated firewall systems. It runs over both UDP and TCP.

In select countries, Smart Mode sends only international sites through the VPN while local sites load directly, so local apps keep working and browsing stays fast. If you need extra protection as a journalist or activist, Multi-hop routes your traffic through more than one server.

Our full guide covers how to bypass internet censorship step by step. Check the VPN laws where you are first, since using an unapproved VPN carries legal risk in some countries.

9. Unblock Social Media and Messaging Apps

Social media often gets blacklisted by schools and companies to boost productivity, and by governments during political unrest and elections for reasons of state. Occasionally, these measures are even justified, but more often not. So tourists often find themselves blacklisted as well and cannot access their normal social media services.

Instead, a VPN would route your traffic down to a server in another country where the service is available. In the unlikely event that the VPN itself has been blocked, StealthVPN and OpenWeb can also help lift restrictions on your connection.

On school or work networks, check your school’s or company’s acceptable use policy before attempting to bypass their blocking.

10. Make VoIP and Video Calls Where They’re Restricted

Some countries even block internet calls like VoIP, like Skype, or the internet based versions of traditional calling services like FaceTime or WhatsApp to protect the local telecoms operator. Additionally some hotel and office networks even throttle or even block VoIP calls.

A VPN hides your communications and therefore VOIP calls are not detected by the network and cannot be blocked. Also, your calls to landline or mobile phones will not be detected and therefore cannot be charged at higher rates, and the exact services and timing of calls will not be logged.

Tip: Connect to the closest server that works. Every extra mile adds latency, and on a call that shows up as lag and people talking over each other.

11. Access Your Home Services While Traveling

Go abroad, and much of your usual internet stops behaving. Your streaming library shrinks, your bank flags the login as suspicious, and some government portals and news sites refuse foreign IPs entirely. This is geoblocking, and it usually comes down to licensing deals or security rules.

Connect to a server in your home country, and those services see a home IP again. You can keep up with your shows, pay bills, and read local news as if you never left. Our guide to using a VPN for streaming covers setup for popular platforms.

Streaming platforms often restrict VPN use in their terms and actively block VPN IPs, so access isn’t guaranteed on every server.

12. Watch Live Sports During Regional Blackouts

Leagues sell broadcast rights by region, which is why a game you pay to stream can be blacked out where you live. Blackouts protect whichever network owns the local rights, and they’re common on league streaming packages.

A VPN changes the region the streaming service sees, so it shows you the broadcast available there. If you’re traveling, a home-country server gets you back to the coverage you already pay for. Our guide on how to get around ESPN blackouts walks through the process.

Blackout rules are part of the broadcaster’s terms, so review them before you connect.

Saving Money

13. Compare Prices and Avoid Location-Based Pricing

Most online stores and subscription services charge customers differently in various countries. This is known as regional pricing or even price discrimination, and it affects not only software, games, and other digital products and services but also physical goods.

By using a VPN, you can find out how much something would cost elsewhere. First, make sure to delete your cookies or log off from your online shopping account as websites use these to track how much they quoted you previously. Next, connect to a few different VPN servers, and off you go comparing the prices.

Note, however, that many e-commerce websites and subscription services require payment by card or a billing address in the same country. The lower price tag you see for a product may not be what you end up paying. Also, remember to factor in additional costs such as taxes, currency conversion charges and shipping costs, which can quickly add up to equal or even exceed the originally higher price tag.

14. Find Cheaper Flights, Hotels, and Car Rentals

Many airlines, travel websites, and car rental companies use so-called “dynamic pricing”. This means that the price you see on a website can change depending on several factors, such as the country version of a website you are visiting, the currency you are paying with and even your previous searches.

Comparing the same trip offered in different locations? Open a private window, connect to a VPN server located in another country, and have a look at the same website, but for that country. Also, it may be worth paying in the local currency of your destination. Our guide on how to use a VPN to get cheaper flights covers the full method.

Speed and Performance

15. Avoid ISP Throttling When Streaming and Gaming

Networks occasionally manage their available bandwidth by reducing the bandwidth available to specific types of traffic. This form of management can especially take place during peak hours when more bandwidth is demanded by active users. This type of bandwidth management is called ISP throttling.

This type of throttling is referred to as activity-based. It only works if your ISP can determine your activity while you’re connected to their network. When using a VPN, your ISP can only see that data is moving across your connection but cannot determine whether it is a 4K video stream, an online game, video conferencing, or something else.

Run a speed test first without a VPN, then with a VPN enabled. If your throughput rises dramatically once you activate VPN, then you’re most likely a throttled customer.

Note that VPNs can’t overcome issues such as ISP-delivered Internet that slows down after reaching a data limit, or very slow Internet plans in general. Additionally, all VPNs have some overhead for encoding and decoding your data, so use the server closest to your location to minimize this performance impact.

16. Shield Yourself From DDoS Attacks While Gaming

In competitive online games, the IP address of the opposing player can be attacked by a sore loser with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, causing them to lose connection to the game until the attack is stopped. This can occur in peer-to-peer games, voice chat applications, and by following a link to a malicious website. Streamers and ranked players are often targeted by such individuals.

Play through a VPN, and other players only see the server’s IP. Any attack hits the VPN’s network, which is built to absorb heavy traffic, instead of your home router. Here’s more on how networks handle DDoS attacks.

A VPN won’t lower your ping, since routing through a server adds some distance. Pick a server close to you or to the game server. AstrillVPN’s VIP add-on adds servers optimized for lower latency, built for gamers and users in Asia. See our list of the best VPNs for gaming for more.

17. Share Files Over P2P Privately

Peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing is a fast way to download big files like Linux distros, game updates, or open datasets. It has two downsides: everyone in the swarm can see your IP address, and many ISPs throttle P2P traffic once they spot it.

A VPN handles both. Other peers see the VPN server’s IP, and the ISP can’t identify the traffic as P2P because it’s encrypted. Here’s more on why you should use a VPN for torrenting.

For faster, more reliable transfers, AstrillVPN supports port forwarding with a dedicated IP on selected servers, so more peers can connect to you directly. Add your torrent client to App Guard as well, so it stops the moment the VPN drops.

A VPN protects your privacy, not the legality of what you download. Only share files you have the right to share.

Work, Study, and Professional Use

18. Work Remotely Over a Secure Connection

Remote work sends company data over home routers, café Wi-Fi, and hotel networks your IT team can’t control. A VPN encrypts that traffic between your device and the VPN server, so client files, logins, and internal tools never cross an open network in plain view.

Many companies also limit access to internal systems by IP address, allowing only an approved list. Shared VPN IPs change and are used by many people, so they don’t fit that model. An AstrillVPN dedicated IP gives you one fixed address your company can whitelist, so you can reach those systems from anywhere.

Learn more about remote access VPNs, or see Astrill Business VPN for team setups.

19. Reach Campus Resources and Research Databases From Anywhere

When you’re using the web on a campus, library, dorm room, or café shared network, the risk is that others will see your logins and work, as well as have potential access to coursework. And when students are abroad, they can encounter problems accessing sites such as Google Scholar that are blocked in China, as well as other sites and learning platforms used by colleges and universities.

A VPN enables you to encrypt your traffic when you are using shared networks, and connect to a VPN server located in your home country so you can access tools for your studies that are restricted to specific regions.

Note that a commercial VPN cannot give you your university’s IP address to use with library databases that only open up on campus IPs – you would need to use your university’s own VPN or library proxy login to access these types of resources.

20. Check Localized Search Results and International Ad Campaigns

Search results are location-dependent and can vary greatly even for the same search query. As someone responsible for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or online advertising in markets worldwide, it is essential to understand how search results will look in a particular location.

Simply connect to a VPN server within a particular country and you’ll be able to see search results similar to those of local users. SEO experts and online campaign managers can use this to check rankings of particular keywords, identify competitors in local markets and even confirm that geo-targeted ads are displaying the correct version of ad copy.

Just to get even cleaner results, use a private window, sign out of Google, and change your language to that of the market you are trying to research. Note that search engines can also read the language that your browser is set to, as well as any accounts that you are signed into. Thus, using IP location alone is not going to give you a completely accurate view of what a local user would see.

What you can’t do with a VPN?

Although a VPN can do many things, there are still some limitations to consider.

• While a VPN can hide your IP address and encrypt your traffic, it doesn’t guarantee total anonymity. When you engage on social media platforms by liking posts or sharing personal information, the platform can still use that information for targeted advertising.
• A VPN provides protection against many cyber threats, but it cannot defend against all of them. For instance, it cannot prevent phishing attacks. To ensure comprehensive protection, it’s essential to use a reliable antivirus solution.
• While a VPN can help bypass geo-restrictions and unblock websites, it cannot provide access to paywalled content or sites requiring a paid subscription.
• Although a good VPN is effective for online safety, it cannot replace essential security measures such as antivirus software, strong passwords and two-factor authentication.

What can you do with AstrillVPN?

AstrillVPN opens up a world of possibilities, offering numerous fantastic things to do with a VPN beyond basic privacy protection. One of the best uses for VPN services is accessing geo-restricted content from anywhere in the world. With AstrillVPN, you can bypass regional limitations and stream your favorite shows or access websites that may be blocked in your location.

• AstrillVPN provides a robust shield against cyber threats, encrypting your internet traffic and masking your IP address. This added layer of security is especially crucial when using public Wi-Fi networks, protecting your sensitive data from potential hackers or snoopers.
• AstrillVPN has a network of powerful dedicated servers around the globe, ensuring smooth and fast connections.
• Multi hop VPN feature routes your traffic through multiple servers for added security.
• Onion over VPN feature combines the privacy of the Tor network with the security of a VPN.
• Port forwarding is useful for gaming and accessing certain services.
• AstrillVPN does not keep logs of your online activities.
• You can connect multiple devices simultaneously.
• Kill switch feature automatically disconnects your internet if the VPN connection drops, preventing data leaks.
• Split tunneling allows you to choose which apps use the VPN and which do not.
• Smart mode feature routes international traffic through the VPN while allowing local traffic to use your real IP for faster browsing.

With these diverse VPN uses, AstrillVPN empowers users to take control of their online experience, offering both security and freedom in the digital realm.

How to use AstrillVPN in 3 steps?

Using AstrillVPN is one of the best uses for VPN services, offering enhanced privacy and access to geo-restricted content. Here’s how to get started:

1. Sign up and install

Visit AstrillVPN’s website and create an account. Download the app compatible with your device’s operating system.

2. Connect to a server

Launch the app and select a server location. Choose based on your needs, nearby for speed or a specific country for accessing regional content.

3. Enjoy secure browsing

Once connected, you’re ready to explore the many VPN uses. From streaming to secure online shopping, AstrillVPN unlocks cool things to do with a VPN while keeping your data private.

What do people use VPN for most?

Choosing the best VPN for your needs is crucial to maximize the cool things to do with a VPN. People use VPN for most for these critical factors:

Security and Privacy Features

Premium VPN have robust encryption protocols and a strict no-logs policy. The best uses for VPN services prioritize your online privacy and data protection. Ensure the provider offers features like a kill switch and DNS leak protection to safeguard your identity.

Server Network and Locations

A wide server network enhances your VPN uses by providing more options for bypassing geo-restrictions. VPNs have servers in locations relevant to your needs, whether you need them to access region-specific content or ensure optimal speeds.

Performance and Speed

Paid VPN maintains high speeds and low latency. This is especially important for bandwidth-intensive activities like streaming or gaming. Look for providers with unlimited bandwidth and a track record of consistent performance.

User-Friendly Interface and Device Compatibility

Paid VPNs have intuitive interface and apps for all your devices. Connecting multiple devices simultaneously is valuable for protecting all your online activities.

Conclusion

VPNs offer a versatile toolset for enhancing your online experience. From safeguarding your privacy and security to bypassing geographical restrictions, VPNs empower you to take control of your internet usage. Encrypting your data and masking your IP address provides peace of mind whether you’re working remotely, streaming content, or browsing the web. As online threats evolve, incorporating a VPN into your digital routine is a proactive step toward protecting sensitive information. With the multitude of applications explored in this article, you can now harness the full potential of VPNs to navigate the internet with confidence and freedom.

FAQs

Was this article helpful?

Yes No