A virtual private network hides your actual IP address, making it look like you’re connecting from a different location. VPNs offer many benefits, like additional privacy, unlocking geographically restricted content such as foreign Netflix libraries and circumventing censorship or throttling restrictions.
While most folks are probably familiar with personal VPNs — like ExpressVPN or NordVPN — there are multiple virtual private network varieties. Remote access VPNs and site-to-site VPNs, commonly found in work environments, offer different functionality from consumer VPNs.
Let’s dive in and explore the various types of VPNs and what each one can do.
What are the different types of VPNs?
There are three main VPN options: A consumer or personal VPN, remote access VPN and site-to-site VPN (in either the intranet or extranet variety). All VPNs make applications, websites and internet-connected services think you’re connecting from a different location than where you’re physically located. How each operates and their intended use cases vary.
A consumer or personal VPN is probably what you have installed on your devices at home
If you’ve got a VPN on your laptop, phone or streaming box, chances are it’s a personal VPN. Consumer VPNs require two main components: A client or app, and a server. Once you’ve downloaded and installed your VPN software or client, you’ll simply select a desired server location. Apps, websites and your internet service provider (ISP) view your traffic as coming from a different location — whether it’s another part of your state, nation or a separate country. Personal VPNs boast many use cases, including extra privacy while browsing the web, region-restricted content unblocking and censorship circumvention.
Whether you need a VPN for travel, want to stream geographically restricted content or want to shore up your privacy, a consumer VPN is an excellent addition to your software arsenal. For instance, you can use a Canadian VPN…
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